SB Nation - Nelson Cruz

That Was Exciting: Twins 5, Rangers 3

Jesse — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:41:05 -0000

More photos » by Tom Olmscheid - AP

3 months ago: Minnesota Twins' Brendan Harris, bottom, slides home safely on a squeeze play as Texas Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriquez takes the throw during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009, in Minneapolis. Minnesota won 5-3. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

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Everyone okay?

Both teams had their share of headaches this afternoon. Hank Blalock running into Ivan Rodriguez in foul territory, Josh Hamilton dropping a ball in the gap, Nelson Cruz letting the ball get by him. Twice. Denard Span getting doubled off second base. Joe Nathan double-clutching to botch a double play. There were a lot of mistakes made; more than the fair share for one game.

The Twins still managed to pull it out.

Elvus Andrus singled to score Rodriguez in the third, but until the seventh inning it was the only damage Texas could land off of Scott Baker. Baker had a tight curve this afternoon, and mixing it in with some good movement on his fastball cruised through six innings. All six of Scott's strikeouts came between the second and the sixth, including a pair each for Blalock and Cruz. Even when he allowed base runners, Baker maintained control, and even though he tired in the seventh he gutted out seven great innings.

Jason Kubel had a great afternoon, including giving the Twins their first lead of the day on a frozen rope of a line drive into the right-center field gap that cleared the fence. It was Jason's 21st home run, scoring Justin Morneau who had doubled, and it gave the Twins a 2-1 lead. Oddly enough, Kubel's smash wasn't the highlight of the inning.

Now leading 2-1 and with two outs, Mike Redmond stepped up to the dish. Redmond, who has struggled for much of the season; Redmond, in twilight. Redmond, who until today, had not hit a triple since 2003.

A line drive into the left-center field gap snuck past Cruz just as Redmond rounded first, and as the ball trickled away along the base of the wall, Redmond treated 32,000 fans to something special. He was out of gas by the time he rounded first base, and by the time he turned the corner at second base you could see the mixture of pain and glory in those eyes. Six feet shy of third base Redmond ~~dove~~ belly flopped into the dirt to complete his triple. It energized the fans, it amused the Twins, and there's no doubt it's one of NBP's highlights of the year.

Baker had owned Cruz most of the game, but in the seventh there were some hard-hit balls. Ian Kinsler battled, earning a hard single on the ninth pitch of his plate appearance. Blalock smashed an inside fastball to right field, which Michael Cuddyer caught over his head. Then came Cruz, who homered into the same gap Kubel did, and gave the Rangers their second lead at 3-2.

Jon Rauch's debut was a successful one, giving up a two-out double to Marlon Byrd but logging a scoreless eighth inning with a pair of strikeouts. He did his job, and held the game where it was.

If you missed the bottom of the eighth inning after watching the rest of the game, I pity you. There are certain points in a season that seem pivotal, that are all at once beautiful and magical and perfect, and that's exactly what the bottom of the eighth inning was in today's game. With southpaw C.J. Wilson on the mound, Morneau led off the inning with a six-pitch walk. Gardy chose to leave Kubel in, in spite of his troubles against lefties, and Kubel rewarded his manager's faith with a solid single up the middle.

Cuddyer battled hard, but eventually went down swinging on a wicked slider. Brendan Harris, who had been hitless on the night, then took the first pitch he saw and singled through the hole on the left side of the field to tie the game. Redmond stepped in again, this time half-swinging on a chopper up the first base line. Blalock fielded the ball with no chance to get Redmond at first and went to the plate, where Carlos Gomez (pinch-running for Kubel) slid around the outside of the plate to give the Twins their second lead at 4-3. Nick Punto, who had doubled earlier, showed bunt the whole way and dropped down a brilliant one. No play was possible, Harris scored from third, and the Twins took a 5-3 lead.

It was a gorgeous inning, as entertaining as it was clutch, as it was perfect, and it could only be spoiled by Joe Nathan blowing it in the ninth. Which he nearly did.

Blalock walked and Cruz singled, but when Rodriguez hit a slow chopper right back to Nathan it looked like those mistakes were about to be erased. Nathan fielded, turned and had to double-clutch because nobody was yet covering second base. When he finally threw it was behind Punto, and just like that the bases were loaded with nobody out.

Then the game ended. If you blinked you missed it, but those 11 pitches seemed to take forever. Elvis Andrus down on three pitches; Julio Borbon flying out to Span (now in left); Michael Young grounding out.

This is a long, LONG recap, I know, but the game was over hours ago and I'm still excited by it. Rangers fans probably didn't enjoy the outcome, and it definitely wasn't the most fundamentaly sound contest but it was a great game to watch. The Tigers won, but the White Sox lost, meaning that for the moment our lead for second place in the division is slightly larger.

I could keep going. For now, I'm leaving it here.

Stars
Jason Kubel
Scott Baker
Nick Punto
Mike Redmond
Justin Morneau
Brendan Harris
Joe Nathan (in the end)

AL West Trade Deadline Bloggers Roundtable

Rev Halofan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:45:31 -0000

Here is the first part of a great interview with SBN's four AL West bloggers by Sky Kalkman of Beyond The Boxscore, SBN's stattiest blog around... Part 1: Trade Deadline

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): Which teams, under which circumstances, will be buyers over the next three weeks? How about sellers? If there are any undecideds, what will be the tipping point?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): Angels are buyers. No tipping point, the bet is on the table. What do you got?

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): The M's look like tentative buyers, although a lot could change with these next two games against Texas. Also with all those other games that happen between now and whenever this round table gets published. It's weird trying to predict the future. It's actually kind of a unique position in that the M's could buy and sell. We've already seen them add guys like Langerhans and Hannahan while ditching Yuniesky Betancourt, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that they could subtract from the current Major League roster to plug a different hole.

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): There are all sort of mixed messages coming out of Texas, and I think the Rangers could be buyers or sellers, depending on the circumstances. Tom Hicks' money problems have been well chronicled, and supposedly, the Rangers can't add significant salary without dumping some salary. I think they would have liked to have moved Hank Blalock, which would have freed up some money to spend, but with Davis getting sent to the minors, they now need Blalock in the everyday lineup. They could move Vicente Padilla, who makes $11 million this year and whose contract is up at the end of the season, in order to add some salary, but that would open a hole in the rotation. The word is that Nolan Ryan is wanting to be more aggressive in making a move to add a veteran -- even if it means giving up more in the way of prospects in order to get a team to pay more of the acquired player's salary -- while Daniels is wanting to be more patient and hold off moving key prospects for now.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): Billy Beane has managed to be both at this time of the year. Let's just say any move he makes would not shock me. Well, almost any move.

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): What holes will teams be looking to fill? What are the biggest holes they *SHOULD* be looking to fill but don't seem to be concerned about? Which holes from the first half can be plugged internally, perhaps by improvement the same player?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): If the Angels give Wood playing time and Vlad and Torii come back in August they need pitching. Relief Pitching and Starting Pitching and they do not have that internally. They think they have relief, though and I see them going after an overpaid third starter.

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): The team is looking for a shortstop, because Ronny :(edeno hasn't cut it. They should probably also think about exploring the reliever market, because the bullpen hasn't been very good at all, ERA be damned. I'd like to think that they could improve the bullpen internally, but I'm not sure. Finally having a lefty out there should help. Adrian Beltre should hit better than he did early in the year if he ever comes back, and his return would be a big boon should this team stay in the race for that long.

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): The Rangers need a righthanded hitting first baseman, but don't seem inclined to go that direction. If they make a move, it was long suggested that they'd look for bullpen help, because they are in dire need of a righty power arm to pair with C.J. Wilson late in the game. But with Neftali Feliz apparently primed to come up and pitch out of the bullpen, and El Duque being considered as a relief option, it appears that the Rangers are focusing more on a starting pitcher.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): There was a gaping hole on the left side of the infield, but Mark Ellis' return has allowed Adam Kennedy to man the hot corner, and Orlando Cabrera is starting to warm up a bit. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to see Daric Barton get a sustained opportunity at first.

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): Who are the most popular trade targets for those holes? Any targets flying under the radar? Any targets your team is especially intrigued in? Any popular names they're backing away from? Any rumors you'd like to start?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): to paraphrase Axl Rose, The Angels got the money honey, do you have their disease? I'd say they get the most bang for buck if they trade Joe Saunders and Trevor Reckling (WTF with all these Trevors by the way? Was there a character on Miami Vice or a dude in Duran Duran named Trevor?) for Roy Halladay. They could even throw in Juan Rivera and take Vernon Wells and his salary. And they would be stupid enough to do it.

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): If a target was flying under the radar, how would we know about it? The most frequently-mentioned names coming up right now are Jack Wilson, JJ Hardy, and Freddy Sanchez. Hardy won't come cheap and Sanchez would pose a roster problem if and when Beltre returns, but it seems to me that the M's could have Wilson for a fairly low price were they so inclined.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): Pat Burrell is a name that came up recently, as the A's sent a scout to watch a Jays-Rays game.

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): The Rangers have been linked with Roy Halladay, although the Jays would probably want a couple of guys from the Holland/Feliz/Justin Smoak/Martin Perez quadumvirate, plus another couple of prospects, and I can't see Texas biting the bullet on that deal. And they supposedly can't add salary unless they move someone else (such as Hank Blalock). I think if they add someone, it will be a cheap (in terms of prospects and money) righty bat that can play some first base, such as Nomar Garciaparra.

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): Which prospects and young major leaguers are most likely to change hands? Any that teams have deemed off-limits?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): Angels won't trade Brandon Wood or Jered Weaver. Erick Aybar and Kendry Morales have the most value, Saunders goes for sure if it is a "marquee" trade.

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): I don't know that anyone has been declared off-limits, although it wouldn't be hard to figure out which Mariners could be dealt and which ones couldn't. Wladimir Balentien and Jeff Clement look like total trade bait. Maybe Greg Halman, too, depending on the target.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): With Beane, that can never be declared, but it is unlikely that the A's part ways with any of their next Big Three.

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): Every team is going to be asking about the big four -- Feliz, Holland, Smoak, and Perez. And the Rangers aren't going to part with one of those guys unless it is part of a deal to bring in a big-time difference maker under team control for a while. I wouldn't be shocked if the Rangers opted to dangle Nelson Cruz as part of a package for an impact pitcher, though, since the plan is to put Josh Hamilton in RF long-term to make room for Julio Borbon in center, and Cruz is a nice middle-of-the-order bat who is cheap and under team control for a while, giving him a fair amount of value.

Sky Kalkman (Moderator): Without any trade-deadline moves, what has to happen for your team to win the division? How much more likely is your team to make the playoffs by plugging its holes or adding an impact player?

Rev Halofan (Halos Heaven): At perfect health we're the class of this division by a mile and in dire straights health-wise and no deal we have a 1 and a half game lead at the All Star Break. Translation: The three of you don't look any scarier in my rear view mirror.

67MARQUEZ (Athletics Nation): As much as I hate to admit it (and I really, really do), Rev is right. At the beginning of the season we talked about many things having to go right for the A's to win the West. And now? Short of the teams ahead of them going into the tank all at once, I'm not even sure this question was even meant for me. Adding an impact player won't even help at this stage. Unless we're talking Albert Pujols. And even then...

Adam J. Morris (Lone Star Ball): For the Rangers to win the division without any moves, they need Josh Hamilton to start hitting like Josh Hamilton again, Chris Davis to start hitting like Chris Davis again, and the pitching staff to stay healthy. I think if that happens, they'll stay in it all the way and could steal the division from the Angels.

Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing): If the Mariners are to win the division, they'll need the offense to play to its projection level, the Angels to play to theirs, and Erik Bedard to remain healt-oh my god we're boned. Bringing in a shortstop would help, but given that our playoff chances (now as of this writing on July 17th!) are somewhere around 12%, not even Hanley Ramirez would make us favorites. We just need luck. Either the M's need to play over their heads, or the Angels have to play under theirs. Or both. Both would make it easy.

PART TWO COMING SOON !!

Diamondbacks 8, Rangers 2: Max Power

DbacksSkins — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:07:28 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

"Lazy, eh? Lazy, am I?? I'LL SHOW YOU LAZY...."

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Is it just me, or does it seem like I'm always recapping Max Scherzer's games? Jim McLennan is on assignment, so I'm recapping tonight's game. To the other authors and editors, I have a small question -- can you think of a game you were assigned to recap where, frankly, the team's performance left you without much to say?

The Diamondbacks played a game like that tonight, but in the opposite fashion to the way this phenomenon usually happens. Max Scherzer pitched 6 innings of 2 run ball with just 1 walk and 7 Ks, Justin Upton had a 2 run homer in the bottom of the first, Upton and Felipe Lopez drove in 3 runs each, both Lopez and Stephen Drew had 3 hit games, and the bullpen pitched 3 shutout innings. Stephen Drew and Mark Reynolds, playing at first base tonight, had highlight-reel defensive plays, and the Dbacks may have even gotten a little bit of help from the umpires.

What more could we need? Well, perhaps slightly better baserunning, as Reynolds was caught stealing in the 1st and remains mired on his 13th stolen base. Yet, even in this aspect, the Diamondbacks found a way to impress: Flip Lopez stretched a line drive into a triple, and subsequently came home to score on a catching error by Jarrod Saltailgslsngiwon. Experience all the gory details after the jump.

That creamy goodness that was a 6 run Dbacks win all began in the 1st inning, which really set the tone for the entire contest. Max Scherzer (described, somewhat disturbingly as "winsome" on MLB.com, along with Lincecum and Greinke -- sounds like SOMEBODY's got a few mancrushes!) blew away the first two batters he faced on Ks, before giving up a 2 out triple to Michael Young. Scherzer responded, angrily, by plunking the next batter, Marlon Byrd, before getting Nelson Cruz to fly out in the pitcher-friendly cavernous Chase Field. ;-) The Diamondbacks, for their part, led off the bottom of the 1st with a Flip groundout, followed by a Drew single, and Justin Upton's 14th home run of the year. Reynolds followed with a single, but ended up getting caught stealing: clearly, he's trying to improve on his already league-best Power-Speed #, in order to make the ASG. The deuce would end up being enough runs to drive the game to extras, but fortunately, the offense didn't rest there.

Scherzer kept up the awesomeness in the 2nd, going K-K-groundout, and the offense kept its foot on the pedal. Eric Byrnes and Flip got singles, and Miguel Montero and Ryan Roberts got walks to make the score 4-0. It would end up being all the scoring we needed, but the hitters didn't rest yet.

Mad Max ran into a bit of trouble in the top of the 3rd, walking the opposing pitcher, Matt Harrison, to lead off the inning. David Murphy singled, and Marlon Byrd had a two out double to score Harrison. Nelson Cruz flied out to end the inning, and a leadoff walk by Reynolds in the bottom half was erased by a Parra GIDP as the Dbacks failed to score in the 3rd.

In the 4th, back to back leadoff singles by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and strikeout king Chris Davis put a runner in scoring position with nobody out, but a flyout and a failed foul bunt by Harrison, whom Matt Williams pointed out looked like a typical AL pitcher in having no idea how to bunt, meant that Ian Kinsler's single only scored 1 run to make it 4-2. It must have pissed off the Dbacks, because they broke open the game in the bottom.

Roberts got a 1 out walk, and Max's sacrifice was good. Now, we needed a two out RBI from the man who's been derided on this very site as the king of lazy, minimal-effort baseball: he must read the 'Pit, because he got the run in and went to 2nd on the throw home. Stephen Drew got a 2 out single of his own, and Flip raced to beat the throw home. Former Rockies ace Jason Jennings came in to make sure that all baserunners would be charged as runs to Harrison, as Upton smacked a line drive double up the middle to make it 7-2.

Both teams went down in order in the 5th, and Scherzer pitched around a leadoff Salty single in the 6th. Elvis Andrus whacked a sharp grounder that got by Roberts at 3rd but Stephen Drew made a Toolo-esque play and Reynolds a great scoop at 1st to get the very close out. Somewhere, Orlando Hudson is muttering "Phenom".

Everybody's favorite solar-powered flashlight, Tony Clark, pinch flied out for Scherzer in the bottom of the inning, but as if to belabor the point that he's not lazy, Flip stretched a hard-hit liner into a triple without a throw and subsequently scored on an odd sequence. Jennings threw a ball in the dirt, and Saltalamacchia asked for, and was granted, time from HP umpire Mike Everitt. However, Salty unexpectedly declined to switch to a new ball, and instead threw the used one back to Jennings.... well, threw it sorta, vaguely, TOWARDS Jennings, plus about 6 feet in altitude. Flip scored, Ron Washington came out to argue, unsuccessfully, (though Matty, on the AM, seemed to think the ump made a mistake) and that's it for scoring. Ultimately it was irrelevant to the outcome of the game, as the next batter, Stephen Drew, got a single, but it was certainly interesting to listen to. Esmerling Vasquez, Juan Gutierrez and Tony Peña combined for 3 heartburnless innings, pitching around a single and a walk, and Reynolds made a FANTASTIC play to rob David Murphy of probable extra bases and end the game. It's nice that SOME of our 1Bs can catch a ball. :-(

Since I'm always so fond to note when a team simply "gets lucky" with its hits in a game, I'm glad to report that Arizona's BABIP was a robust .393 -- slightly high, especially for our team, but not terribly unsustainably so. The team tonight only outhit Texas 11-8, but for once, clutch hits were a-plenty, with the Sedona Boys going 3-7 w/RISP and getting 3 2-out RBIs.

Bravo, Dbacks! Bravo! This was certainly more complete a game than any of the three "contests" in Seattle, as indicated by the FanGraph, and specifically the fact that the Dbacks' win probability never dipped any lower than it was during bottom of the 1st inning. It was a quick, 2 hr 38 minute game, and fun, too! Offense, pitching, and defense. Now THIS was the team we thought we had this year. It was a nice way to bounce back after being apparently Sleepless In Seattle, and I can't help but think there might be some satisfaction on the parts of ASU fans. Lower stakes this time, but at least Phoenix baseball beat Texas.

Badass of the Day: Justin Upton, +18.6%

Also mavericky: Flip Lopez, +14.3%; Max Scherzer, +10.1%

Boarding the bus to Reno: Gerardo Parra, -4.9%

As usually happens during easy wins, there was a lively Gameday Thread with over 550 comments. I led the pack with 177 comments in my first full-time GDT since returning to Arizona, followed by hotclaws and soco, and snakecharmer broke 50 in her first thread back as well. Present in the thread were hotclaws, TwinnerA, pygalgia, DbacksSkins, snakecharmer, Azreous, kishi, Zephon, Tim Weiss, DBacksCynthia(WELCOME!), emilylovesthedbacks, pepperdinedevil, 4 Corners Fan, unnamedDBacksfan, soco, J Up, and AJforAZ.

Incidentally, Baseball-Reference.com reports that the Dbacks' year-to-date attendance is 999,321. We all know the real figure is somewhat lower, but official attendance is what we go by. So, the Dbacks should "officially" get their 1 millionth 2009 attendee at today's game, where Danny Haren looks to keep up his streak of being totally awesome. The Rangers send former purple Dback Vicente Padilla to the mound. The Rockies finally lost again, to Arte's boys, and it would be nice to get a win today and see the Padres lose so we could pull within 1 game of.... OOH!! Not Last Place. (NLP)

The Winter Meetings Wrap-Up Thread

Tommy Rancel — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:01:46 -0000

Ok, it's been an action packed four days of winter meetings. It's time to gather up everything in one nice recap and see where we stand.

Day One

The Rays were quiet until late afternoon Eastern Time when it was announced that Milton Bradley ate Pizza and French Onion soup with the Rays.
The Rays also signed minor leaguer Paul Phillips, the pitcher.
We learned that Griffey wanted to be the next Raymond.

Day Two

Delmon Young coming back was the hot topic, but that was shot down quickly.
The Rays and Cardinals had discussions. The suggested names were Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick
Jason Giambi and The Rays chewed the fat at N9ne steakhouse.

Day Three

The Rays liked Nelson Cruz, but so do the Texas Rangers.
The Marlins offered Jeremy Hermida for two pitching prospects and got the no thx.
The Rays have interest in Griffey. Position, DH or Mascot, unknown.
Bobby Abreu's agent met with the Rays and it appears the Rays and the White Sox are the front runners for his services.
In the biggest Rays news from the meetings, the Rays traded Edwin Jackson, who was proclaimed in 2003 as the best Dodger pitching prospect since Pedro Martinez, to the Detroit Tigers. It's only fitting that his last regular appereance came in Detroit and saw him blow a two-run lead only to get lucky enough to later win the game and tie the franchise record for wins in a season.
The return for Jackson is Matt Joyce, a Tampa native with good power and is an above average corner outfielder. The Rays get six years of team control for what Dave Cameron calls "essentially, a left-handed Werth - a guy who can play very good defense in a corner OF spot, has gap power and will walk occasionally, but whose lower contact rate will always keep his average down. "
Oh and he rescues kittens. P Brady would be proud.

Day Four

The Rule 5 Draft took place and as expected Eduardo Morlan was selected. Morlan is now property of the Brewers, but could still land back with the Rays at some point.
The Rays selected RHP, Derek Rodriguez, who oddly enough could be the loogy the Rays need. Here is what Andrew Friedman had to say about him.

"We feel like he’s got an advanced feel for pitching," Friedman said. "He changes arm angles, he changes speeds, he misses bats. We’ve got numerous reports that he makes hitters uncomfortable in the box with the different things that he does and we’re anxious to get him into big-league camp and get a look at him firsthand."

Friedman said Rodriguez will definitely be given a chance to make the team.

"I don’t think we would have taken him if we weren’t intrigued enough to give him a real opportunity," Friedman said. "What will happen remains to be seen, and some of that will be dictated by what we do between now and then. But as we stand here today we’re excited to add him and feel like he’s got a very legitimate chance to come in and earn a job."

In news that just makes you smile, Marc Topkin shares this.

Probably the most interesting thing Friedman said is that he thinks the Rays can be "competitive" in bidding for the free-agent hitters. The Rays have not made a formal offer for any of them, thus far just talking parameters.

All in all it was a crazy rumor filled week. The Yanks got Sabathia and made offers to every possible free agent pitcher. The Mets got K-Rod and then traded for a better closer the next day, but will use him as a set up man. The Red Sox really didn't do anything and the Rays got stronger in two areas with one move.

The Rays still have a few holes, including DH, a possible right handed bat in the outfield, and maybe a bullpen arm or two, but do you know the best part of this whole week? The Rays are players, serious players. We all felt great after the successful on the field season, but hearing the words: Rays, competitive and free agents in the same sentences just makes it even better.

Overall Winter Meeting Reaction:

via cache.daylife.com

Wednesday a.m. stuff

Adam J. Morris — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:38:03 -0000

Nolan Ryan says that the Rangers will listen to offers and are interested in free agents, but that doesn't mean they are going to trade anyone (i.e., Michael Young) or sign anyone (i.e., Ben Sheets).

T.R. Sullivan has an article up about the return of Mark Connor and the Rangers' interest in Eddie Guardado. Connor is going to assist in a developmental role this coming season, it sounds like.

Sullivan also talks to Ron Washington, who offers his thoughts on a variety of topics, including the catching situation (he says he's going to keep an open mind as to all three candidates), the cleanup slot (Nelson Cruz is pencilled in there now), and the rotation (Vicente Padilla and Kevin Millwood are the only locks).

Washington says that Kason Gabbard could end up in the bullpen, but that other pitchers have passed him up. We've talked about the 40 man roster squeeze this offseason...Gabbard is someone I could see getting dropped if the Rangers sign a free agent.

Mike Hindman predicts that a Salty + prospect for Buchholz trade will go down this week, and that the Rangers will sign Ben Sheets and trade Kevin Millwood, among other things.

Jeff Wilson says the Rangers are playing the waiting game. I am reminded of what Homer Simpson said about that in the Mr. Plow episode: "Now, we play the waiting game." Long pause. "The waiting game sucks. Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos."

Wilson also says that the Rangers think Ben Sheets' interest in the organization is legit, and are looking at how they can afford to add him. Personally, I'm not holding my breath on that...

The BoSox website says a trade with the Rangers still doesn't appear to be a fit because the Rangers want Buchholz. The Boston Herald says that little progress between the Rangers and Red Sox has been made.