Don't know if this is worth enough people's time to be a FanPost.  And if it turns out not to be, I am familiar with the delete function as it pertains to worthless FanPosts.  But, there was some good conversation going late in the GDT today about what shows out there are worth watching.  And I am always down to talk good television. 

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Jamey's post has gotten me thinking, and combing the internet too.  It's gotten me thinking about the two camps when it comes to the trade deadline as it pertains to your Texas Rangers.  The camp that says, "When you have a shot at the playoffs, you load up as best you can and go after it."  And then the camp that says. "Stick to 'The Plan' and hold your cards.  Don't go chasing 'the missing piece' when this team is a 2010 and beyond team."  I guess I should also include the 3rd camp that says, "It's Jonny Donuts time to step up and shine and fix this awful mess he has THIS THING in and stop worrying about BA rankings and worry about what's going on in THE SHOW.  And if it fails it's because JD is a moron.  But if it succeeds it's because Nolan Ryan identified the guy(s) THIS THING needed.  KRIS DAVIS!  THIS THING! THE SHOW! T.G.H.B.W.O.J '09!!!"

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I failed to notice Miles' post was rec'd up because I just assumed it was all CPP posts.  Should have known a Miles post would eventually get rec'd to the top. 

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And that means it's officially okay to devote excess time to possible trades. 

And with this team, the trading season will likely be a hot point of contention.  You have a young team with tons of talent on the farm that is competing a year (or even two depending on who you ask) earlier than they were supposed to.

So what do you do?  Who/What do you target?  Who is untouchable?

Warning: What follows is lengthy and a subject I know some like to avoid.  Enter at your own risk.

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Hickory trails Kannapolis 3-0 in the 2nd Inning

Font roughed up to start- 1.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR

5 outs, 4 on strikeouts, so there is a tiny silver lining

Bianucci 0-0 with a BB

Murphy goes for Bakersfield at 9:30

Frisco trails San Antonio 5-0 in the 4th

Ballard just pulled for Garr after this line: 3.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 HR

Lemon and Whittleman both 2-2 with a single and a double so far

OKC off tonight

Thanks to the great and powerful Shroomer for his calendar

Life without a computer is rougher than I thought.  After a couple of months of saving following my latest computer crash, I finally spent some money and got a Mac with all kinds of goodies.  I've pretty much been limited to keeping up with LSB via the Blackberry (speaking of that Adam, any idea if/when SBN will go mobile with commenting?) and it has sucked not being able to fully participate in all the chest bumping that the Rangers play has induced among the faithful.

All that said, the hacking is getting out of hand.  I've read plenty here regarding the 1st pitch swings, the K's, and the lack of on base skills that the Rangers have demonstrated during this great start.  So, for my first fanpost back from the world of the computerless, I thought I would try taking somewhat of an in-depth look at your 2009 Texas Rangers Hackers.

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Tomorrow night some of the big guns are out:

Hickory: Martin Perez

Bakersfield: Michael Main

Frisco: Kasey Kiker

OKC: Neftali Feliz

Tonight Wilfredo Boscan, Tim Murphy, Doug Mathis and Omar Poveda are the headliners:

Hickory (Boscan) vs. Bowling Green 6:00 PM

SAL league scoreboard

Bakersfield (T. Murphy) vs. Modesto 9:00 PM

CAL league scoreboard

Frisco (Poveda) vs. Springfield 7:10 PM

TEX league scoreboard

OKC (Mathis) vs. Memphis 7:00 PM

PCL scoreboard

All credit for the farm probables go to Shroomer as usual.

Shroomer's calendar

And from Zywica's new gig over at DMN:

Oklahoma City: RHP Doug Mathis vs PJ Walters (7:05 start)
Frisco: RHP Omar Poveda vs Kyle Mura (7:10 start)
Bakersfield: LHP Tim Murphy vs Connor Graham (9:05 start)
Hickory: RHP Wilfredo Boscan vs Matt Moore (6:00 start)

The featured matchup here is the Low A South Atlantic League pairing, where Hickory will play its first game as a Rangers affiliate. Boscan looks to follow up on an excellent summer in the Short-Season A level Northwest League, where he put up a very impressive 70 K / 11 BB ratio in 69.1 innings. He and the Crawdads face another Rays up and comer in Moore, a lefty with excellent stuff.

Murphy is the club's 3rd rounder from last summer's draft and had a nice debut, finishing the season in Low A. Poveda faces a pretty impressive Springfield (Cardinals affiliate) lineup that includes fast rising first round pick Brett Wallace. Boscan, Murphy and Poveda were all listed among the Rangers' top 30 prospects (11, 22, 24, respectively) by Baseball America this winter.

We'll have recaps on all of the games in the morning.

Stuart Scott just reported it as breaking news on sportscenter. 

Only link so far: http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/espn-reporting-to-released-by-cowboys.html

Titled: ESPN reporting T.O. released by Cowboys

They cite two sources. Should be a busy night here at the blog.

I sure am glad the local fellas were on top of this one.  Should have known when Jerry said the word "roster" umpteen times the last time he was asked about it.  Maybe now Dan Reeves will come back.

ESPN STORY: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3953647

The Dallas Cowboys have released controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens, sources told ESPN's Michael Smith late Wednesday

So, where does T.O. go?

Do the Cowboys draft a young WR now?

RW2 is the #1, Crayton the #2, then a battle royale between Austin, Hurd, Stanback and any newbies for the #3-5 spots. 

From TR Sullivan:

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers have settled all their arbitration cases after reaching an agreement with outfielder Marlon Byrd on Friday.

Byrd agreed to a base salary of $3.06 million. He was asking for $3.6 million in arbitration and the Rangers were offering $2.7 million. Byrd, who made $1.8 million in 2008, is eligible for free agency after the 2009 season.

The Rangers had already reached agreements with pitchers Brandon McCarthy, C.J. Wilson and Frank Francisco. They have not had an arbitration hearing with a player since Lee Stevens in 2000.

Byrd hit .298 with 10 home runs and 53 RBIs for the Rangers in 2008. In 122 games and 403 at-bats, he had 70 runs scored, 28 doubles, a .380 on-base percentage and a .462 slugging percentage.

He enters this season competing for playing time with left fielder David Murphy, center fielder Josh Hamilton and right fielder Nelson Cruz. Byrd is the most versatile of the four, having played 57 games in center, 39 in right and 31 in left in 2008

 

 

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