Thursday A.M. Housecleaning: More Questions For You

I’m sorry, sorry, sorry that we weren’t at the most interesting game of the year last night, but with a somewhat limited travel budget, we’ve had to pick and choose a little. When I made April’s travel plans,  I certainly didn’t think an umpire would go down, Derek Holland would make his major league debut, the Rangers would install a revolving door in the bullpen or that a new reliever would meet his teammates for the first time on the mound as he was entering a game. Lesson learned.

So, here’s the thing I want to put up for a vote: How do you want me to cover road games that I don’t attend. Do you want me to do a Depot live blog during the game and a Post-Game show exactly as we’ve done for home games? Do you want me to post thoughtful columns the next morning? Do you have other ideas? Here’s one thing to keep in mind: Most of the games we won’t attend will be weekend games and Saturday nights would seem to be a good night for me to take off (because I’m such a party animal). We’ll still be open for business on Saturday, but I would imagine that would be the one day every two weeks or so that I’d take off. So give me your thoughts.

Also, I want to remind you about the unique opportunity we’re presenting as we try and create a really interactive community and social network for Rangers fans. We will be at Pappadeaux on Oak Lawn in Dallas on May 11, starting at 5:30. Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and Marlon Byrd will join us for the first two hours. I’m trying to round up a few other special guests. It’s a low-key happy hour, mix and mingle session. There is no admission charge. Nobody will be prosecuted for autograph-seeking (though we’d like to limit it to one request per player). We’d only like you to participate and maybe even stick around and have some dinner, or at least an appetizer or two. Let me know if you are interested in this. We really want to make it the first of some very special outings that will only get better with more and more participation. Let us know if you are thinking about attending this event. Again, we want to make it special for you.

And finally, our latest visit to the Viral Video Vault has us sitting down with Michael Shlact to talk about his place in the Rangers organization. Not sure if Shlact will ever be a major league pitcher, but he’s got some really interesting things to say about working with Mark Connor this spring on a Roy Halladay type delivery. And he’s a Georgia fan.

Also, here’s the other stuff that’s still kinda fresh in the vault: Rangers RHP Brandon McCarthy, Frisco SS Marcus Lemon and RHP Tommy Hunter.

Linkin Park: What Was Royals Manager Trey Hillman Thinking?

Got to admit, I wondered myself why Royals closer Joakim Soria never appeared in the weekend series, particularly in the eighth inning Sunday when the Royals still had a lead, but got into trouble and needed six outs. It’s not like Soria hasn’t pitched two innings before. He had a pair of those appearances late last year and has 11 such games in his two-plus season career. I’m not alone. Our friend, Adam Morris, at Lone Star Ball has built a Blog Cabin out of Linkin Blogs (see what I did there?) on the subject. Oh, and here, too.  It was some weird decision-making this weekend.

Norm Hitzges Nearly Made Me Drive Off The Road

Came into the office this morning and on the way in, I tuned in, as I always do to The Ticket. Caught a segment of Norm Hitzges dissecting last night’s Rangers loss. Norm, as always, had some very interesting observations about strategy in the 7-5 loss to Baltimore last night. Now, let me say this that Norm Hitzges and Bob Sturm (whom we share custody of with The Ticket) are the two most thorough, well-informed talk show hosts in this town. Norm researches EVERYTHING.

He made three points about strategy. One had to do with Hank Blalock facing George Sherrill in the 10th inning last night. Another had to do with the Rangers holding a runner at first base with two outs and a full count in the ninth. And the final point was about Ian Kinsler’s attempted steal of second in the first inning. The arguments were well-researched, well-constructed and agreed to by producer Mike Bascik, the best former big league left-handed reliever producing a talk show in any city.

And by the end of the discussion, I nearly steered right off Lemmon Avenue into Buzz Brews. Here’s why:

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The Depot: Texas Rangers News, Notes, Live Blog And Assorted Other Fun Stuff (4/13 vs. Orioles)

Vicente Padilla allowed 11 hits and seven runs in 3.1 innings. (Photo: R.P. Washburne)

Welcome to The Depot. We’re about to embark on a journey through the seventh game of the Rangers season. Remember to refresh frequently and drink plenty of water (though that’s not necessary to read the blog). But before we pull out of the station, we should go back and give you an explanation about the eighth inning of Sunday’s 6-4 loss to Detroit.  If you haven’t been around much today, you can get the gist from the game story and the aftermath from the Post-Game Show. In short, there were a lot of questions about bringing in RHP Warner Madrigal in the first place and then the wisdom of having Madrigal walk Marcus Thames intentionally.

So here’s a little explanation from the manager’s office:

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Comment Review: Come Monday, It Will Be Alright

Couple of things you should know:

This is Buffett week, so get ready for many, many plays on song titles and lyrics in postings throughout the week. I’m sorry. I simply can’t help myself. At the end of this post, I’ll add my dream set list for the Saturday show at Frisco’s Pizza Hut Park. Yo, Pizza Hut Park folks, can you get this to Jimmy?

Second, there was a lot of vitriol spilled after yesterday’s loss. I understand that a sweep can be frustrating. And I certainly can understand that a blown four-run lead in the eighth inning can add to that frustration, but let’s just take a minute and catch our breath and think all this through.

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Finalizing The Rangers Roster: The Madness Of MJH

Earlier today, my attorney pal, the Mighty MJH detailed the Rangers’ 40-man roster conundrum and how he’d clear roster spots for all the non-roster invitees who are expected to make the team. If the Rangers need to expose two players to waivers, he’s willing to put 3B Travis Metcalf and RHP Luis Mendoza out there. If the Rangers can’t slide RHP Tommy Hunter to the 60-day DL and he’s got to go with a third guy, it’s LHP Kason Gabbard.

Mike’s a brilliant baseball analyst, but I think in this situation he’s overlooking a very simple governing tenet to roster management: Don’t create holes in your system when you can avoid them.

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Finalizing The Rangers Roster: 40 -2 + 6 – 4 = 40

The time has come for Rangers GM Jon Daniels to make some tough roster decisions. With one variable, it appears that we now know who will be on the Rangers 25-man roster. The problem is that at least five of them — and possibly six — are not currently on the Rangers’ already full 40-man roster.

This is where the pressure really hits and the mistakes can be embarassing. A year ago, the Rangers lost RHP Armando Galarraga during this process as they attempted to get him through waivers in order to add Jason Jennings to the roster. That didn’t work out so well. Galarraga logged 178 innings for Detroit, posted a 3.73 ERA and finished fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting. Jennings — who had been penciled into the Rangers rotation, lasted just 27 innings and posted an 8.56 ERA.

Now, Daniels has to find a way to squeeze Kris Benson, Omar Vizquel, Elvis Andrus, Eddie Guardado and, once again, Jennings on to the 40-man roster. If the Rangers decide to keep Andruw Jones as an extra outfielder and right-handed bat, six will have to move.

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Settling Feeling: Rangers Appear To Have Pitching Staff

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – There is still a staff evaluation meeting on Tuesday and the Rangers have until Sunday to set their roster, but it appears the pieces of the pitching staff have fallen into place.

Put Kris Benson in your (tentative) starting rotation, Josh Rupe in your bullpen and, by process of elimination, Jason Jennings in the bullpen as well.

Manager Ron Washington admitted he wants Benson and Rupe Monday after the duo combined for seven solid innings in a 7-5 10-inning win over San Francisco.

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Locked In? Looks Like Kris Benson, Josh Rupe and Jason Jennings Win Spots On Rangers Pitching Staff

While saying it was only his opinion and does not speak of anything final, manager Ron Washington said after today’s 7-5 win over San Francisco that RHP Kris Benson is one of his top five starting pitchers and that RHP Josh Rupe should be in his bullpen. It means that RHP Scott Feldman will probably have to move to the bullpen to accomodate Benson. But Washington said the Rangers have not even discussed addressing the situation with Feldman. He stressed that Feldman remains a candidate.

Washington didn’t say anything about Jennings, but with injuries to key bullpen contenders piling up, Jennings seems to be the only healthy and effective option. RHP Derrick Turnbow (knee) became the most recent player to come down with an injury. RHPs Dustin Nippert (back) and Willie Eyre (groin) both seem destined for the DL. Eyre couldn’t throw a bullpen session on Monday and Nippert isn’t throwing batting practice until Tuesday.

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Burning Question: How Good Has Dirk Nowitzki Been This Season?

Was just perusing John Hollinger’s must-read Insider Gems, a supplement of quick hits to his daily PER Diem column for ESPN.com, and came across something that got me thinking about the above question. He was wondering what would happen when it came time to vote for the All-NBA teams since three guards (Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade) are clearly among the best five players, and the vote is by position. He figured one of them, probably Chris Paul, would be bumped to the second team, causing a trickle-down effect. The whole thing is behind the pay wall, so I’ll just reprint the relevant section:

If Paul is bumped to second team, that means Tony Parker and Brandon Roy would be duking it out for the other guard slot, while a pair of forwards who have had lesser seasons (Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki, I’m guessing) ease into second-team spots at those positions.

I don’t really care about the All-NBA team, since it doesn’t affect any bonus clauses in my contract. What I do care about is this: is it fair to say Dirk is having a lesser season? Let’s jump.

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Burning Question: Will Nolan Ryan Invest In The Rangers?

Tuesday night, when we first reported that Rangers/Stars owner Tom Hicks was putting stakes in his sports franchise up for sale, we speculated he’d seek out Nolan Ryan as part of that group. Yesterday, Hicks confirmed he would do just that.

The next step is this: Will Ryan accept the invitation?

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Is Adding The Wildcat Offense To Their Playbook The Dumbest Off-Season Move By The Cowboys So Far?

I love teams that have great running games. I grew up in Oklahoma, where you study the intricacies of the wishbone offense in 7th grade, in between classes on the Trail of Tears and subtraction. When I used to play a lot of Madden football on the PlayStation, I was never very good because I was more concerned with rushing for a hundred yards rather than, you know, outscoring my opponent. More recently, I loved watching Arkansas and then the Dolphins succeed with the Wildcat formation (the direct snap to the RB play). So I should be happy that Jerry Jones says the team could draft a quarterback (or use former QB and current Cowboys WR Isaiah Stanback) to use as part of a Wildcat package the team would implement in training camp. And I would be, if I hadn’t been driving around New England during the Christmas break, listening to Pats coach Bill Belichick address this very issue.

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Eric’s “Jerk Store” Debate on Rick Carlisle

I didn’t get a chance to read the discussion Eric began about Rick Carlisle’s recent petulant attitude until just a few moments ago.  Gotta say, I’ve got a couple of thoughts. Started to post them as an update to that post, but thought that would be too much of an interruption over there.

As a guy who has interviewed my fair share of managers/coaches, let me just say this: They have every right to be as cocky, arrogant, dismissive and condescending as they want to be (and they often are). Fans don’t care how reporters/media are treated. As long as you win. But when you don’t, a dismissive attitude towards the media becomes a dismissive attitude towards the fans. I’ve never gotten why so many coaches/managers take post-game questions as second-guesses when its an opportunity to clearly explain what they were thinking and why what they did was the right move for the moment. They know more about their sport than us or most fans. All they have do is educate people, but too often they think we are just a nuisance (and many times, but not all, they are right).

And to take that kind of approach with team broadcasters such as Chuck Cooperstein, Eric Nadel and Brad Sham (and it’s happened to every one of them in recent years) or a pretty forgiving talk show host like Norm Hitzges is just bad strategy. At the end of the day, I want my coach/manager to be a decent strategist and a good communicator. Doesn’t matter if we are talking about doing so with an underachieving 7-footer or a pack of poorly-dressed, portly sports journalists.

Play Sports Editor, Please

Question: How would you rank these issues to monitor today:

1. Brandon McCarthy’s outing

2. Andruw Jones in the cleanup spot vs. a lefty.

3. Possibility of reliever Jimmy Gobble facing lefties.

4. Josh Rupe and Derrick Turnbow making critical outings.

5.  Michael Young returning to lineup after a quad muscle issue.

Does It Matter That Rick Carlisle Acts Like A Jerk?

Like Sports Sturm, I’m doing some Internet research tonight on the Mavs. (Unlike him, I’m doing it to avoid work, specifically the feature I’m writing for the May issue.) And I just came across a couple of things that reminded me about how caustic and thin-skinned Mavs coach Rick Carlisle can be. My question is, as a sports fan, should I care? Does the coach of the team of which I’m a fan need to be likable? The answer is, of course, yes and no. Jump ball:

Update: Big Byron has the audio, and a hot sports opinion. Listen to it, be amazed, then return and read.

Double update: Both Fish and MavsMoneyball take up this topic today, and they are in disagreement with my take. Read ‘em hard, read ‘em strong.

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