Post-Game Show: Rangers 5, Orioles 4

How silly we are to get caught up in managerial decisions.  Let’s just open it up to discussion. Michael Young has hit three game-tying or go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning in the last five games. Anybody ever seen that kind of stretch of clutch hits? I haven’t.

Also, you can start discussing just how automatic Frank Francisco is. The guy still hasn’t allowed an earned run since becoming the Rangers closer late last August.

But, if you want to get into other stuff, there is always:

• The decision not to pinch-hit for Chris Davis with two outs, the bases loaded and a lefty on the mound. Ron Washington called him back to the dugout before he went to the plate. What did he tell him? I’m assuming it was a warning about the offspeed stuff. Also, I have no reason to believe Andruw Jones was not available, but it will have to be asked about. And finally, I just don’t understand how Davis could be pinch hit for in this exact situation on Thursday, but not tonight.

•  If you were an AL manager/pitching coach would you allow your pitchers to throw the Rangers a single fastball until they recognize and lay off the breaking and off-speed stuff?

The Depot: Live Game Blog, News And Notes

BALTIMORE – Taylor Teagarden has struck out in seven consecutive at-bats, one shy of the Rangers’ record. All seven have come on breaking pitches. Teagarden knows that until he proves he can hit the pitch, he’ll keep getting more of them.

“I ask myself why it’s happening, but the simple answer is that it’s about timing,” Teagarden said. “I’ve been latea in getting my swing started, and because of it, I haven’t done a good job of recognizing pitches until its too late. A good pitcher is going to continue to exploit that until I prove I can make adjustments.”

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Everyone In The Pool!

Home run pool is back. Quick note from the Pool Czar: We’ll only play these on games I attend. But the rules all remain the same. To be eligible for free stuff, you nee to pick the first Ranger to homer against Baltimore’s Koji Uehara, the inning and the number of men on base. First tie breaker is count. Second is distance, if available. If not, you can guess the number of blue crabs I plan to eat on Sunday. You can also choose the no homer option, but you will have to submit a total number of runs prediction for the Rangers as a tiebreaker.

The Rangers lineup vs. Uehara, against whom they scored seven runs in five-plus innings on April 13: 2B Ian Kinsler (One homer vs. Uehara), 3B Michael Young (one homer), CF Josh Hamilton, DH Hank Blalock, LF Marlon Byrd, RF Nelson Cruz, 1B Chris Davis, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers. … RHP Vicente Padilla.

Good luck. I’ll be back to open up The Depot in a minute.

Ed Belfour Is Building in Allen

A hockey-playing InsideCornere just tweeted some interesting scoop on Ed Belfour (see twitter.com/jayspenceTX). Seems Belfour has been playing AAA pickup hockey at Addison Square Garden. He’s living in a 2,500-square-foot home with his sister while they build a new home on their property (which includes an air strip). He has mentioned wanting to play next season.

Afternoon Snack: This, That And The Other

This: Last night, I pondered aloud (or at least on the screen) about whether the Rangers should send OF David Murphy to the minors to get his confidence and his swing back after an 0-for-20 start to the season. I’m told that’s not a consideration. The Rangers are confident in his ability to hit. Incidentally, the longest ofer to start a season in Rangers history belonged to INF Ted Kubiak, who went 0-for-25 before getting a hit on May 23, 1972. Kubiak ended up hitting .205 that season.

That: If C Taylor Teagarden’s start to the season at the plate hasn’t been rough enough, there is this: He is closing in on the franchise record for consecutive strikeouts. He whiffed four times last night in four at-bats and all three times in his previous start for a stretch of seven consecutive strikeouts. Dave Hostetler set the mark with eight in a row in April 17-21, 1983. To me, Teagarden’s got to play more regularly to find his swing, whether that means a more equal division of playing time in the Rangers lineup or as the starter at Oklahoma City.

The Other: After I watched the Rangers, Chelsea Lately (sorry, I dig her) and Seinfeld (It was the episode where Kramer and Mickey were extras on a soap opera and Mickey was busted for “heightening”), I flipped back to E! to find my new celebrity crush of the week. Flip the page to see her.

Feel free to add your own crushes of the week, along with any thoughts you might like to see addressed in The Depot for tonight’s game.

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NFL Draft Junkie: Episode 5 – The Final Push

I don’t have a ton of time this morning after all of the Mavs-Spurs stuff has been completed, but I do want to provide a few items that are on my mind.

LATEST COWBOYS FEELINGS:

From what I hear, and what I have written, the Cowboys have a few decisions that they may need to make. Obviously, the beauty of the draft is that often the decisions will be made for them, and therefore, it could be an absolute no-brainer by the time the choice gets to them. Or, if everything is gone, you might actually look to trade out of there. Truth be told, at #51, it would seem that you generally have 5-10 of your Top 50 on your own board available, as teams never have a board that agrees with everyone else’s.

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2009 NFL DRAFT: Final Positional Rankings

We are hours away from Draft Weekend and the rumormill is going crazy. Do the Lions pull the trigger on Stafford (Yes, they should), will any high-profile players (like Braylon or Anquan) be draft-day trades (my guess is no), and how long will Jerry Jones sit around and wait before he finds the urge to trade up for a safety, receiver, or simply the best player available (This is anyone’s guess)?

 

Make sure you check back here Saturday morning for the final SEVEN round mock draft before the first pick at 3 PM. Oh, and we hope you join us throughout the day as we will be live blogging leading up to the draft and throughout most of the first and second rounds.

 

There are so many opinions and talking heads out there who change their mind by the minute and hinge on the latest buzz instead of watching game tape and do some actual…what’s the word…scouting? Trust your eyes – that is the best tool when ranking each position.

 

So without further ado, my final positional rankings for the 2009 NFL Draft:

 

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Stars Still Playing

The IIHF World Championships begin today in Switzerland with five Stars playing and Dave Tippett serving as an associate coach for the Canada team put together by former Stars GM Doug Armstrong. Matt Niskanen is playing for the USA, James Neal for Canada and Loui Ericksson, Nicklas Grossman and Joel Lundqvist for Sweden. Denmark’s team includes 19-year-old defenseman Philip Larsen, who this week signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Stars after being a fifth-round draftee last summer.

The 16-team tournament will run through May 10. Canada opens today, the U.S. and Sweden on Saturday. Here’s a link to the full slate.

There’s Steam Coming Out Of The Sean-A-Meter

The New York Rangers are on the verge of what’s becoming their annual upset of an opponent from the top of the East bracket in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight in Washington. (Though NHL teams rally from 3-1 deficits more often than in the NBA or MLB). But Sean Avery might be coming unglued.

Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (4/24)

He hasn’t gone on a big tear to being the season like his teammate Marcus Lemon or had a 6-for-6 freakout like Hickory’s Mike Bianucci did a week ago. He hasn’t exceeded expectations like Frisco teammate Manny Pina or Bakersfield’s Matt Lawson.

Then again, he hasn’t really struggled either. He’s been plugging along very respectably after making a two-level jump. But he hasn’t done anything spectacular to draw attention to himself yet, which leads to some chatter out there that perhaps he’s not the beast everyone said he’d be.

After 13 games in the Double-A Texas League back in 2002, Mark Teixeira was hitting .255 / .320 /.458 / .778 in 48 at-bats. He had homered twice, driven in five runs, drawn five walks and struck out 14 times. Of course, he’d also had 38 games at Advanced-A Charlotte to get ready for his Double-A run.

The switch hitting first baseman the Rangers drafted in the first round last year has now played 13 games in the Texas League. He’s hitting .265 / .383 / .429 / .812 in 49 at-bats — better than Teixeira. He’s hit two homers — the same as Teixeira. He’s driven in ten — better than Teixeira. And he’s struck out just seven times while drawing 10 walks — better than Teixeira.

Given his contact rate and plate discipline, it’s likely that he’ll go on a big run here any day now — it might have even started last night — and when he does, you’ll once again realize just how much you could use some Justin Smoak.

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