SB Nation User Blog: RangerMad

OT: CFB 11/07

RangerMad — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:04:13 -0000

Mainly posting this to cite this article... Boise St can't get quality opponents.

Bleymaier is making a nearly unheard of offer in college football scheduling – Boise will bring its popular, high-profile, top-10 team to any stadium in any town to play any big name team in America in 2011. And they don’t have to return the date in Idaho.

Is TCU scheduled to play in Sept. 3, 2011? How about Texas Tech?

Tim Smith Royals #18 prospect per Sickels

RangerMad — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:04:45 -0000

Tim Smith Royals #18 prospect per Sickels

Yeah, I am bored.

Smith was ranked around #50 in the Rangers pre-season prospect rankings and didn't crack the top 25 in the LSB mid-season poll. He might have been around #40 in this off season rankings.

Recall that Smith and Manny Pina were traded to KC in early Sept for Daniel Gutierrez. Pina was ranked ~#40 by Lucas and Newberg. Gutierrez was ranked #10 last October by Sickels. He will probably be ranked in the mid teens for the Rangers this off sseason partly due to he showing in the AZL Fall league.

And who the heck is Mike Montgomery?

The Rangers and The Field Part1: OBP vs. SLG

RangerMad — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:28:48 -0000

The Rangers and The Field Part1: OBP vs. SLG

This subject is something I originally investigated last winter. I finally had time thee last few weeks to continue the research and put together this fan post. Some may see this as Rudy bashing but it is just coincidence that I finished this on the day the news comes out that Rudy will not return next year.

I started with trying to answer a simple question. How do the Rangers OBP and SLG compare to playoff teams? Winning seasons are nice but a playoff season would be better. That question has morphed a bit as I got into the details. I am not a statistician nor a sabermatician. My idea was to use simple data and see through observation how the Rangers ranked against the AL in terms of OBP, SLG and wins. I used Baseball Reference to rank each team from 1996 to 2009. I omitted 1995 due to it being a strike year. The 14 year timeframe also covers 14 of the 15 wildcard years. (Before I get flogged, skewered and quartered, I know these numbers are not park adjusted and that wins are highly dependent on pitching and defense. Remember, simple data and observation.)

Top 4 vs. Bottom 4

Lets first look at the top 4 in OBP and SLG vs. the bottom 4. Why the top 4? Because the top 4 teams in wins usually qualifies for the playoffs. The exceptions are 2000, 2003, 2008 and 2009. It also made it easier for a spreadsheet novice like myself.

AL ………………………OBP…………………. SLG……

Avg Wins top 4.…………92.2.…………………..88.9.……

Avg Wins bot 4.…………70.4.…………………..68.7.……

Top 4 range………..….95.8 - 87.……………95.5 - 82.8.….

Bot 4 range………..….78 - 56.5.………………76 - 59.8.……

The top 4 OBP teams averaged 3.3 wins more then the top 4 SLG teams. At the bottom end, OBP teams averaged 1.7 more wins then SLG teams. What about the Rangers when they finish in the top/bot 4?

Rangers.……………..…OBP…………………SLG………….

Avg Wins top 4.…………83.8..(4yrs)………..81.8..(11yrs)…

Avg Wins bot 4.…………83.7..(3yrs)………..***.……

*** The Rangers have not finished in the bottom 4 in SLG since 1995. The 3 years they didn’t finish in the top 4 in SLG they averaged 75.3 wins.

Winning teams

Jon Daniels has said in interviews that he wants to build a consistent winning ML team. First, if you are expecting 17 years of consecutive winning seasons like the Yankees, don’t hold you breath. How about 3 consecutive winning seasons? From 1996 on there has been 10 teams (9 franchises) that have met the criteria. Texas hasn’t had 3 consecutive winning seasons but, I fudged a little and included there 96, 98-99 teams.

Team…………avg wins………………avg OBP rank……………..avg SLG rank…..

NY 96-09.…….97.5.……………………2.2.…………….……………4.1

Bos 98-09.……92.2.……………………3.8.………………………….4.6

Min 01-06.……90.………………………7.…………….……………..8.5

Sea 00-03.…….98.3.……………………2.3.…………………………7.8

Oak 99-06.……93.9.……………………5.3.………………………….8

Ana 04-09.…….94.5.……………………6.8.…………………………8.2

Cle 96-01.……..92.……………………..1.8.………………….………2.8

CHW 03-06.……89.5.……………………8.………….……….……..4.3

Tor 06-08.…….85.3.……………………8.7.…………………………9.3

Tor 98-00.…….85.………………………7.7.…………………...…….4

Tex 96,98-99.…91.……………………..3.7.………………….……..2.7

Tex last 14 yrs….80.7.………………….6.8.………………….…….3.1

All of the winning teams above made the playoffs at some point in their streak except… Toronto. That is life in the AL East.

OBP vs. SLG Rankings

Some quick hit observations when comparing a team’s OBP ranking vs. their SLG ranking.

Percentage of teams that OBP ranked higher or equal to SLG from 1996 - 2009.

All teams: 63%
Winning teams: 76%
Playoff teams: 80%
Texas Rangers: 14%

Some quick Rudy/pre-Rudy numbers from 1984 - 1993 for the Rangers.

Avg # wins: 80.7 / 77.7

Avg OBP ranking: 6.8 / 8.2

Avg SLG ranking: 3.1 / 7.3

OBP >= SLG: 2 / 3

Also, not sure it is fair to gripe about the Rangers’ OBP under Rudy when they have never been a high OBP team. At least not since 1984.

Conclusions:

I report…. you decide. Like I said, I am not a statistician.

30 Largest Latin American Signing Bonuses of All Time

RangerMad — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:02:37 -0000

30 Largest Latin American Signing Bonuses of All Time

Is this list accurate? Have the Rangers only signed one LA player to a bonus of $1M? The Yankees, Mets and Red Sox have 10 of the top 30.

Arrest made in ESPN reporter's voyeur video case

RangerMad — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:26:56 -0000

Arrest made in ESPN reporter's voyeur video case

What an idiot.

The FBI learned that Barrett checked into the same hotel at that time and asked for a room adjacent to Andrews using his home address to register for the room.

Borbon in CF tonight

RangerMad — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:56:15 -0000

Borbon in CF tonight vs Seattle per Anthony Andro. Byrd will be in RF and Blalock is still out for the count after taking a phantom shot to the head. That is one tough knee that Derek has. Will Andruw be at 1B again tonight?

Sometimes it is difficult to decide where to put the patest Ranger news. This could have been a fanshot since I have a link. It could go in the morning thread or one of the other front page threads and get lost. But it is directly related to the Rangers so I opted for a fanpost. Am I at 75 words yet?

http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/

What Ron wants for Christmas.

RangerMad — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:38:59 -0000

It is not his two front teeth. He would like...

A veteran starting pitcher, a right-handed hitter and a left-handed relief specialist top manager Ron Washington's offseason wish list for the Rangers.

Ron. How did Kris Benson work out?

"The only one of those who is experienced is McCarthy," Washington said. "It's not that our young kids can't do the job. They did a great job this year. But there's that old baseball axiom you never know what will happen the second time around.

I do agree with this.

"I just want a right-handed bat that's consistent," Washington said. "He doesn't have to be a guy who hits 25-30 home runs, but just a right-handed bat that can hit and drive in runs. Someone who can help us against left-handers. It would be nice if he can play first base and the outfield.

But please, no Marlon Byrd.

Wish list

Price vs Holland

RangerMad — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:06:06 -0000

Price vs Holland

Go vote.

Texas' 40 Man Roster: Surprisingly Uncrunchy

RangerMad — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:09:01 -0000

Texas' 40 Man Roster: Surprisingly Uncrunchy

Scott Lucas examines the Rangers' 40-man roster heading into the off season. I wish I was a wage slave at $400K/yr.

How Are the Stars Being Acquired? Starting Pitching.

RangerMad — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:59:02 -0000

How Are the Stars Being Acquired? Starting Pitching.

The best pitchers in baseball aren’t being acquired on the free agent market. Teams looking for their ace pitcher this off-season should take note.

But we already knew this. Right?