Grouse Hunt: The Inside Story Of How Ian Kinsler Became A Ranger

Rangers Crosschecker
Mike Grouse

Six years ago, the Rangers amateur scouting department got together to merge their area draft boards into one big, comprehensive board as they do every year, including last week in preparation for the 2009 draft.

There were a couple of collegiate shortstops on the list who were being considered to fill out the Spokane roster for the 2003 season and when the meetings got started, Baylor’s Trey Webb looked like he’d probably be the guy who would get the job at the cost of a fourth or fifth round pick.

But one area scout spoke up during those meetings claiming that he’d been following a kid he knew was much better than Webb and could be had in the tenth round, probably much later than that. Though no one knew it at the time, it was a moment that would radically alter the future of the Texas Rangers.

The amateur draft takes place Tuesday and Wednesday. You’ll have no trouble finding stories about what happens in the first round or two, but what goes after that — and why, and how — is pretty murky. There’s no shortage of lists ranking the top-100 prospect lists (or top-50 high school hitters, or top-20 college left-handers, etc.), but the story of how and why a club decides to take a guy in the 10th, 17th or 30th round is rarely told.

With a focus on one of the greatest 17th round picks of all time and the scout who found him, Inside Corner takes you inside of the scouting and drafting process beyond the first few rounds.

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Padilla Waiver Watch

With the deadline for clubs to place a waiver claim on Vicente Padilla having passed just a few minutes ago, it appears that Padilla remains property of the Texas Rangers.

Rangers GM Jon Daniels said the club would make no comments about whether a player was placed on waivers or cleared.

Assuming he cleared, the Rangers now have the option of assigning Padilla to the minor leagues and should they do so, Padilla would have the option of refusing the assignment and taking free agency. More likely, however, Padilla will simply stay in the Rangers rotation.

UPDATE: More than an hour after the deadline has passed, I believe it is safe to assume Padilla has cleared waivers. The Rangers are listing him as their probable starter for Sunday’s game at Boston. Daniels declined to comment on whether this week’s move has prompted interest from other clubs. Atlanta, however, is reportedly looking to upgrade its starting pitching and has been researching Boston RHP Brad Penny. – Evan Grant

Chatting Baseball With My Boys

There is no question that posting about baseball on this blog for a rube like me would be a little like Miss Wisconsin trying to grab attention on South Beach.  That being said, I have questions that must be answered.  And, I have friends at Inside Corner that spend a lot of time thinking about baseball.   So, what if I cornered Evan Grant and Mike Hindman during Wednesday Night’s game and got answers to some of my many questions?

My idea was a virtual real-time roundtable that could be posted while the game is going and you, our treasured readers, could follow along as it happened.  But, we are working out a few technology bugs before that can go down.  So, essentially, what I did was ask each of them, in seperate chats, the same basic questions.

I had 1 hour, and they could not see each-others answers, but for our first effort…I think it was an effort. 3,000 words of hard-core ask-them-anything because they are bound by law to answer Rangers queries for our Rangers brains. It was everything I dreamed it would be – assuming that I dream about Ranger chats.    I must thank them for their time.  I hope you enjoy.

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After Further Review…Oops.

When doing radio, a big mistake that can be made is to repeat something you heard from somebody else.  It is best to A) have your own opinions that you have hand-crafted after careful consideration and B) when hearing something from someone else, it should always be checked for accuracy.

I perhaps failed on both counts this week, when I heard someone I respect claim that Derek Holland struggles at every level after promotion.  I assumed that the person I heard had it right, so I said it on my show yesterday without checking the facts.

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Pitching & Defensive Inefficiency

Following up on my look at the Rangers defensive metrics, I decided to take a closer look at the impact that the defensive inefficiency of the 2008 Rangers had on the pitching staff.

I start off with a fairly detailed look at Kevin Millwood and then look at the staff more generally and uncover something that underscores just how important it was for the Rangers to make improving infield defense a high priority for 2009.

Here’s a hint: You know the prevailing theory that it helps to be a ground ball pitcher at RBiA? Turns out, not so much. It just might be possible that the Rangers — by adding Elvis Andrus to the mix — have made one of the most important pitching upgrades in years without making a single significant addition to the staff.

I ask your forgiveness in advance for the acute case of tired-head I’m about to plague most of you with, but I’ll invite you to make the jump for more baseball staty stat-dork goodness nonetheless.

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Crunchy Numbers: Rangers Defensive Metrics

You know the old joke about how a team wasn’t very good but they made up for it by not trying very hard? Well, I’m not accusing the Rangers of not trying hard, but while the 2008 Rangers suffered from horrible pitching, but they made up for it with wretched defense.

Earlier this month, Evan talked to John Dewan, creator of the Fielding Bible, about the chances for improved Rangers defense in 2009 and this is a follow-up or expansion on that piece.

I generally agree with Dewan that the Rangers defense should be much better in 2009, but I do see one pretty big problem (and Nolan Ryan seems to agree with me on this).

I’ll warn you before you make the leap. This pushes the envelope for baseball geekyness. Though I study this stuff, I rarely try to write about it because it’s too esoteric for most people to fight through, and that’s not exactly what we’re going for here.

But if you are interested in this stuff or if you just want to take a peek inside the brain of a truly pathetic baseball dork, then by all means make the jump.

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Cactus League Miscellany

Spring stats don’t mean anything. Or do they? Whatever the case, I’ve been up since 3:30 am pouring over the Rangers Cactus League stats and box scores and here are few random observations for your edification:

Brandon Boggs, who is hitting .300 / .404 / .575 / .979, has played center field in each of his last five appearances this spring. He did not see time in center in any of his 17 previous games. He appeared in 101 games for the Rangers last year, seeing time in center just twice. I’ve always thought that Boggs was fully capable of playing quality center field, so on one had this doesn’t surprise me, but if the Rangers really anticipate breaking camp with Andruw Jones (who could back up Hamilton in center, as could Marlon Byrd), and with both Julio Borbon and Greg Golson likely to start of with Oklahoma, why the sudden need to see Boggs in center field every day? Or is there somebody else who wants to see him in center every day?

Nelson Cruz, who is hitting .313 / .378 / .906 / 1.285, has drawn four walks while fanning five times this spring. Small sample and all, but this might be more reinforcement that the change in his plate approach is real and permanent.

Willie Eyre was getting an inning every three days. It’s now been five days since he last pitched in a Cactus League game. In spite of his success (1.50 ERA in six appearances), have the Rangers resigned themselves to optioning Eyre to Oklahoma?

Who’s the long man? Every one of Dustin Nippert’s appearances this spring has lasted at least two innings. The only other bullpen candidate to pitch two innings in an appearance is C.J. Wilson who has done so in one of his five appearances. Nippert has a spring ERA of 2.08 and has held the opposition to a .212 average while posting a K/BB ratio of 3.00.

Farm Futures: Back from Surprise

I always come home a bit disappointed in who I didn’t get to see in action (Neil Ramirez, Wilmer Font, Blake Bevan, Kasey Kiker this time), but then again it’s always interesting to come across a standout I didn’t expect (Derek Holland & Kennil Gomez last year; Ian Kinsler in 2004; Edinson Volquez in 2005).

After the jump, I’ll empty out my notebook of thoughts and observations on who stood out and why during my four days in the desert.

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Farm Futures Notebook

Our Leader and I got to the ballyard bright and early today. As we set up in the press box at 7:30 a.m. on this Sunday morning, a group of about 30 Rangers veterans and prospects have gathered in the stadium seats for what appears to be a semi-organized prayer service. The clouds are drifting away to reveal the mountains on the horizon and sun prepares to embark upon yet another all-out attack on my neck and ever-expanding bald spot.

I had a few notes and observations from yesterday’s minor league action that I didn’t get to in the edition of Live From Surprise that we posted last night, so I thought I’d empty out the notebook as we prepare for a Camp Day (no games).

After the jump, we’ll begin with a discussion of Leury Garcia, a shortstop who turned 18 on Wednesday and then move on to talk about 2008 second rounder Robbie Ross and a few other items.

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Farm Futures — Live from Surprise (3/21)

SURPRISE, AZ – On a day when top pitching prospects Michael Main, Martin Perez, Robbie Ross and Joe Wieland all pitched, it was the young man you are looking at right now who stole the show on the Surprise Stadium minor league fields.

There was nothing wrong with the performances that the more-heralded pitching prospects turned in today — each had more ups than downs (especially Wieland), and we’ll discuss all of them after the jump — but none were as dominant at Geuris Grullon.

You probably haven’t heard much — if anything — about the long, lean 19 year old lefty Grullon, but if today was even somewhat representative of what he’s capable of doing, you will most certainly be hearing a lot about him in the future.

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Blogging Forecast For Friday Afternoon: We’re Majoring In The Minors And Cryptic Comments

Believe it was the great former Ranger Mark McLemore who once explained the veteran’s perspective on going to road games when the club trained in Florida.

There were two rules:
1. He didn’t do Forts or Ports.
2. No more than one long bridge over water.

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