The Depot: Open Mic Night

The masses – all five of you have spoken – so there will be no official Depot tonight. I will be eating pizza and drinking beer, er, Dr Pepper with some friends. I may stop by occasionally to offer a pithy comment I thought of or stole from one of the others in the room.

But if you want to discuss the All-Star Shennaningans, feel free.

Afternoon Announcements, Questions

First, a question: Do you want a Depot for tonight? Are enough people going to watch the game and want to comment on it for us to Depot live? If you want it, convince me. And be prepared for occasional grumpiness regarding the broadcast.

Now on to daily duties:

We’ve got another commitment for the Pennant Race Pep Rally at Pappasito’s in Arlington on Thursday afternoon. David Murphy, the hottest hitter in the Rangers lineup over the last six weeks, will be joining us from 6:30-7:30. I’m still crossing my fingers over one last mystery guest, but for now the final lineup is: Murphy, Kevin Millwood, Tommy Hunter and Eddie Guardado will represent the players. Ron Washington and Jon Daniels will represent management. It is also Becca’s birthday, so she will represent herself.

Home Run Derby for the kiddos – with an Ian Kinsler jersey as a prize – and possibly adults (time permitting) kicks off at 5 p.m. The great Chuck Morgan will announce. I will hurl … whiffleballs (at least for a while). And we will party right up until the break of 8 p.m.

There is still time to sign up for your free appetizer (with the purchase of a beverage) simply by dropping me a line here.

Ticket agents will be standing by in case you haven’t purchased your InsideCorner night seats for July 21 against Boston. They are $25 for the all you can eat seats. No, the seats are not edible. You can eat all you want from a wide array of gourmet treats that include hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, popcorn and other really healthy foods. It’s worth the price of admission just to see what kind of damage I can do.

Finally, here’s a reason NOT to set your alarm tomorrow morning unless you want to be serenaded by the shrill sound of my voice. But I will be joining my pal, Norm Hitzges, to talk about SPORTS! Well, to talk about baseball at 7:55 a.m., but if Norm wants to discuss Tony Romo’s potential next celebrity girlfriend, hey, I’m up for that, too.

Michael Young To Start All-Star Game

Alternate hed: This could also be entitled AL adds yet another player to All-Star team and its still not Ian Kinsler.

Bottom line: Evan Longoria is hurt. Michael Young will start at third. Los Angeles’ Chone Figgins added to the team. It’s all explained in painful detail in the text of the press release that follows. Although, somehow they managed to leave out that Young has won an All-Star game MVP and twice knocked in the winning run. Hey, details, shemails shmetails.

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Agent: It’s Dasvidaniya Between Dallas Stars, Sergei Zubov

Sergei Zubov’s agent tells Scott Burnside, one of ESPN.com’s first-line NHL writers, that Zubov won’t be returning to the Stars. Agent Jay Grossman says Zubov, an unrestricted free agent, prefers a team with a better chance to contend for the Stanley Cup. And he says Zubov is 100 percent healed from last winter’s hip surgery and ready to go. That would seem remarkable given the way that Zubov, who will turn 39 in a few weeks, was still limping a few months ago.

About Last Night: Why The Depot Went Dark

We got a ton of emails (OK, one – thanks @juboon) on why there was no Depot during the Home Run Derby last night from St. Louis. Allow me to explain. Here are five things I’d rather live blog about than the Derby:

5. Bacon
4. My yard being mowed.
3. Waterboarding (with me being waterboarded)
2. The summer weather in Dallas (dressed in faux fur and a ski cap)
1. My love life (which would be just empty space)

I think you get the picture. I’ve railed on this before, but ESPN and MLB have turned the Derby into a three-hour nightmare. There is no drama, despite Chris Berman’s pathetic attempts at creating them. There are no features on the players involved in case a surprising story (suppose a guy who was available on waivers to all of baseball last year advances to the finals; I know, it would never happe) arises. Joe Morgan’s analysis is weak on regular-season games; what do you expect him to provide on batting practice. The show is entirely too long; wait, did I mention that?

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MJH’s Top-40 Texas Rangers Prospects (Nos. 11-20)

I’ll have to break this into three parts. I decided to get into a little more analysis (or is it rationalization?) We’ll get back to you with the top-10 tomorrow.

Check it out and let me have it.

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Orlando Keeps Gortat; Mavs’ Fans Panic!

Just when you thought the off-season was rolling…

Just when you were ready to congratulate Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson for their fine work this summer…

And, just when you didn’t feel scared of the rest of the West anymore…

Reality Bites.

So, Orlando matched the offer. They will keep Marcin Gortat and pay him crazy money to sit the bench in Orlando, while paying the luxury tax to boot. Or, did one of the Mavs rivals (Houston?) find a way to stick it to Dallas and get a young, talented center out from right under their noses? We won’t know that answer until December 15th when the Magic are allowed to trade him to any team in the NBA not named the Dallas Mavericks.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (7/14)

I’ll post the list of my top-20 Rangers prospects in a few hours. And yeah, I’m wrong. Anyone who puts attempts to rank prospects is — by definition — “wrong.” The truth is that such lists are simply vehicles for discussion and nothing more.

Speaking of which, did I mention how much I hate ranking prospects? I always have that thought in the back of my head, but I never fully recall just how much I hate it until I do it and put it out there. I actually allow myself to feel bad about leaving a guy off the list, or ranking a guy #37 instead of #27…as if it mattered.

Make the jump to read about a pretty miserable night on the farm.

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