Today:

AAA: Neil Ramirez-1:05pm

AA: Wilfredo Boscan-5:00pm

Hi-A: Ryan Kelly (who?)-1:30pm

Lo-A: off

*randoms*

MOLT: 351/.457/.614!!!

In fact, MOLT is 5th in the Carolina League in batting average, 3rd in OBP, 6th in SLG, and 2nd in OPS at 1.071. It seems as if Professor Parks' prediction of Olt seeing Frisco by the ASB are on track.

Skole: .276/.354/.345

Coach Joe!: In his last ten high-A starts, Wieland has a 1.56 ERA with eight walks and 56 strikeouts in 56 innings, and opponents are hitting a meager .222/.309/.314 during that span.

Jurickson Profar was activated off the DL but didn't play yesterday.

"I like pitching with this lineup," Wilson told Rumblings. "And our defense is pretty good, so I like that, too. And that's a factor for me, because I want to win. The winning thing is more important than anything else -- and knowing I'm going to be in a good situation, because you have a choice. You have a choice of what you're going to factor your decision on. And for me, the ultimate thing is, 'Am I going to be a happy person?' I played for a team that wasn't winning for a long time, and now we're winning. So it's a lot easier to see a future here."

• Wilson reports he saw a recent quote from Roy Halladay (on ESPN.com, coincidentally enough) in which Halladay said, "To me, free agency was a chance to pick where you want to play, not a chance to see how much money you could get." And Wilson wants it on the record that he agrees with those sentiments "100 percent."

It's very possible this team is even better than the team that went to that World Series.

We've heard scouts say it. We've heard opposing managers say it. And in the Rangers' clubhouse, they firmly believe it.

Much more here.

Harumph!

/Cahill

This has grown to somewhat of a family here, and I am a softie, so...

I respect what many of you say, learn from what many of you say, refute what some of you say, but always enjoy the camaraderie hereabouts. I love you guys and gals here.

Have a safe & wonderful holidays, and always enjoy & cherish your families. Life is shorter than you surmise, so please make your choices wisely.

Peace To All!

(Not 75 words, crap)

Bleah, 550 mile roadie to see the family tomorrow. Who wants a text when I get up at 4:30?

Great statistical look into the Rangers' season thus far.

The Rangers have gotten to where they are because they are a very good team. They are above average in defense (second in the majors in PADE), hitting (.263 TAv as a team), baserunning (fourth in the majors), and pitching (above average in both strikeout rate and unintentional walk rate). There are plenty of ways to be a good baseball team, but one path that nobody questions is to be pretty good at everything, and that is just what the Rangers have been this year.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=11792

(if this has already been posted, I will delete)

Danial Kaplan is live-tweeting the hearing here:

http://twitter.com/dkaplanSBJ

Also, Maury has a several new posts up about the hearing:

Biz of Baseball

An excerpt:

Judge Lynn says, "The Rangers need to be out this room just as soon as possible." Such a comment would seem to lean toward approval of the prepackaged plan. But, as has been the case many times before, matters can change over the course of a long day of arguments.

The Rangers have announced a contract extension with right-hander Scott Feldman.

The new deal reworks his contract for 2010, signs him through 2012 and adds a club option for 2013. The right-hander will receive $2.425 million in 2010, $4.4 million in 2011 and $6.5 million in 2012. The Rangers' option for 2013 is worth $9.25 million with a $600,000 buyout.

"We're excited to commit to Scott as a core member of our club for years to come," general manager Jon Daniels said in a statement. "Our goal is to build a championship team around quality players and individuals who work hard to improve themselves, the team and our community. Scott fits with that perfectly."

Feldman, 27, went 17-8 last season, and he will be the Opening Day starter Monday against Toronto.

From Jamison:

According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Texas has traded righthander Edwar Ramirez to Oakland for non-roster infielder Gregorio Petit. The 25-year-old Petit was reassigned to minor league camp three days ago by the A's, for whom he'd spent his entire nine-year pro career.

Considered a defense-first infielder (and primarily a shortstop), the Venezuelan is a career .268/.322/.369 minor league hitter (.278/.304/.333 in 54 big league at-bats). He went 6-for-11 (.545/.667/.818 with four walks and two strikeouts) in camp for the A's before being reassigned.

Petit presumably enters the mix for the big league utility infield job.

The removal of Ramirez, purchased on March 9 from the Yankees, clears up a roster spot for the Rangers since he was on the club's 40-man roster.

 See Ya', Spiderman!

Texas Rangers
Projected record: 87-75

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Seattle Mariners
Projected record: 83-79

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Oakland Athletics

Projected record: ???

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Los Angeles Angels

Projected record: 76-86

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Player Who Could Surprise: Colby Lewis returns stateside after spending the past two seasons pitching in Japan. PECOTA believes the time abroad has helped the Rangers' first-round draft pick from 1999—it projects Lewis to post a fine 3.84 ERA in 165 innings.

Player Who Could Disappoint: Scott Feldman seemingly came out of nowhere to lead the team with 17 victories last season. PECOTA doesn't see a repeat, forecasting a 9-9 record and 4.78 ERA in 157 innings.

More here.

Nadel hopes to put an end to the problem once and for all on Monday when he’ll undergo his second surgical procedure in a month. After essentially having the attachment "soldered" back to the eye in emergency surgery in New York in early June, he will undergo a full-scale attachment procedure Monday morning at UT-Southwestern. Noted retina specialist Dr. Yu-Guang He will perform the surgery. Nadel will miss Monday’s series opener against the Los Angeles Angels, but should be able to return to the booth at some point during the homestand. He will, however, miss the upcoming road trip to Anaheim and Seattle.

The Rangers will place LHP Matt Harrison on the DL for the second time this season Sunday and will recall Tommy Hunter to replace him in the starting rotation on Sunday. It’s uncertain whether Hunter would get more than one start since the Rangers have an off day on Thursday and could juggle the rotation leading up to the All-Star break.

Harrison, who spent three weeks on the DL with shoulder soreness earlier this month, is returning with soreness in the shoulder/biceps area. He has struggled in two starts since returning from the first stint on the DL. Most recently, he allowed Arizona, which ranks 15th of 16 teams in the NL in batting average, seven hits, four walks and seven runs in 3.2 innings on Tuesday.

Crap.

I guess Mike E was correct.

The BBC is reporting that Royal Bank of Scotland will refinance a debt of £350 million that was due to be paid in July. There are, however, still negotiations ongoing with Wachovia, which also is due part of the loan.

Email response from Hicks:

“We have been working closely with RBS for several months on both an extension and a permanent financing, and have their commitment to do so. Our new Managing Director, Christian Purslow, is  leading the negotiations for us, and we anticipate finalizing everything during the next few weeks.   Liverpool had a record year financially and came within a few points of winning the English Premier League for the first time in 20 years.”

From Insidecorner.

Let's hope this frees up some cash in the budget for an acquisition.

This is a must read, such a wealth of information on some of the guys we, as prospectophiles, drool over every day.

Read it here.

On Perez:

We want him to come in around 110 this year. But he’s just a special player, ability-wise. He can put the fastball where he wants it, and it’s 94. He can drop the curve where he wants it and it‘s a plus pitch. His change is there now. He’s just on another level. (He has) Big league swagger.