SB Nation - Brandon McCarthy

NL Source: Giants interested in Brandon McCarthy

Eli Greenspan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:03:55 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

Jon Paul Morosi is reporting that Rangers pitcher Brandon McCarthy is drawing interest on the open market. McCarthy was limited by injuries to only 22 starts over the past two seasons. He went 8-5 with a 4.53 ERA during that time.

Morosi goes on to say the Rangers do not need to move McCarthy, but will entertain offers for the pitcher.

One NL source said after the Giants lost Brad Penny to the Cardinals, a cheap option like McCarthy would allow the Giants not to rush prospect Madison Baumgarden.

While I agree with the logic, one source said he would be surprised if the Giants interest was nothing more than "mild."

I exchanged queries with another reporter, who asked to remain anonymous, who said the Nationals did inquire about McCarthy when they looked into trading for Kevin Millwood. The Millwood talks got no where and it is still too early for McCarthy.

I'll keep you posted.

Richard Durrett with a Brandon McCarthy Q&A

Adam J. Morris — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:42:35 -0000

More photos » by Dave Einsel - AP

6 months ago: Texas Rangers' Brandon McCarthy, right, gets a hug from manager Ron Washington, left, after pitching a complete game shutout against the Houston Astros, Sunday, May 24, 2009, in Houston. McCarthy threw 121 pitches to lead the Rangers to a 5-0 win over the Astros. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)

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Richard Durrett has a Q&A up with Brandon McCarthy over at the ESPN Dallas Rangers blog...

It includes some discussion from McCarthy about the mechanical changes and the things being done to try to avoid a repeat of the shoulder blade stress fracture that has interrupted two of his seasons with Texas...

Check it out...

Saturday a.m. Rangers things

Adam J. Morris — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:02:19 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

2 months ago: Seattle Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki, right, walks to the dugout as Texas Rangers catcher Taylor Teagarden returns the ball after Suzuki struck out in the seventh inning of a MLB baseball game, Friday, Oct. 2, 2009, at Safeco Field in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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Two games to go. Texas has sole possession of second place locked up, and regardless of what happens the next two days, this season has to be viewed as a success.

Anthony Andro says it was the young Ranger hitters -- Julio Borbon, Taylor Teagarden, Elvis Andrus, and Chris Davis -- that led the way last night.

Brandon McCarthy got yanked in the fifth, and I was surprised he got pulled so soon, given that he appeared to be pitching okay and his pitch count wasn't that high. McCarthy apparently was surprised as well:

"I felt like I threw really well today," he said. "There were a few pitches here and there I’d like to have back, but for the most part there aren’t many pitches I wouldn’t throw going back at them again. I’m out there giving it my all and I’d love to have the confidence put in me."

Julio Borbon is going to play in center the next three games; meanwhile, Ron Washington says he doesn't expect Nelson Cruz to be able to play again this season because of his ankle. Washington indicated he didn't even bother to check with Cruz to see if he could go yesterday.

Among the coaches, only Mike Maddux has a contract for 2010, but Ron Washington says he wants everyone back next year.

Friday morning Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:25:21 -0000

by Tony Dejak - AP

3 months ago: Texas Rangers' Ivan Rodriguez looks up after running the bases after hitting a two-run home run off Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Fausto Carmona in the first inning in a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

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I'm going to stop saying "big series" or "big game," because they are all big right now.

Jeff Wilson writes that the Rangers have set their rotation for the final stretch, with Kevin Millwood, Scott Feldman, and Tommy Hunter all getting five starts apiece, and Brandon McCarthy and Derek Holland getting four.

Evan Grant has a lengthy piece up looking at the performance of Ron Washington this season.

Randy Galloway has a column celebrating Nolan Ryan and Mike Maddux turning the Rangers around by fixing their pitching.

Rangers designate Thomas Diamond for assignment

Adam J. Morris — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:00:07 -0000

Per the S-T blog, Thomas Diamond has been designated for assignment, and Brandon Boggs has been recalled and transferred to the 60 day disabled list, moves necessitated by the activation of Brandon McCarthy from the 60 day disabled list and purchasing the contracts of Kevin Richardson and Craig Gentry.

Esteban German and Eddie Guardado have been activated from the disabled list, and Guillermo Moscoso and Warner Madrigal have been recalled. Willie Eyre will likely be recalled, as well, as soon as his 10 days run.

The Diamond move is a bit of a shocker, as I figured Joaquin Arias would be the one to get the axe, but Diamond has disappointed this season after being considered a dark-horse candidate to make the team out of spring training in the bullpen. Diamond has missed a lot of time the past three seasons due to injury, and I suspect the Rangers are going to look to move him for a fringe prospect in the next 10 days.

Sunday morning Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:33:21 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

3 months ago: Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009, in Minneapolis. Washington is a former member of the Twins. (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia)

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4 games back of the Angels, 2 1/2 back of Boston in the Wild Card race.

Jeff Wilson writes about Neftali Feliz's improved curveball, which he used to strike out Mike Cuddyer to extinguish the Twins' sixth inning threat last night.

In the game day thread comments last night, I mentioned that one of the things that is interesting to me about this team is that the Rangers are selectively aggressive on the basepaths, depending on matchups...against certain batteries, they don't run, but against certain batteries -- such as with Carl Pavano on the mound last night -- they run at every opportunity. Evan Grant points out that this selective aggressiveness has the Rangers on pace to have the best stolen base percentage of any A.L. team in history with at least 150 steal attempts.

Pedro Strop impressed in his major league debut on Friday.

Wilson's notes include some comments from the Rangers about the Angels adding Scott Kazmir, and the news that Brandon McCarthy will be starting one of the games for Tuesday's doubleheader.

I'm guessing that McCarthy will replace Dustin Nippert, who has shown some flashes but also had some issues throwing strikes, in the rotation. McCarthy's history with the Rangers is that he's been effective when he's been healthy, but he's just not stayed healthy...my guess is that, for the final month, the Rangers will roll with him in the rotation as long as his body holds up.

A story over at Fanhouse about expanding rosters in September includes some quotes from Jon Daniels and Michael Young about adding guys on September 1.

Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman thinks Round Rock could become a Ranger affiliate after next season, and thinks that would be a good thing for Austin baseball fans.

Thursday a.m. Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:08:47 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

4 months ago: Texas Rangers' Andruw Jones follows through on his solo home run to left off Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Casey Fien in the ninth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, July 29, 2009. The solo hit was Jones' second of the game in the 13-5 loss to the Tigers. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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Well, that sucked. Back to 3.5 games out in the A.L. West. And that's probably been the most frustrating thing about this stretch...the Rangers have been hot and have been winning games, and they are basically spinning their wheels because the Angels just aren't losing.

Jeff Wilson writes that maybe the Rangers were due for a meltdown. Scott Feldman looked awful yesterday, and maybe put a damper on the "no, really, his peripherals don't matter because he induces weak contact!" silliness that has been peddled vis-a-vis whether he can sustain his current level of success. His ERA is now 3.99, and we're seeing his FIP and ERA start to converge, as would be expected.

Joaquin Arias was called up yesterday because of Ian Kinsler's tight hamstring. Kinsler is apparently close to being ready to go, though, and if he is, Arias could be sent down to make room for Warner Madrigal, whose presence will be necessary to supplement a tore-up bullpen today. The other alternative would be to option Guillermo Moscoso to make room for Madrigal.

Brandon McCarthy is throwing off a mound again, and hopes to be back in Arlington by mid-August.

MJH has some thoughts about the various potential trade targets out there.

There's also a roundtable discussion with Bob Sturm, MJH, and Evan Grant, that includes this interesting theory from MJH about the success of Ryan Drese that I hadn't heard mentioned before:

Mjhindman: Of course, I’m pretty sure that Drese was loading up the ball and got a warning to stop it. It was a poorly kept secret that Orel was a greaser.

Grant also says this about the attitude among the players vis-a-vis Halladay:

Evan: I think the players believe Halladay can change the race and the playoffs. I believe they think Halladay makes them the favorites for the division. I’d hate to see the reaction if Halladay gets traded and it’s to the Angels instead of the Rangers.

The players probably do believe that, and that's great, as it shows that they have confidence and believe in themselves.

But they are also wrong...the Rangers are 3.5 games behind the Angels, and with or without Halladay, they are longshots to pass Anaheim.

Evan says that he'd give the Blue Jays Feliz, Smoak, any minor league pitchers not named Martin Perez, and any minor league hitter to get Halladay. Presumably, that means Feliz, Smoak, Borbon, and Kiker, Main or Beavan. Too much, particularly given that it is a move being made for 2010, I think, not 2009, when adding Halladay still leaves the Rangers' playoff chances pretty remote.

It is hard to see how, after an 18 strikeout night where the offense once again looked like it was hitting with bags over its heads, Halladay is the difference maker on this team.

Robbie Erlin, a third round lefty high school pitcher out of Cali, signed yesterday.

Friday morning Rangers things

Adam J. Morris — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:31:48 -0000

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP

5 months ago: Texas Rangers' Hank Blalock hits a two-run home run to win the game against the Los Angeles Angels in the ninth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, July 1, 2009. The Rangers won 9-7. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

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A surprisingly large amount of news after an off-day (and for those who weren't scoreboard watching last night, the Angels won, so the Rangers are now a full game back of Anaheim)...

The Rangers have signed international free agent Jurickson Profar and fourth round draft pick Andrew Doyle. Profar, I think most folks know about by now, a guy highly regarded as a pitcher but who wants to play shortstop, and the less heralded of the two international players the Rangers have been closely linked to for months (the other, of course, being Guillermo Pimentel).

Jeff Wilson writes that Josh Hamilton is expected back this weekend, and while there are a lot of expectations that his return will help jump-start the slumping offense, Wilson notes that there are no guarantees that that will happen.

There's a lengthy article on Brandon McCarthy's injury situation in the S-T. The stress fracture plaguing McCarthy is apparently rare in pitchers -- Eddie Correa and Kurt Ainsworth are the two pitchers mentioned in the article who have dealt with that issue -- but when McCarthy returns, the plan is to completely overhaul his mechanics, abandoning the "inverted W" that has caused so much controversy and changing his arm slot in an effort to reduce the stress on his body his delivery causes.

Wilson writes that all Rangers employees have been paid, and while I guess that is bad news, when the fact that you've met your payroll obligations is news, it doesn't bode well for your financial future.

Kevin Sherrington writes that Hicks' financial problems could spell big problems for the Rangers going forward if he doesn't find a buyer fast, and raises the question of whether MLB is going to continue to make funds available to the Rangers if they are planning on giving their top two draft picks slot-busting signing bonuses.

Inside Corner is hosting a couple of get-togethers for Rangers fans in mid-July, with one being at Pappasito's (with Jon Daniels and Ron Washington expected to attend), and another being at the Rangers game, with seats in the All You Can Eat Section of the Home Run Porch being available for $25.

Boy, Did that Strict Pitch Count Ever Screw Up Nolan Ryan's 1987

devil_fingers — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:38:34 -0000

In a recent article (co-written as an exchange with Bill James), Joe Posnanski makes the following remark:

[Nolan] Ryan believed that the game belonged to the starting pitcher. It was his. Ryan HATED 1987 -- that was the year when Houston manager Hal Lanier put Ryan on a strict pitch count (Ryan did not complete a single game that year). On one level it worked: Ryan led the league in ERA. On another, it did not: Ryan finished the season 8-16. You have to think that year is part of what's driving him to recapture a little bit of the 1970s.

This is in the context of Posnanski and James' celebration of Nolan Ryan's challenging of the current conventional wisdom regarding pitchcounts. When I read it, I was curious to find out just how awful Ryan's 1987 turned out to be.

Let me make clear right from the start: I'm not here to offer any sort of opinion about pitch counts or Nolan Ryan's opinions on them in general. (Here is one interesting discussion.) I was more interested to see just how "bad" Ryan's 1987 turned out to be, given that Posnanski implies that it is one thing driving him to make over the Rangers' pitching philosophy. So, withouit any further ado, here's a a chronological graph of Ryan's career using... you guess it, his Pitching Wins Above Replacement according to Rally.

I realize that's difficult to read (you can click on it to get a close up), but I think the gist is pretty clear -- whatever Ryan may or may not feel about 1987, according to Rally's calculations, it was actually the 5th most valuable season of his long (if overrated) career. Moreover, 1987 was the most valuable season he'd had since 1977, and he never was quite as valuable again. Sure, he went 8-16, but, I dunno, maybe an offense that was the second worst in baseball had something to do with it (yes I realize that wRAA for that period isn't park-adjusted; however, when I ran my own linear weights with park adjustments, the 1987 Astros [at -67] still came out second worst to the Dodgers -at 86].).

As I wrote above, I don't have an educated opinion on pitch counts. Still, while he doesn't quote Ryan directly, it is interesting that Posnanski picks 1987 as a year that heavily influenced Ryan's opposition to pitch counts, and it turns out to have been one of Ryan's best seasons. Maybe it's the 8-16 record that sticks out. I can only assume that Nolan Ryan, as the President of a professional baseball club, is smart enough not to use pitcher wins as a measuring stick of any kind of significance... right?

Sunday morning Rangers things

Adam J. Morris — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:54:26 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

6 months ago: Texas Rangers' Ian Kinsler (5), from left, Marlon Byrd, Andruw Jones and Chris Davis (19) celebrate their win over the Oakland Athletics in a baseball game in Arlington, Texas Saturday, May 30, 2009. Byrd had three runs, three hits and one RBI in the 14-1 Rangers win. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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Going for the sweep today...life as a Ranger fan is pretty good right now...

Jeff Miller's game story captures the mood of a Ranger team that feels good about what they are doing, but still have improvements to make.

Jeff Wilson notes that the third sellout crowd of 2009 saw Brandon McCarthy struggle with his mechanics in the first, but ultimately give the Rangers 6 solid innings.

One of the things that I was glad to see was McCarthy leaving after 6 with a 10-1 lead at 87 pitches. Coming off the longest outing of his career, and with a big lead, there was no need to push McCarthy any farther...one of the things I worry about with the "work deeper" edict is if we're going to see guys consistently pushed to high pitch counts even in situations where the game is out of reach. But the fact that Ron Washington made the move when he did gives me some reassurance that the workloads are being managed in a pragmatic fashion.

Evan Grant points out that the Rangers have an ERA of 3.51 in the month of May -- since 1994, the only time the Rangers have had a lower ERA for a full month is May 2005. That, of course, was the last time the Rangers were 10 games over .500, and the Rangers followed that strong month up by falling flat on their face and finishing well out of the race. Here's hoping 2009 is different.

Derek Holland is staying in the rotation for now, although his next appearance won't be until Saturday in Boston. Holland is available to pitch in relief today.

Randy Galloway has a "be careful what you wish for" column up today, regarding the Rangers ownership situation. He's long pushed for Tom Hicks to sell, but with that possibility now seemingly turning into reality, Galloway is concerned that if Nolan Ryan doesn't end up fronting the new ownership group, he could end up leaving the organization.

It is a column worth reading...Galloway indicates that MLB is pushing behind the scenes for Hicks to get this resolved quickly, and it is certainly sounding like, at this point, there are two serious contenders: David McDavid and Nolan Ryan. McDavid, of course, has the case and as Hicks indicates, isn't likely to be out-bid. Ryan would have to get partners to put together financing, and that takes time. At this point, McDavid looks like the favorite to end up with the team.

Phil Rogers suggests that Mark Cuban could make a run at the Rangers, but I think that's been pretty well shot down.