SB Nation User Blog: JBImaknee

Kinsler loses to Inge

JBImaknee — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:27:19 -0000

Kinsler loses to Inge

Out of curiosity, does anyone know where MLB posts final vote tallies?

Lou Gehrig letters

JBImaknee — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:47:25 -0000

Lou Gehrig letters

ESPN has released a series of a hundred or so letters between Gehrig and his doctor at the Mayo Clinic from the time between his retirement and his death two years later.

It is a very interesting, and sad, chronicling of how Gehrig's ALS progressively wore him down. It's worth a read.

Rearranging deck chairs on the Titantic

JBImaknee — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:48:11 -0000

or why JBImaknee is getting off the 2009 bandwagon and learned to love the trade deadline.

The posts in the morning update are somewhat bothersome to me. Not because the complaints about where Borbon bats or why Byrd is playing are without merit, but because they are minor and just examples of getting outraged because people are just mad and looking for something to scream about. Where Borbon hits is really irrelevant. Bat him 4th or 9th for all I care. Bickering about where a guy hits in a lineup in his first week is silly. Davis vs Blalock (Josey and Adam's favorite argument) is a waste of time - both are awful players right now. Why Byrd is playing? Why does Wash hate Boggs? Why we should believe Chris Davis has finally turned a corner. Blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, here is my point. Once you get to a point where arguing where Borbon should hit or which 4th outfielder should play more, or which horrific 1b option should get the honor of striking out 3 times against lefties, you're basically admitting that there is nothing really to do.

This team is sinking right now. Fast. I've never looked at the schedule before and hoped that the All Star Break was closer than it is, but I am now. This team is in a funk that is about to send them into 3rd place and very likely at or below .500 by the All Star Break. Furthermore, the Angels are not as bad as everyone constantly says they are, and Seattle isn't going to wilt away like we all would have hoped. The AL West isn't strong this year, but it isn't the NL West from recent years where a mediocre .500ish club like the Rangers would compete. Is Josh Hamilton alone going to recharge an offense that is fundamentally flawed? I don't think so.

So I think that Borbon is the first "Play for 2010" move that we're going to see. The fact that the team is playing badly gives JD & co. a good rationale to bring up kids, just as they would in a pure rebuilding year. In a month or so, we'll see Feliz, and soon after probably Smoak (maybe even sooner).

I think that in a few weeks, the debates will be how much the Rangers can get for Kevin Millwood (who may well be the best starting pitcher on the market), whether they can get anything for Vizquel (or whether they should) or Byrd or even Murphy, or if any team will take Blalock or Padilla in August when they'd only have to pay a month or so salary. Whether this team should finally move on from AAAA types like Mathis and Mendoza, or whether we should give them one last shot to earn a spot in the Rangers bright future. But that future isn't now.

I'm depressed.

Poll on what to do with Chris Davis

JBImaknee — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:22:31 -0000

There was some interesting discussion over this last series on what do with LSB's favorite first baseman. We all know the extreme negative stats: he's on pace to shatter the strike out record, leading all MLB players with 77 Ks; he has a sub-200 batting average (4th lowest in baseball) and an OBP at .253 (2nd lowest). He nonetheless has 12 HRs already, giving him a pace for nearly 40 on the season despite not being able to do anything else at the plate. And his defense has not only been better than expected, but actually a big asset to this club right now.

From what I can tell, the arguments are no longer about whether Davis is helping or hurting the team as he is playing now; but really what is best to do with him. It boils down to three questions: 1) Can Davis emerge from this slump on his own at the big league level?; 2) Developmentally, is there any long-term harm in sending him to AAA or keeping him in the big leagues?; 3) Who would replace him at the bag?

I don't want it to seem like I'm beating a dead horse, because I think the arguments from both sides are interesting and convincing (my snide signature aside). So since we have an off day, I thought it'd be a good idea to have a poll and get some heated, but intelligent, discussion going. After you vote, specify in the comments why you voted that way, and if you send Davis down, what your plan is for first base.

Poll

What should the Rangers do with Chris Davis if he continues at his current level of performance?

Send him to AAA now

72 votes

Send him to AAA at the All-Star Break

47 votes

Keep him in the bigs, but play Blalock/Jones/other full time

5 votes

Keep him in the bigs, but play only half time

25 votes

Keep him in the bigs, playing full time (status quo)

116 votes

265 votes | Poll has closed

Some Florida kid has 4 straight no-hitters

JBImaknee — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:00:59 -0000

Some Florida kid has 4 straight no-hitters

This is kind of cool

Philip Humber DFA'd

JBImaknee — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:12:21 -0000

Philip Humber DFA'd

Yeah, he's yet another disappointing Rice pitcher. But I'm obligated to post him as a possibility for the Rangers, since he at least has more potential than several pitchers on our team (and since we're both Owls, I'm giving him the tie).

Michael Young projection discussion thread

JBImaknee — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:11:52 -0000

Here, I'll put this on so that people aren't tempted to ruin Ben's tabulation.

My prediction is that Young will miss some time - a new position means he'll probably have some injury by something strange at third - moving the wrong way, ball hitting him in the head, who knows.

I do think his slugging will go up. I predicted .470, which may be a bit high. But that's one of the arguments about moving him to 3rd, right? Anyway, if he does that, I'll be happy. And its not out of the question.

The Rangers lost 8 games to the Mariners last year

JBImaknee — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:07:58 -0000

And I'm very, very happy about that.

Read this article on Stephen Strasburg at SDSU.

Buster Olney on Strasburg

If the M's had lost a couple of more games, they, rather than the Nationals, would be sitting pretty on taking him witht he #1 pick. Here are the money quotes:

"The day that I saw him pitch, his first fastball was 99 mph, and he was at 100-102 mph the rest of the way," says the scout, someone who is not inclined to hyperbole.

Yeah, heard he had a good fastball. Straight as a string, right? "That's the thing," said the scout. "Whenever you see a fastball at 100 mph, it's always straight. No movement. But his fastball has a lot of movement, which really doesn't make that much sense, because it's on the hitter so quickly. His fastball cuts."

and this

The scout laughs. "You could put him in a rotation right now, and he could be a No. 2 or No. 3 starter," says the scout. "Right now, he's better than A.J. Burnett." So in other words, in this scout's eyes, Stephen Strasburg, the ace of the San Diego State Aztecs, is better than the No. 2 free agent pitcher in the offseason, and he could be the ace of the Washington Nationals by the end of the summer -- if they decide to take him.

Just think about this guy in Safeco. Bad, bad thoughts. Lets hope that the Nationals have enough sense to take him over anyone else. Or hope that Strasburg gets aggressive and says (and means it) that he won't sign with anyone other than San Diego.

The A's and the 'C'-word

JBImaknee — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:05:14 -0000

The A's and the 'C'-word

This article in the NY Daily News talks about how the A's disintegrating stadium deal (which is probably good news for the Rangers) actually may make them (as well as the Marlins) vulnerable to contraction if the economy doesn't get better.

Apparently Jon Garland signs with D-Backs

JBImaknee — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:57:24 -0000

Apparently Jon Garland signs with D-Backs

MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that Jon Garland is taken now. Which is great news, because it will shut up the voices that keep saying the Rangers should go get him...