SB Nation - Guillermo Moscoso

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.

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.

Deflated, Defeated: Rangers 7, Tigers 3

Ian Casselberry — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:00:09 -0000

More photos » by Tom Pennington - AP

Miguel Cabrera is about to lay flat on the ground here, which pretty much describes the Detroit Tigers' effort after the second inning.

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If the Tigers aren't going to put much effort into trying to win a game, how much effort should I put into a recap?

This one started off promisingly, with Detroit pouncing on an early scoring opportunity, instead of frittering away yet another chance. With two on and two out, Ramon Santiago smacked a double into the opposite field gap to drive in the first run of the game. Then Dusty Ryan followed that up with a single that brought in two more runs. A three-run lead for Luke French!

French got so excited that he gave the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs in the inning, but two runners on, three straight Ranger batters got base hits. A single, triple, and double, to be specific. French almost gave up the cycle in one inning. What he did give up was four runs, and the Tigers went flat after that.

Detroit put two runners on to lead off the fourth, but the next three hitters went down. And from then until the ninth inning, another 12 Tigers batters failed to reach base. Perhaps adding to the indignity was former Tiger Jason Grilli recording six of those outs in the fifth and sixth innings, which turned out to be good for the win. (Another former Tiger, Guillermo Moscoso, closed out the game in the ninth.) Throw in three errors, and that pretty much sums up the night. It wasn't pretty.

Comment of the Night:

On the bright side...

We’ve only left 4 guys on base!

by SabreRoseTiger

And your runner-up, but you have to read the comment directly before it for context.

Moscoso Recalled, Eyre Optioned

Adam J. Morris — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:58:43 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

6 months ago: Texas Rangers relief pitcher Guillermo Moscoso delivers to Oakland Athletics' Jason Giambi in the ninth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas Saturday, May 30, 2009. The Rangers won 14-1.(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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The Rangers have recalled Guillermo Moscoso from AAA, and have optioned Willie Eyre to make room for him on the 25 man roster.

I'm guessing that if Vicente Padilla has to go to the d.l., Moscoso steps in for him in the rotation. Moscoso will also probably follow Doug Mathis today, with Mathis giving the Rangers three or four innings.

Brandon Boggs is in NYC, Guillermo Moscoso is not

Adam J. Morris — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:56:06 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

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Jeff Wilson reports that Brandon Boggs is in New York City and at the stadium...if the Rangers decide Josh Hamilton needs to go to the disabled list, Boggs will be able to be activated for tonight's game.

Hamilton's appointment with the hernia doctor was at 2 p.m., so he's not going to start tonight regardless.

Wilson also indicates that Guillermo Moscoso has returned to Oklahoma City, as he's being optioned to make room for Vicente Padilla on the 25 man roster. Padilla is being activated from the disabled list to make the start tonight.

Morning Prowl: Bondo's Change-Up, Best and Worst ERAs, Grandy's Power, and Former Tigers

Ian Casselberry — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:05:42 -0000

Did Jeremy Bonderman's shoulder surgery force him to fully embrace throwing his change-up? While he works to regain his velocity, Jason Beck reports, Bondo has had to become more of a finesse pitcher. Beck also addresses the possibility that Bonderman could go to the bullpen when he's activated.

In addition, Beck confirms something Billfer and I have been trying to figure out for the past few weeks: Galarraga has one minor league option left. According to Bill, Galarraga didn't use up his option last season because he was in Triple-A for less than 20 days.

The Spot Starters poses nine questions that surround the Tigers going into the last four months of the season. Three of them concern the looming outfield surplus, with another two addressing the starting rotation shuffle.

According to Baseball Musings, the Tigers' pitching staff produced the top two ERAs in May, with Rick Porcello's 1.50 and Justin Verlander's 1.52. Yet Detroit also had the worst ERA for the month, courtesy of Armando Galarraga's 8.49. Take a look at the chart for yourself.

(via Section148)

Tom Gage looks at Curtis Granderson's current numbers, and wonders if he's becoming more of a slugger and less of a speedy, line drive hitter.

Check this out: Royals Review posted the UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) defensive rankings for the AL Central teams. And the Tigers actually improved over the past month, moving from fifth in the American League up to second.

If Detroit is indeed thinking of upgrading over Dane Sardinha at back-up catcher, Mack Avenue Tigers believes they should keep their search in-house. (Kurt also points out on Twitter that Marcus Thames went 4-for-5 last night for the Mud Hens.)

DesigNate Robertson lists the former Tigers currently playing in the majors and tells us how they're doing. Rogo also posts the numbers of various players Detroit was rumored to be pursuing in the offseason (Kerry Wood, Jack Wilson, etc.).

The Detroit Tigers Weblog does something similar, in looking at four players who were released or traded by the organization this past offseason, two of whom - Matt Joyce and Guillermo Moscoso - were just called up to the majors.

If you were ranking the top five pitchers in Major League Baseball right now, would you include Justin Verlander? Or how about Zack Greinke? Circling the Bases had neither name on their list.

New Arms of the Week: May 25-31

Harry Pavlidis — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:13:52 -0000

This week six pitchers broke through to the big leagues, giving us a first look at them via PITCHf/x. Christopher Leroux has some WBC experience, so you may have seen some of his stuff already.

Jason Berken is a Green Bay, WI, native who played college ball for Clemson. Berken got the call, and two starts, for the Orioles this week. He's a bit of a question mark so far, with 12 innings, five walks and five strike outs. He throws hard, sitting at 92/93, and has two breaking pitches (which I have some trouble sorting out, add another question mark).
David Hernandez also debuted for the Orioles. It wasn't just Matt Wieters Weekend in Baltimore, it was Rookie Week. Hernandez is a Sacramento native who was drafted in 2005 out of Cosumnes River College. Throwing even harder than Berken, Hernandez managed to pick up a win by being effectively wild.
Leroux is a tall righty who got into one game for the Marlins before being sent back to Double-A. The native of Montreal pitched for Team Canada in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, providing some filler PITCHf/x data to his two official MLB innings. Yet another hard thrower, Leroux uses a two-seam fastball as much as his four-seamer.
Daniel Schlereth has been getting work out of the Diamondbacks bullpen. The lefty was a first round pick out of Arizona, as they try and turn the Alaskan into an sand dweller. Closing in Double-A, Schlereth will work middle relief for the Diamondbacks. I've read a few rumblings about injury concerns, but I dunno.
Jason Waddell made his debut as a Cub on Sunday night. The lefty could have success as a LOOGY, but his track record against righties, and wildness, are limiting factors for the 27-year old. With Neal Cotts firmly in Lou Piniella's dog house, Sean Marshall is expected to move to the pen when Rich Harden is reactivated, which means Waddell is likely headed back to Iowa. Waddell's got a pretty nifty looking breaking pitch, but his fastball is flat and mediocre.
Guillermo Moscoso pitched a perfect game in the Penn League in 2007, which is probably the biggest claim to fame for the Venezuelan righty. After four seasons in the Tiger's system, Moscoso became a Ranger, and fast-tracked, in the Gerald Laird deal. WIth decent enough velocity, Moscoso looks to have relied on his off-speed pitches in his first inning with Texas.

Pitch types are detailed after the jump

Pitch types: Change-up (CH), Curveball (CU), Four-seam fastball (F4), Two-seam fastball/sinker (F2), Cutter (FC), Slider (SL)

MPH=speed at 55 feet from home plate; pfx values are spin movement in inches lateral and vertical; deg and rpm represent the angle of the spin axis and the spin rate, respectively.

Pitcher	Type	#	vs LHH	vs RHH	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z	DEG	RPM
Guillermo Moscoso	F4	9	7	2	91.0	-2.9	11.7	193.6	2,475.5
Guillermo Moscoso	SL	4	1	3	78.4	2.8	-0.7	76.4	551.3
Jason Waddell	CU	4	2	2	74.2	-5.9	-3.4	299.7	1,142.2
Jason Waddell	F4	10	5	5	88.7	2.9	8.7	161.4	1,839.0
David Hernandez	CH	29	12	17	85.1	-4.0	5.2	217.3	1,277.7
David Hernandez	CU	9	4	5	79.0	7.4	-2.6	69.9	1,388.3
David Hernandez	F2	4	3	1	93.2	-8.0	6.9	229.3	2,213.8
David Hernandez	F4	66	25	41	93.8	-4.9	9.7	206.6	2,284.4
Jason Berken	CH	31	17	14	83.2	-6.5	5.2	231.0	1,588.0
Jason Berken	CU	30	16	14	80.6	4.4	-3.3	54.9	1,010.5
Jason Berken	F2	28	7	21	92.1	-7.2	6.1	230.3	1,935.4
Jason Berken	F4	83	36	47	92.8	-4.7	8.7	208.7	2,055.7
Jason Berken	SL	18	4	14	82.1	3.4	1.8	124.4	786.8
Christopher Leroux	CH	5	5	0	87.2	-9.0	2.0	256.4	1,806.3
Christopher Leroux	F2	20	12	8	93.5	-9.3	5.8	237.5	2,284.3
Christopher Leroux	F4	15	6	9	92.9	-5.0	10.1	206.7	2,346.4
Christopher Leroux	SL	17	7	10	82.7	0.9	-1.7	113.1	471.4
Daniel Schlereth	CH	1	0	1	77.3	7.9	2.1	105.2	1,412.3
Daniel Schlereth	CU	13	10	3	80.3	-3.3	-6.2	333.1	1,307.4
Daniel Schlereth	F2	1	1	0	92.9	11.5	5.3	114.9	2,622.7
Daniel Schlereth	F4	23	12	11	93.5	7.1	8.9	141.9	2,404.7

First round of cuts out

Adam J. Morris — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:45:17 -0000

Evan Grant runs down the first group of cuts, and the three guys who are particularly of note are Guillermo Moscoso, Thomas Diamond, and Kason Gabbard, all of whom came to camp with a chance to make the bullpen.

Moscoso, from the reports this morning, is going to be working out of the bullpen here on out, and I suspect the Rangers want to get him more acclimated to that role. And as I mentioned earlier this spring, if you want to try to i.d. someone who could be this year's version of the 2004 Frankie Francisco, Moscoso is the lead candidate.

Gabbard is having injury issues, again, and Diamond has been (according to Grant) a disappointment this spring, so they are out earlier than would have been guessed a month ago.

Sunday a.m. things

Adam J. Morris — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:41:06 -0000

Solid, encouraging outing by Matt Harrison yesterday. Having Harrison establish himself this season as a nice back of the rotation guy would be a very good thing, and Richard Durrett talks about the progress Harrison is making at the DMN blog.

Jason Jennings was underwhelming yesterday, but Jeff Wilson writes that Jennings expects to be back in the majors in a starting rotation this year, if not in Texas then with another team. He can opt out of his deal on April 25, so if Jennings pitches well in the minors the first few weeks but there's no opening in the Ranger rotation, I expect he'll end up bailing and signing elsewhere.

Wilson also has some notes on some other Rangers, with Chris Davis saying he feels like he's getting more comfortable at the plate after his early slump, Kris Benson feeling good about how he's pitching, and Guillermo Moscoso being slated to pitch out of the bullpen to start the season.

Jim Reeves is advocating the Rangers signing Pedro Martinez and Pudge Rodriguez, with the Pedro signing allowing Scott Feldman or Brandon McCarthy to move into a setup role, and Pudge pushing Taylor Teagarden to AAA to catch everyday (which then, of course, would raise the question of what you'd do with Max Ramirez, who at this point is slated to go to AAA to catch every day).

Personally, I'd pass on both of those guys...and since Reeves says the Rangers have orders to cut payroll, not add it, it seems unlikely either of them are in the picture anyway. Plus, Pedro has been pretty clear that he wants to pitch for an N.L. team, which would take him out of the mix as well.

Mike Hindman runs down the Rangers outfielders over at Inside Corner.

In case you missed it, the U.S. had the mercy rule called in its WBC game with Puerto Rico last night, losing 11-1 after 7 innings.

Morning Prowl: Prospects, Haters, Jokers, and Tickets

Ian Casselberry — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:00:09 -0000

If you need to get up to speed on your minor leaguers, FanGraphs takes a quick look at the Detroit Tigers' top prospects.

Who's a "Nater Hater"? Me?

Brian VanOchten of the Grand Rapids Press has a good interview with Jack Morris, who was in town to sign autographs. Most of the chat has to do with the Hall of Fame, but Morris is pretty candid about the voting process and how he could've handled himself differently over his career.

This is just a small item in Tom Gage's notebook, but I love reading about baseball players' relationships with their gloves. Adam Everett almost has one of his right where he wants it.

Okay, maybe I got a little bit too worked up about those rumors of Juan Cruz going to the Twins in a sign-and-trade deal with the D-Backs. LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says "there's little reason to feel optimistic" about making this happen.

(via Twinkie Town)

If you always wanted to know a little more about the man the Tigers' Spring Training ballpark is named after, John Bacon has just the article for you in the Detroit News.

This might have been the most predictable outcome of the offseason: Season ticket sales are down at Comerica Park. (By the way, did anyone reading this go to Saturday's "Select-a-Seat" event?)