That thing I do comparing Texas's minor leaguers by age to their leagues and team average age vs. league average?  I've done it again.  Also includes messy charts and graphs:

http://bit.ly/mbPcJ6

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Sez Anthony Andro:  The Rangers have sent Taylor Teagarden to the minor leagues and will give Max Ramirez a chance to catch with the big club. The team also reinstated Jarrod Saltalamacchia from the disabled list and optioned him to Oklahoma City in an effort to get him playing time.

Discuss, with pertinent examples and proper grammar.

"The Texas Rangers have been in violation of baseball’s collective-bargaining agreement since at least last season for failing to pay $39.55 million into a deferred compensation fund, according to a letter sent on Oct. 22, 2009, by MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred to the bidders …"

Rest of story is pay-walled: http://sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.preview&articleid=64832

Also, per @dkaplanSBJ, the story's author:

"Union has agreed to stand down and let new owner cure issue; problem is creditors could torpedo sale"

and

"Other aspect to consider is MLB gave Rgrs a competitive advtg last season; rangers owed $40 mln, so had more $s for payroll"

Cruz to replace Jason Ellison:

http://trsullivan.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/08/cruz_for_ellison.html

75 words

The Rangers are calling up outfielder Nelson Cruz from Triple A Oklahoma. He'll replace Jason Ellison and is expected to get substantial playing time... He'll be in Kansas City

The Rangers are calling up outfielder Nelson Cruz from Triple A Oklahoma. He'll replace Jason Ellison and is expected to get substantial playing time... He'll be in Kansas City

Created a database with a bunch of info for each minor league in which the Rangers play, including:

5 youngest and oldest Rangers

10 youngest and 5 oldest players in the entire league

Comparisons of average age for every team in each league, and counts of players above and below particular age points.

http://rangers.scottlucas.com/site/2008minorage.htm

A few players have moved (Hunter, Pina) since I updated the database, the there's still food for thought.

I compared Cruz's 2008 to other great AAA seasons by guys aged 26-28 to test the likelihood of him having a decent MLB career:

http://www.rangers.scottlucas.com/archives/2008/07/can_nelson_cruz.html

Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."

The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,
Is gone; and now the Wedding-Guest
Turned from the bridegroom's door.

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man
He rose the morrow morn.

Through three innings, 1 hit (to lead off the game), 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts.  All other outs on grounders.

To hit the character limit, the press release re the MWL pitcher of the week:

Midwest League
Michael Ballard, Clinton
2-0, 1.42 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 12 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO
Ballard was lights-out this week, as the Virginia native allowed two runs over 7 2/3 innings in Cedar Rapids on Monday before hurling five shutout frames against Dayton on Sunday. Perhaps most impressively, the 23-year-old did not issue a walk in either contest. In fact, Ballard has not walked a batter since April 17, his second start of the season.

http://tinyurl.com/37egkg

Cards' reliever Josh Hancock died in an auto accident this morning.  No details.

Update: Details -- "St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock was killed early Sunday in an accident on Highway 40 (Interstate 64), just west of Compton Avenue, authorities said. Hancock's Ford Explorer slammed into the rear of a tow truck that was parked in the far left westbound lane shortly after 12:30 a.m. The tow truck driver, who was seated in the vehicle at the time, was unhurt. He told police that his emergency lights were on, and that he honked his horn when he saw the Explorer approaching in his rear view mirror, but that the Exploer didn't slow down or swerve to avoid the collision."

Joe Sheehan posted his rankings of MLB teams up to #11, and Texas still isn't listed.

He's even got Seattle 15th.

11 - det
12 - chw
13 - chc
14 - phi
15 - sea
16 - sfo
17 - stl
18 - min
19 - laa
20 - bal

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Hurley is 38th, Volquez 61st.  That is all.

To meet the character limit, here's Wikipedia on string theory:  String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings, rather than the zero-dimensional point particles that form the basis for the Standard Model of particle physics. The phrase is often used as shorthand for Superstring theory. String theorists are attempting to adjust the Standard Model by removing the assumption in quantum mechanics that particles are point-like.

It's firewalled, so only a synopsis:

Gagne:  sensible
Lofton over Matthews:  also sensible
Padilla signing:  solid
McCarthy trade: not fond of it (too homer-prone)
Sosa and Jamey Wright:  ugh
Quiroz and Chen:  sure, why not
Outfield production:  maybe not so bad
Little Cat:  not a high impact bat
Blalock: needs to step up or Texas will have weak offense

summary:  "weird, disjoined sort of winter... It won't take too many gambles failing to put this club decisively in the basement."

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5853

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_4822447

Well, he gets $3.8 million next year and hit .220/.264/.335 in Coors last season.  What's not to like?

I'll fill the 300-character limit with my opinion of this possible acquisition:

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggghh!"

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2006/12/kapler_to_retir.html

Is becoming Boston's Sally League manager.  Only 31.  Looked like he was going to be great when he first came to Texas, then he forget how to hit or walk.  Man of a thousand different swings.  

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If you're interested...

http://rangers.scottlucas.com/

And to hit the character limit, here's Ecclesiastes 1:2-4 --

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

...and they didn't pitch well, either.

But seriously...

Koronka 6.2 IP, 10 H, 5 BB, 1 SO, 5 runs
Loe 0.2 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 SO, 5 runs

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300 characters!

Half a league half a league
  Half a league onward
All in the valley of Death
  Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade
Charge for the guns' he said
Into the valley of Death
  Rode the six hundred.

Per ESPN's Keith Law:
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=law_keith#20060818

Vernon Wells has told Blue Jays' management that he has no intention of signing a contract extension to stay in Toronto; he and his family would like to move closer to his home in Texas, and he has become increasingly disenchanted in Toronto as he has faced public criticism from general manager J.P. Ricciardi. It hasn't helped matters that the Blue Jays' clubhouse has become one of the least diverse in baseball, with Wells currently the only African-American player on Toronto's 25-man roster.
Wells has one year remaining on the five-year deal he signed in spring training of 2003 and will earn just $5.6 million in 2006, after which he'll be eligible for free agency entering his age-29 season.

Sources around baseball indicate the Blue Jays will explore trading Wells this winter rather than allow a repeat of the Carlos Delgado situation in 2004, when the team was unable to trade the impending free agent due to Delgado's blanket no-trade clause and thus ended up with nothing after Delgado left. While the Blue Jays could play out 2007 and take two draft picks for Wells, they're looking at Wells as the one chip they might be able to play into some help for their beleaguered rotation.

There will be no shortage of teams interested in Wells, a middle-of-the-order bat and plus defensive center fielder who'll hit the market in the middle of his offensive peak. Texas and Houston are likely to have interest because they might be able to sign him to an extension before he hits free agency, and neither team has a solid incumbent in center fielder.

However, Wells' destination in 2007 is going to come down to which team is willing to give up the most major league-ready talent in exchange for Wells. The Blue Jays are built to win now (what with the balloon payment coming due on A.J. Burnett, B.J. Ryan, Troy Glaus and Roy Halladay starting in 2008) and aren't going to deal an MVP-caliber player like Wells for guys in Z-ball. It's a trade that can make or break the immediate future of the Blue Jays.

A scout suggest Danks is still too much of a thrower and might be better off in relief.  Another scout is high on Littleton and thinks he's nearly ready.  

And on the hitters:

The Frisco bats left much to be desired. "It's awful," quipped one scout. "When's the last time you saw a Double-A team without a prospect in the lineup?" When presented with this question, another league observer joked, "Um, last year's Frisco team?"

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5099

Per Kevin Goldstein:

John Danks, LHP, Rangers
Statistics for Double-A Frisco: 7.15 ERA, 22.2 IP, 38 H, 10 BB, 28 K

Obviously, I'm the last guy to worry only about the numbers, but at some point, you have to perform, right? Danks is getting his second chance at the Texas League this year, and it's not going so well as he's last in the league in WHIP and opposing batters have a slugging percentage of .663 against him. In 21 career starts for Frisco, Danks now has a 5.80 ERA while allowing 155 hits in 121 innings. That's way too hittable for a pitcher with Danks' raw abilities, so maybe we've misjudged what those abilities are. I don't think we can use the excuse of him being rushed anymore--as a 2003 first-round pick he's in his third full season, so Double-A is in line with the expected development curve.

Verdict On Bad Start: Real, in the sense that Danks still has bankable stuff, but I don't think he's nearly the pitcher we've thought he is.

Wilkerson
Young
Teixeira
Blalock
Dellucci
Mench
Durazo
Derosa
Laird

And to fill the character quota, here's some words from the world's cheeriest playwright Samuel Beckett:

"It is right that he too should have his little chronicle, his memories, his reason, and be able to recognize the good in the bad, the bad in the worst, and so grow gently old down all the unchanging days, and die one day like any other day, only shorter."

Chris Young (8-4, 3.33) versus Tim Wakefield (7-6, 3.94). Wakefield has a career ERA of 5.51 in 67 innings at The Ballpark. Your lineup.

Unless Adam doesn't check in by game-time, my time is up. I'd like to thank him for letting me dispense bloggy goodness in his absence, and I'd also like to remind his readers that I maintain my own vaguely blog-like device located here. Just posted: about two million statistics to coincide with the Rangers reaching the season's halfway point. See you on the message boards.

Ricardo Rodriguez (2-1, 3.65) versus Wade Miller (2-2, 5.14).  Richard Hidalgo sits against a righty for the fourth time in five games.  Your starting lineup.

By sweeping the Kansas City Royals over the weekend, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim set a franchise record for wins at midseason with 51. Twice they've had a record of 49-32 after 81 games. In 1989, they faltered to a 36-45 second half and ended eight games behind a dominant Oakland squad. In 1998, they led the Texas Rangers by 3.5 games. I believe you know how that turned out.

Another data point of hope is that Baseball Prospectus gives them only 46.3 adjusted wins based on their peripherals. My trusty computer pegs them for only 45.3. Nevertheless, Texas faces a daunting task in overcoming a 7.5-game deficit in a half season. Catching three teams in the wild-card race is no easier.

Here's a rundown of Kansas City's "performance" in the series along with an updated picture. Sorry for the repetition.

KC vs LAA July 1-3, 2005 Runs- 3 Hits- 9 Walks- 2 GIDP- 3 LOB- 7 Line - .118/.141/.157

Sorry for the delay in the game thread.  I hit the send button and took off, then came back to discover it didn't post.

Kenny "The Pugilist" Rogers (9-3, 2.46) versus lefty Jamie Moyer (6-3, 4.88).  Remember when a young Moyer looked washed up while pitching for Texas in 1989-1990?

Regarding yesterday's game thread, I inadvertently used Gary Matthews' 2005 performance against Joel Pineiro rather than his career line.  In fact, Matthews has batted .533/.611/.867 against Pineiro in eighteen plate appearances, making the decision to start him over Hidalgo a no-brainer. Shame on me.