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Fixing A Leaky Pen

When Jimmy Rollins sent Jonathan Broxton’s 99 mph fastball screaming into the right-center gap of Citizens Bank Park last night, Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier chased obligatorily after it, although he never really had a chance. The ball bounced off the wall, just below the scoreboard, and dribbled along the warning track before Ethier could finally scoop it up and fire it in to shortstop Rafael Furcal. Philadelphia’s Eric Bruntlett scored easily from second base, and Carlos Ruiz, despite his 5’10″, 216-pound frame and catcher’s knees, made it all the way around from first before Furcal could get the ball out of his glove. After being an out away from tying the NLCS at two games apiece, the Dodgers fell dangerously close to elimination with a 5-4 loss.

Broxton was only the second reliever to play a major role Monday, as just hours before Yankee closer Mariano Rivera worked out of a tight spot in the bottom of the 10th of their game with Los Angeles to keep it going. After the Angels put runners on the corners with no outs, Rivera forced three straight ground outs to push the game into a second extra frame, and though the Angels ended up winning in 11 innings, Rivera’s performance is a testament to the value of having a dominant pitcher in the back of a bullpen.

To this point, the ’09 playoffs haven’t been kind to closers. Maligned Angel’s closer Brian Fuentes blew a save in the 11th inning Saturday after allowing a homer to Alex Rodriguez. One day earlier, former Ranger Chan Ho Park earned an 8th inning blown save after he gave up two runs to the Dodgers. In the postseason’s first round, Huston Street allowed a run in the 9th inning of a tied game three against the Phillies. One night later, he came into the 9th inning of game four with a 4-2 lead, and left two outs later with a 5-4 deficit. Boston’s Jonathan Pabelbon, Minnesota’s Joe Nathan, and St. Louis’ Ryan Franklin all blew two-run, 9th inning leads in their respective divisional series, leading their teams to early ousters. Through 62-9th inning outs, the equivalent of 21 innings, 15 runs scored in the ALDS and NLDS, and there have been nearly as many blown saves (9) as saves (10).

Which brings us to the Rangers. Although they didn’t quite qualify for the postseason this year, it’s hard to imagine that they wouldn’t have been contributing to the bullpen debacle had they made it in. The Rangers closer situation was an interesting one in 2009. It started about as well as anyone could have hoped — with 17.2 scoreless innings and 11 saves from Frank Francisco — but the remainder of the season was marked with injury, uncertainty, a lot of collar loosening, and plenty of brow wiping. It got so bad by season’s end that some fans were calling for rookie Neftali Feliz or soft-tossing sidearmer Darren O’Day to take over the final frame. But with Feliz likely moving back into the rotation next year, O’Day’s unproven track record, and the relative unpredictability of relievers from year to year, should the Rangers be looking to stabilize the back of their pen?

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Bringing Back The Byrd

It’s only been seven days since the Texas Rangers ended their ’09 campaign with a loss to King Felix and the Mariners in Seattle. It’ll be another 176 days before they take the field again — not that we’re counting or anything. And though there’s still a month of baseball left for the elite, or perhaps more aptly labeled, well-funded teams, it’s just not quite the same without a hometown team to root for.

So while a long offseason looms for us Dallas die-hards, the question of what key changes will be made to the Rangers roster for 2010 will likely have an answer by January. In truth, Texas doesn’t figure to throw a lot of money around on the  free agent market because, well, Tom Hicks doesn’t have it. It doesn’t help that the Rangers owe Vicente Padilla and Frank Catalanotto a couple million each to buyout their contracts, despite the fact that Cat hasn’t donned a Rangers uni in over a year and Padilla spent his Saturday pitching the Dodgers to their second straight NLCS berth (I slept until two and ate a day-old burrito. To each his own, I guess). But the Rangers supposedly aren’t looking to shed payroll, and if Evan Grant’s math is right, Jon Daniels and company could have at least a little cash to play with over the coming months.

Which brings us to Marlon Byrd.

Byrd started 100 games for the Rangers in center field this season and tallied another 41 starts in the corner outfield positions, providing much needed versatility in an outfield plagued with injuries and inconsistency. He got nearly half of his 547 at bats in prime run-producing positions, rewarding Ron Washinton’s confidence in him by posting a combined slash line of .305/.370/.554 while driving in 55 runs from the three and four spots in the order. By all accounts, he was a tremendous leader and clubhouse presence on a team rife with 20-somethings. He’s said that he wants to remain a Ranger. His teammates have spoken out about how vital his return is, with Michael Young being his most vocal supporter. Even the normally tight-lipped GM Jon Daniels, who prefers to play most things close to the vest, had this to say in a recent chat with Richard Durrett…

As we’ve told Marlon and his agent Sam Levinson, we’d like to have him back. Now it comes down to what fits for us financially, given the makeup of this team, and what he feels he’d accept. We’re not at the point just yet of exchanging specifics #s but we probably will be soon. If he’s not back, we have quality depth in the OF and we’ll also pursue alternatives via trade/FA.

It seems all parties want to get a deal done. So what’s the problem? At 32-years-old, Byrd is running out of time to really cash in on his playing career.  Sure, he’s earned about $5 million in the last two years, which is more than most people see in a lifetime. But that’s a pittance compared to what some of his peers make, and it’s what Alex Rodriguez pulled in for a month’s work this year, not including endorsements. So while Byrd and the Rangers have both said they’d like to reach an agreement, that’s no guarantee. Because talk is cheap, and Marlon Byrd won’t be.

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Major League Baseball’s Playoffs Are Finally Here; Haven’t We Seen This Movie Already?

Baseball’s playoffs have begun. And don’t the teams look familiar? When compared to the other three sports over the past 10 years, MLB has had less movement between the haves and have nots, according to calculation performed by yours truly. While I can’t approach Sports Sturm in detailed dissection of numbers, I offer the following in trying to examine parity in the sports leagues – and how it’s decreasing in baseball.

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The Depot: Rangers-Angels Live Game Blog, News, Notes and Noontime Prayer Vigil for AL West Race

11:30: The home run pool is open. And it’s glistening under this strange yellow light up in the sky. I’m not sure what you would call it, but it’s not the usual gray we are used to.

12:30: With runners on the corners and one out, Marlon Byrd takes a contested called third strike and it looks like first inning opportunity might evaporate. Then Hank Blalock bloops a two-out, two-strike single to left field for a hit. He drove in the winning run last night and has put the Rangers on top today. And, so, for all the complaining about his disappointing performance this season, there are reasons why you keep veterans around.

12:34: Another two-out, two-strike hit for Rangers, this one from Nelson Cruz. He had been in a 3-for-30 slump.  First multi-run inning for the Rangers since the first game of last Sunday’s doubleheader. It’s the first time they’ve scored as many as three runs in an inning since the ninth inning of a 10-0 win over Cleveland on Sept. 9. Quite a stretch.

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Help Wanted: Theories Needed on Rangers Demise

Admission: I’m completely stumped.

This week was shaping up as such a huge week for the Rangers. When they came home from sweeping Cleveland, the Rangers seemed to be in prime position to make a real run at two different playoff spots. They had manageable deficits in both the AL West race and the wild card. And to start the homestand off, they’d have six games against the non-contenders in the division and a day off while the division-leading Angels faced a three-game series at wild card leader Boston.

The way everything was shaping up, they’d know by this evening exactly which playoff spot was theirs for the taking and then they could go out and try to seize upon it with a sea of red-clad fans in a three-game series against the Angels over the weekend. The Rangers – believe it or not – threatened to make the official regular season opener of Cowboys Stadium a second-tier event.

And then this week happened. Three rain delays. Four losses in five games. Three shutouts. One run in the 37 innings. Who saw this coming?

Not me.

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The Depot: Rangers-A’s Live Game Blog, News, Notes and 90-Day Weight Loss Plan

6:30: The home run pool is up and running. Also, we’ve got words from and video of Michael Young talking about his early return from a hamstring injury.

7:16: The Rangers are pushing RHP Kevin Millwood back to Monday, meaning the veteran won’t pitch against the Los Angeles Angels this weekend.

The Rangers will instead go with RHPs Tommy Hunter and Scott Feldman and rookie LHP Derek Holland. Even though Holland has struggled recently, too, the Rangers like the lefty matchup vs. the Angels. Holland pitched a three-hit shutout at Los Angeles in August, but is 0-4 with a 13.50 ERA in his last four outings. Pushing Millwood back gives the Rangers a chance to let him get in two extra bullpen throwing sessions in addition to the two he has already had.  Millwood said he’s “definitely” getting something out of the extra work, but also was disappointed about not pitching in what figures to be the biggest home series of the season.

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The Depot: Rangers-A’s Live Game Blog, News, Notes and Complimentary Rain Slickers

6:30: The home run pool is open for your predicting pleasure.

7:07: There have been no decisions made on when Kevin Millwood will pitch again, but manager Ron Washington seems to be pretty steadfast that Millwood will, indeed, make another start for the Rangers.

7:13: The Rangers have released their Fall Instructional League roster. Perhaps the most significant names on the list are  a pair of 16-year-old infielders, Jurickson Profar and Luis Sardinas. The duo, who each received $1.5 million signing bonuses, were the top amateur free agents the Rangers signed this summer. RHPs Michael Main (first round, 2007), Neil Ramirez (supplemental first round, 2007) and LHP Martin Perez (the club’s No. 1 pitching prospect) will all participate.

7:35: Just in case you are wondering on my take on Kevin Millwood, it’s this: I’d start him on Sunday. If there were clear cut choices to move into that spot, I’d have no problem pushing Millwood back. RHP Brandon McCarthy, who will probably pitch Sunday, has  a nice record (7-2), but its not like he has dominated when healthy this year. He’s made two starts since coming back from the DL. He was sharp against Toronto, but allowed Cleveland five runs in 6.1 innings. The other option is LHP Derek Holland and he simply hasn’t been very good since the start of August.

Millwood was a huge part of the Rangers’ early-season success and was the model for the ohter pitchers to follow at the start of this season. That’s a good engouh tiebreaker for me to give him a shot. But it should also be mentioned he has playoff race experience.

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Sitting Kevin Millwood Down Would Help Rangers Balance Sheet; Might it Help Playoff Chances, too?

It’s no longer just about the money with Kevin Millwood.

Allowing Millwood to make another start would almost certainly insure the financially-strapped Rangers would be on the hook for $12 million for his seemingly declining services  2010. The only way it wouldn’t is if Millwood makes another start like the one he did Saturday. And if he makes another start like Saturday, it just might sabotage any remaining chance the Rangers have of reaching the playoffs.

So, yeah, the money is a big deal, but the bigger issue right now is whether keeping Millwood in the rotation is the best option for the team on the field, not the one in the front office.

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The Depot: Rangers-Mariners Live Game Blog, News, Notes and Flash Flood Advisories

7:22: Hey, what do you know we’re playing. Surprised me. Also, apparently surprised the computer, which gobbled up tonight’s home run pool. I’m blaming it on faulty plumbing.

7:24: First pitch is hit for a double by Ichiro Suzuki. No surprise. He’s now 27-for-66 in his career against Millwood. He has three more hits to go to reach 200.

7:34: Another amateur weather update. It appears that there should be no rain for about an hour or 90 minutes, then light showers for a period of time before it gets heavier. But as long the weather holds up long enough for an official game, the Rangers will have dodged a huge logistical bullet. Then, of course, there is the matter of Sunday when the forecast is better, but still not great.

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Discussing Michael Young’s Hamstring with Injury Expert Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus

Will Carroll, author of Baseball Prospectus’ Under the Knife column, is considered the leading expert in the baseball media world on injuries and understanding medical treatments. Carroll, who lives in Indianapolis, authored the book Saving the Pitcher in 2004 analyzing pitching injuries and offering theories on how to suggest them. He’s a good friend of those who cover the Rangers and has been a regular (and popular) speaker at Newberg Report Night at Rangers Ballpark the last couple of year. We caught up with him Wednesday shortly after he’d finished writing an Under the Knife entry on Michael Young’s injury.

“The Rangers got the news that, as expected, Michael Young has a significant strain of his left hamstring. “Significant” usually means a Grade II and early speculation on the timeframe matches that. The best case has him back in two weeks, just in time for a big series with the Angels. The more realistic case has him out until about the end of the month. Some people caught that my ERD for Young was very optimistic yesterday, spotting him at the 12th. Since Young won’t have to go on the DL (almost no one will in September), the Rangers can play a bit faster and looser than normal. Young is undergoing the fashionable treatment, platelet rich plasma injections, to try and heal up. I think in about ten days, Young will have made enough progress that he’ll push himself into a discussion with the Rangers brass about playing. I’m not sure if it will be a full start or some lesser role, pinch hitting perhaps, but I think we’ll end up seeing Young more quickly than most. The downside here is the recurrence risk, but the Rangers are going to have trouble keeping Young on the bench.”

Follow the jump for more from Carroll on the Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) and the Michael Young case.

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Texas Rangers Say: Nice to See You Again, Josh Hamilton

ARLINGTON – Since Ernie “Let’s Play Two!” Banks retired, finding players who are fond of doubleheaders is a monumental task.

Rangers OF Josh Hamilton might be the exception.

A long day at Rangers Ballpark Tuesday might just have helped him unlock the mysteries of a home run swing that has deserted him for much of this injury-plagued season. After a hitless first at-game, Hamilton homered in consecutive at-bats in the second.

They were his first homers since August 7. He had only two homers since May 25, a span of 57 games.

“I was just happy I remembered how to jog around the bases,” Hamilton said after the second of a pair of 5-2 wins over Toronto. “But really, it was a sense of relief to hit one again. I was kidding around with a lot of teammates afterward.  [Nelson Cruz] asked me if I wanted him to go get the ball for me. Guys had been kidding me about having batting practice pop, but not having any more game pop. As much of a relief as this was for me, I think it was a relief for them, too.”

No kidding.

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The Depot: Rangers-Blue Jays Live Game Blog, News, Notes and Two Times the Fun

Game 2

Game 1

2:58: The homer pool is open and we’ve tweaked for the doubleheader. And to get you up to date, here’s Jeff Miller’s first installment of Race Day, a look at the playoff races.

4:10: In case you missed the Rangers roster moves for today, there were a slew of them. The club added seven players and DFA’d RHP Thomas Diamond to make room on the 40-man roster. There will likely be a couple more forthcoming in the upcoming week. DH Andruw Jones can be activated from the DL on Tuesday and RHP Willie Eyre is eligible to be recalled tomorrow.  Interesting thing about the moves: The Rangers had a speedy outfielder (Greg Golson) and an extra catcher (Max Ramirez) on the 40-man roster, but chose to bypass both for Craig Gentry, who is considered a better baserunner and superior defender, and Kevin Richardson. Apparently, the Rangers wanted to send a message to Ramirez that his .232 batting average this season was not worthy of a callup.

4:36: Apparently Golson has a left wrist strain. He is not on the DL, however. He left an August 27 game early and didn’t return until last night when he was 0-for-3 for Oklahoma City.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (9/1)

Triple-A: @Oklahoma City 9, New Orleans 4

Despite four strong innings in a spot start, RHP Brian Gordon (7-2; 3.07) didn’t get a win because he didn’t pitch the necessary five innings to qualify. He left with a 3-0 lead after going four innings of scoreless two hit baseball. RHP Josh Rupe (4-7; 6.93) was the winning pitcher despite allowing a pair of runs on two hits and three walks in 2.2 innings. RHP Willie Eyre (0-0; 2.10) got a save after two perfect innings, striking out three.

C Max Ramirez (.237/.327/.335) had two singles and two walks with an RBI, while LF Casey Benjamin (.215/.336/.321) reached base five times with a double and four walks. 1B Royce Huffman (.295/.377/.414) was the only starter to not drive in a run, but he still managed a 2-4 effort, walking and doubling in the process.

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Considering Pudge Rodriguez’s Return to Rangers

According to multiple reports on the web, the Rangers are about to reacquire C Ivan Rodriguez as a backup to C Taylor Teagarden. You can read the sourced reports here and here.

Rangers officials said the club had no comment on the report, but a club source has also confirmed to me that its all but a foregone conclusion the 14-time All-Star is on his way back to Arlington to serve as a backup and perhaps as an occasional right-handed DH in September. According to one report, the Rangers are sending Houston RHP Matt Nevarez and a player to be named later to complete the deal. The player to be named will be INF Jose Vallejo, according to a source.

Here are some thoughts:

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Fun With Small Sample Stats

Mr. Happy is averaging 15.4 strikeouts per nine innings…and 4.50 pitches per plate appearance.

That makes me giggle.