New York Blogger: Cure For The Mets Is Hiring John Hart, Buck Showalter

A guy in New York has a very long treatise on rebuilding the Mets. His solution: Hire John Hart as GM and Buck Showalter as manager. (Hat tip to AJM for having already linked to it).

Form your own opinions.

Post-Game Show: Royals 6, Rangers 3

D-tails
• Boxscore, Standings

Three Up
• 3B Michael Young had three hits, including a first-inning homer. He’s hitting .367 with a .424 OBP and .600 slugging percentage since the All-Star break. It’s clear he’s taking his usual approach at the plate.
• RHP Jason Grilli bailed LHP Derek Holland out of trouble in the fifth and finished with 1.1 scoreless innings. What a find he’s been; a 1.26 ERA and .146 opponents battinga verage since he joined the club June 9.
• I have a big bag of nothing.

Three Down
• Rangers struck out 16 times. The Nos. 3-5 hitters (CF Josh Hamilton, DH Andruw Jones and 1B Hank Blalock) combined for nine strikes in 11 at-bats.
• Hamilton’s batting average has fallen to .228 for the season, .203 since he returned from the DL. He looked completely lost in his at-bats.
• LHP Derek Holland is 1-5 as a starter with a 6.42 ERA and .313 opponents batting average. He’s allowed 10 homers in 47.2 innings, putting him on pace for 42 in a 200-inning season.

Putting Rangers Blame Where Blame Is Due

I’m now more or less convinced that Rudy Jaramillo has instructed his hitters to expect a 4-seamer on every pitch.

People will blame Derek Holland for this one, but the performance of this lineup — other than Michael Young — was nothing short of embarrassing.

The Depot: Rangers-Royals Live Game Blog, News, Notes And, If You Behave, Snacks!

5:41: Still time to dive into the home run pool, and believe me, if you were at my house, you’d be looking for any pool you can find. When it gets above 100, the ol’ house has a hard time cooling down.

6:04: Here’s a riddle for you: In the last two years (since July 25, 2007), do you know who leads the current Rangers in OPS (Minimum of 502 plate appearances)?

6:06: And along with that, do you know who among the current Rangers rank 1-2 in slugging percentage?

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The Home Run Pool Is Open

We are going to play blind for the time being. I want to get this up, go do a little food shopping and maybe even take a nap before the game tonight. I’ve got a lot of thoughts on my mind regarding the trade deadline. Most of them revolve around Roy Halladay. More on that later.

In the meantime, post your entries and enjoy the latest design of the Homer Pool logo by TD. Like this better than the original?

Here is the Rangers lineup today vs. RHP Luke Hochevar: 2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young, CF Josh Hamilton, DH Andruw Jones, 1B Hank Blalock, LF Marlon Byrd, RF Nelson Cruz, C Taylor Teagarden, SS Omar Vizquel and pitching for the Rangers … LHP Derek Holland.

Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (7/25)

These three have less than a week to figure out who, among their massive stockpile of prospects, will be traded for Scott Kazmir, Troy Glaus, Adam Dunn, Victor Martinez, Cliff Lee, George Sherrill, Scott Downs, Ron Mahay, Bronson Arroyo, Josh Willingham, or Lyle Overbay.

It’s not going to be easy. I could stomach dealing any prospect in the system in the right deal, except for one.

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