Josh Hamilton Update Is There Is No Update

Josh Hamilton had an MRI today on his groin/abdomen area, but no results were made available. He will see Dr. John Preskitt, a sports hernia specialist on Tuesday before the club makes any decisions about a DL move or waiting things out. It is clear Hamilton was in significant pain after Sunday’s game. He had to kind of swing his leg outward to walk. My guess: DL, but that’s a pure guess. Simply can’t risk having the guy play at a subpar pace for a couple of weeks – and risk losing him for longer.

MGM: Nieuwendyk, LeBron Puppet, and Me

I was just minding my own business on a nice Sunday afternoon, when I get a call from one of my peeps inside the Dallas Stars organization to tell me about the big news of the day; Joey Nieuwendyk is now the Stars General Manager.

Wow. We certainly didn’t hear this was about to go down, now did we? It would appear the Stars have made a major move without anyone sniffing it out at all. Impressive.

But, why is this move being made? If I thought they would do anything this summer, it would be to end the very odd Co-GM setup from last season, and choose Les Jackson, most likely, to head the personnel department all by himself. I was getting the idea that the Hull-Jackson arrangement was not going to last much longer, but I guess I just assumed they would pick from the 2 (you know, they might pick the one who didn’t recommend the Sean Avery signing).

Silly me.

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Frankly Speaking: Francisco Follows Routine After First Loss As Oakland Beats Rangers 5-4

D-tails
• Boxscore, Standings, Depot game blog

ARLINGTON – The most important moment of the Rangers Sunday’s game with Oakland didn’t come in the ninth inning when Adam Kennedy blasted a drifting fastball from Frank Francisco into the right field seats.

No, it came about an hour later when Francisco wandered back to his locker for the first time as a closer who had been beaten. Mr. Kennedy’s homer, his second of the game, gave Oakland a 5-4 win and denied the Rangers a four-game sweep.

When he finally got to his locker, Francisco had spent a long time in the weight room and an equal amount of time in the trainers’ room – his typical post-game routine. And when he finally appeared at his locker, at exactly 5:55.55 (according to the very specific clubhouse clock), he had the same cock-eyed, playful expression he’s worn after every converted chance as a closer.

Which is to say, all of them.

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On The Shelby Miller Beat: Pitching With Mono

As our man Jeff Miller (taking a week sabbatical in Hawaii while I head out with the Rangers) reported over the weekend, Brownwood RHP Shelby Miller had a dominant performance in the state high school playoffs, firing off a three-hitter and striking out 16. But before Jeff got on the plan, he confirmed what we’d been hearing: Miller did it while pitching with mononucleosis.

According to Shelby’s dad, Mitch, doctors told the family there was nothing to be done other than to let it run its course, which meant he could try and pitch. Shelby felt a little tired in the first and phoned his dad between innings. His dad told him to run a little more. It seemed to work.

The Weekend In Review

For those unfortunate folk who were unable to get their fill of InsideCorner over the weekend, here’s a recap of what you missed…

The prize of Texas’ 2008 draft, Frisco 1B Justin Smoak, has an OPS of .947 in AA this year. Combine that with Chris Davis’ well-documented struggles at the plate, and you get an awful lot of speculation as to when Smoak will get the call-up to Arlington and if the Rangers even have room for both sluggers in the long-term. But Smoak says he’s confident that he and Davis can coexist in the same lineup.

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