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Series Preview: Rangers at Mariners

Despite completing a sweep of the A’s last night and owning an ML best +22 win differential from 2008, the Seattle Mariners don’t really have much left to play for. Except maybe second place.

The Rangers will head to Seattle to wrap up their season with a three-game series against the Mariners, and while neither team will be playing in the postseason, the M’s front office was pleasantly surprised by the team’s turnaround. After needing to win their final three games of 2008 just to avoid having baseball’s worst record, Seattle played well enough in ’09 to earn every coach an invite back for next season.

A huge reason for their success has been a lethal combination of pitching and defense. Seattle’s pitching staff is anchored by Cy Young candidate Felix Hernandez and they  lead the A.L. by a wide margin in team ERA, while also ranking first in MLB in almost every defensive metric imaginable. So the reasons for their turnaround are obvious, but one thing that isn’t quite as clear is who should be the team MVP. Hernandez, who the Mariners are trying to lock down long-term, is an obvious candidate. But so are Franklin Gutierrez and recently reactivated Russell Branyan, both of whom had breakout seasons.

Ken Griffey Jr., on the other hand, might have to fight for a chance to play again after he posted some ugly numbers this season. Veteran Mike Sweeney might be in the same boat. And even 25-year-old Brandon Morrow, who the Mariners picked over Washington-native Tim Lincecum in the 2006 Rule IV Draft, is starting to look more like Chad Gaudin than Lincecum.

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The door closed on the Rangers’ chances at a division title on Monday with an ugly 11-0 loss in Anaheim. Last night, the Red Sox shut the window too. Had Boston lost their final six contests and the Rangers won out, Texas could’ve snuck into October as the wild card team in a scenario ESPN gave a 0.1 percent chance of happening. But the Rangers didn’t take long in extinguishing that option.

Just a night after the Angels celebrated their third straight A.L. West title right in front of them, Texas did what seemed all but a formality for the last week — they officially eliminated themselves from playoff contention. And now there’s not much left to do but commend the team for their most successful season in years and look to the future.

Probably the biggest question in need of an answer moving forward is who the Rangers will retain in the offseason. Both Marlon Byrd and Pudge Rodriguez figure to qualify as type-B free agents, meaning the Rangers would get compensated for losing either as long as they offer them arbitration. But Byrd, coming off a career year, will be looking for a big contract which could make it tough for the cash-strapped Rangers to bring him back, despite the fact that a few players are already publicly hoping for his return.

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Series Preview: Rangers at Angels

There was about a ten minute period Sunday afternoon when it looked as though the upcoming four-game series between the Rangers and Angels might have playoff implications after all. The Oakland A’s had run off four straight runs in the late innings against the Angels to pull within one, while Texas needed to maintain a 6-3 lead for just three outs to complete a sweep of the Rays. A Rangers win combined with an Angels loss would’ve pulled Texas to within 4.0 games in the A.L. West and effectively given them control of their playoff destiny.

But the A’s rally fell short, and the Rangers’ bullpen imploded. Darren O’Day, C.J. Wilson, and Frank Francisco faced 11 batters and recorded only two outs, while the Angels picked up a pair of insurance runs and turned to Brian Fuentes, who locked down his 45th save of the season.

So here we are. The Rangers are six games back with seven to play, and they absolutely have to sweep the Angels to keep their playoff hopes alive.  And it’s not one of those, “They need a sweep or it’ll be tough to get in,” kind of things. It’s more like this: if the Rangers don’t take all four in L.A., they’re mathematically eliminated.

But there’s a sliver of hope. Though the Angels are on the cusp of setting franchise records for offensive prowess led by Kendry Morales’ breakout season and Howie Kendrick’s excellent September, the bats are struggling at the moment. And when a team which has relied on offense all year stops hitting, they stop winning. So at least the Rangers have that going for them.

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Series Preview: Rangers vs. Rays

While the Rays played their way out of playoff contention with an 11 game losing streak that culminated on September 13 with a pair of losses to the Red Sox, they were officially eliminated until a few days ago. That day is nothing but a formality at this point for the Rangers, with the Angels’ magic number down to four. So the upcoming weekend series between Texas and Tampa will serve little purpose other than to showcase the plethora of young talent on each side and ponder the future.

For now, the Rays’ future is third baseman Evan Longoria, whose strong finish to the season has some wondering about his MVP credentials. Tampa is also hoping Ben Zobrist can maintain his personally unprecedented performance next year after posting a 7.4 WAR season. But history’s not necessarily on his side, and he wouldn’t be the first former Rays All-Star to see a drop off after a career year.

Tampa Bay’s future success could hinge on their ability to find a true ace to anchor a solid pitching staff, whether they acquire one — like Felix Hernandez — or develop one. David Price was supposed to be that ace, and nearly everybody had him ranked as the game’s top prospect prior to the season. But a concerningly bad slider and mediocre results have taken some of the luster from the Vanderbilt product and left some to wonder whether he’ll ever be a top notch starter. The good news for Rays fans is that Price, who will start the finale on Sunday against the Rangers, has posted a 3.41 ERA since July 31 and has shown marked improvement on his slider. And between Price, Matt Garza, James Shields, AL Rookie of the Year candidate Jeff Niemann, and newcomer Wade Davis, the Rays are stocked with five quality starting pitchers aged 27 or younger.

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Sure, the Angels’ magic number down to five with 11 games still left on their schedule and the Rangers’ shot at making the postseason is essentially gone at this point. And true, Michael Young is still out indefinitely and Ian Kinsler is growing frustrated by dwindling crowds at the ballpark. But the Rangers still have 12 games to play, and with Josh Hamilton looking ready to return, a solid run at a 90 win season isn’t out of the question.

Realistically, however, it’s not too early to start looking ahead to 2010 and beyond, especially for a team that can boast as much young talent as the Rangers can. One of Texas’ biggest bullpen bolsters, flame throwing Neftali Feliz, might move away from his current relief role next year, at least according to Rob Neyer. Neyer doesn’t see how the Rangers rotation can be successful without Feliz in it, especially in light of Derek Holland’s struggles throughout his rookie campaign. But, as Joey Matschulat points out, there’s still a lot to like about Holland despite his unsavory statistics.

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Series Preview: Rangers at Athletics

Back in July, the Rangers didn’t made a blockbuster move to assist in what was going to be a strenuous sortie with the Angels for AL West supremacy. Instead, they stood pat at the trade deadline and hoped their young team could spin a surprising postseason berth without any outside help.

Now we know better. And with Texas’ playoff hopes seemingly wilted and only a few weeks until they’ll spend a long October at home, they’re allowed a hypothetical do-over. But, in truth, they probably wouldn’t trade for Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee to anchor the pitching staff, or Victor Martinez or Nick Johnson to curb their bouts of offensive anemia. And quite frankly, those guys might not have been enough anyway.

My guess is the Rangers would go back to September 4 and swap schedules with the Oakland Athletics. That was the day Oakland hit rock bottom following a 6-3 loss to the Mariners that pushed the Athletics to a season-high — or season-low — 17 games under .500. The Rangers, meanwhile, pulled within 3.5 games in the division and 2.0 in the wild card chase after a 5-1 victory in Baltimore. Since then, the A’s have won 12 of their last 14 and seven straight to move to 71-78 on the season, while Texas owns a 5-9 record over that stretch, being shut out in five of their nine losses.

So if anyone has Doc Brown on speed dial, now might be a good time to speak up.

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Series Preview: Rangers vs. Angels

It’s about as simple as this: if the Rangers can’t manage a sweep this weekend, they’ll need a flat out miracle to sneak into the postseason. And if they manage any less than taking two of three, even a Met-like collapse from the Angels wouldn’t be enough. So to say this is the “biggest series of the year” is not only unnecessary at this point; it’s also an understatement.

The struggles have been well-documented — four straight losses while plating only one run against mediocre competition. It’s been so bad that Brett Tomko, who had all of one shutout in nearly 1800 career innings prior to Monday, was able to blank the Rangers while feeling the effects of nerve damage that will keep him out the rest of the year. Even for a team that’s struggled at the plate all year, it’s been surprisingly difficult to watch.

But the Angels have faltered of late as well. Before a comeback win last night in Boston, LAA had lost four of five, including a controversial 9-8 loss in Fenway on Wednesday that left the Angels steaming and several coaches possibly facing disciplinary actions. And while Thursday’s victory has slightly quelled concerns for the time being, there’s still plenting of complaining and questioning and strategizing going on, leaving the Angels faithful to ask one question.

What would Darin Erstad do?

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After five and a half months of baseball seemed to be culminating in a two-week stretch run for their first playoff bid in a decade, the Rangers’ season has come unraveled in just four days. Since Saturday, Texas is 1-4, including three straight losses in which they’ve scored only one total run. They’ve dropped from 2 to 5.5 games back in the wild card race, and while they’ve only lost half a game on the Angels in the division, they’ve failed to make up ground during a rare cold streak for Los Angeles.

In other words, if the Rangers season isn’t quite dead yet, it’s on life support.

Some pundits have called out the fans for not supporting the team in larger numbers in Arlington. Most others are blaming an ownership that, despite its best efforts to dispel the rumors, is completely broke. Tom Hicks insists that MLB is not controlling the team’s finances, but it still appears as though things will get worse before they get better even if the Rangers are stocked with baseball’s most prized commodity — cheap, controllable talent.

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Series Preview: Rangers vs. Athletics

After dropping two of three in a disappointing weekend series, the Rangers have fallen all the way to four back in the wild card and six back in the division. In need of a sweep to keep things interesting before they head to L.A. on Friday, the Rangers will have the good fortune of a three-game home series with the 64-78 Oakland A’s, who are 12th in the AL in runs scored. The bad news is they’re 6-6 against the Rangers this year and have won five of their last seven overall.

Andrew Bailey has been a big part of their recent success, saving three of their five wins and setting an Oakland rookie record for saves with 24. Bailey’s case for the AL Rookie of the Year award might be hampered by the A’s subpar season, but all the credentials are there, especially after he was named AL Rookie of the Month for August.

Bailey is just one reason why the pitching, as expected, hasn’t been the problem in Oakland. CF Rajai Davis has been electric in earning himself a regular role in the outfield, but he’s one of the few things offensively that A’s fans have to get excited about. Scott Hairston cooled off when he got to Oakland, and Matt Holliday got hot when he left. The defense, although much better of late, has contributed to the A’s allowing the 4th most unearned runs in the league. And it’s all combined to get Oakland mathematically eliminated from postseason contention with their next loss, which could come as early as tonight.

For their own sake, the Rangers hope it does.

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Weekend In Review

The Rangers’ long, wet weekend finally came to an end with a disheartening 5-0 loss at the hands of Felix Hernandez  last night. And after spending more time waiting out rain delays than actually playing baseball, the M’s departed Arlington having taken two of three from Texas and pushing the Rangers from two back to four back in the wild card standings. The inclement weather not only meant the Rangers had to get creative with rescheduling and rearrange the rotation, but it also left us with plenty of time to contemplate Ron Washington’s decision making.

The weekend also provided quite a bit of injury news, especially regarding Josh Hamilton’s problematic back. After seeing specialist in California and receiving his third shot in a matter of weeks, it was announced that Hamilton would likely miss another week of action and wouldn’t return until Friday’s opening with the Angels at the earliest. While that still seems to be the case, the good news is the most recent treatment appears to have helped significantly, and Hamilton — as well as Michael Young — could be back sooner rather than later.

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Series Preview: Rangers vs. Mariners

The Mariners entered the final weekend of their miserable 2008 season with a 58-101 and a 1.5 game “lead” on the Nationals for the wost record in baseball. The finished the year with a three-game sweep of the Oakland A’s and, in the process, played their way out of the chance to draft super prospect Stephen Strasburg. But the winning streak, while untimely, might have foreshadowed Seattle’s much more successful ’09 campaign in which they’ve maintained a record above .500 and were still relevant in the playoff race until a five game skid that started Saturday against — who else — the Oakland A’s.

Seattle will finish up a ten game road trip with a weekend series in Arlington, where they’ve lost six of seven games this year, and despite the fact that it’s only been a month since the two teams met at Rangers Ballpark, quite a bit has changed for both teams. Vicente Padilla is no longer in Texas, and Michael Young and Josh Hamilton are both hurt. For Seattle, Brandon Morrow is back in the rotation, while Jason Vargas and Garrett Olson are out. Erik Bedard was moved to the 60-day DL in August and young lefty Luke French, who’s struggled since being acquired for Jarrod Washburn at the deadline, was moved to the bullpen to make room for Morrow.

Despite their ever-changing pitching staff, Seattle’s managed to maintain the best ERA in the A.L, but the offense ranks dead last in the league in runs scored and plated only five in three games against the Angels this week. Although their playoff chances are likely gone, M’s fans can take solace in the facts that Franklin Gutierrez has been terrific and, as usual, Ichiro is going for another 200 hit season. On the more unfortunate side, they’ve been haunted by Kenji and Kenny G.

And with the Red Sox and Angels facing shrinking magic numbers, the Rangers have to be sure this series won’t come back to haunt them at season’s end.

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The Rangers started the season much like they ended today: with a sweep of the Cleveland Indians. And while improved pitching has vaulted the Rangers into the midst of a pennant race, Texas’ one and two starters to begin the season haven’t had a whole lot to contribute of late. Vicente Padilla was released a month ago and Kevin Millwood has hit a wall after a tremendous first half, leaving the Rangers’ young pitchers to pick up the slack.

But for a team that gets some of the best value out its players of any team in baseball, it’s no surprise that their biggest most of their biggest contributors are guys with sub-million salaries. After being burned by big contracts over the last few years, the front office is well aware of the perils of the free agent market, which is why they have to carefully ponder what to do with veterans like Marlon Byrd and Ivan Rodriguez. And, in the wake of the Danny Gutierrez trade, the Rangers seem to already be looking ahead at who will be on next year’s 40-man roster.

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Series Preview: Rangers at Indians

While the Rangers missed an opportunity to gain some ground in the playoff race by facing the second-worst team in the league over the weekend, the Angels beat up on the AL’s worst club and the Red Sox kept pace by winning one of three against the White Sox. Now the AL’s third worst club, the Cleveland Indians, are hoping to keep the Rangers down with a three game series at Progressive Field that starts tonight.

Cleveland began the season with playoff aspirations, but their disappointing run has left manager Eric Wedge unsure of his job security and fans wanting to clean house and look to the future.  They’ve lost Grady Sizemore for the year, which some thought should’ve happened months ago, and their pitching staff has allowed the third most runs in the majors.

Yet despite their struggles, Cleveland has gone 25-22 since the All-Star break and already knocked one playoff hopeful off course by taking two of three from the Twins over the weekend. So, with Texas preparing for a nine game homestand against AL West foes starting Friday, a series win isn’t just important anymore. It’s essential.

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Series Preview: Rangers at Orioles

When former Ranger 1B Mark Teixeira was mulling his options as a free agent last winter, the Maryland native supposedly considered the Orioles as a possible destination. Chances are he doesn’t regret his decision to pick New York, especially not after the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Orioles on Wednesday, pushed their lead to 32 games over Baltimore in the AL East, and will most assuredly be in the playoffs.

The Orioles, meanwhile, don’t have much left to play for these days, except maybe avoiding their first 100 loss season in 21 years. After starting the year 6-2, things got ugly quickly for Baltimore, who limped into the All-Star break with a 40-48 record and have gone 14-32 since. They lost their ninth straight contest to the Yankees a few days ago, star CF Adam Jones could miss the rest of the season, and Dave Trembley might be ready to snap.

So what’s the biggest issue for the Orioles? A pitching staff that owns a cumulative 5.05 ERA, good for dead last in MLB. The Rangers will face two starters, LHP Brian Matusz and RHP Chris Tillman, that have a total 71 innings between them, while the third starter, veteran Jeremy Guthrie, has the fourth worst ERA among qualified ML pitchers. Add that to the fact that the bullpen will be filled with recent callups after having been a mess all year, and the Rangers would seem to have an easy three-game series in Baltimore on their hands.

But there might be a few problems…

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Even on a day when there was plenty of good news — the Rangers swept a double-header from the Blue Jays, the Angels lost in Seattle, Brandon McCarthy made a very successful return from the DL — the bad news might overshadow it in the end. Michael Young is set to have an MRI on the hamstring he tweaked in game two last night. Hamstring injuries usually aren’t quick to heal, and the Rangers can ill-afford to lose their leader in OPS for much or all of the final month of the season.

But a little help from some struggling bats could assuage the loss of Young. Josh Hamilton launched two rocket homers in the nightcap that were reminiscent of his 2008 campaign, while Chris Davis raised his season average 12 points and drove in four runs yesterday. Davis’ 5-8 performance, which was prophesized by Jamey Newberg, improved his slash line to an impressive .355/.375/.548 since returning from triple-A. He’s striking out once every 3.88 at bats, still a relatively high number, but a huge improvement from the 2.26 ratio he owned before he was demoted.

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