This has been hashed out in several forums.  Sorry I'm late for the party, but had this brainstorm recently.

'09 is a contract year for Adrian Beltre.  It is also a contract year for Padilla, and could be one for Millwood.  All three will paid roughly the same amount next season.

Both teams are obviously building for the future, and none of these guys will be part of that future.

So the proposal is either Millwood or Padilla for Beltre straight-up.

What is in it for Texas? 

1. A right-handed bat to hit in the middle of the line-up
2. A good defensive player at 3B
3. Chris Davis back to 1B
4. No pushing MY to 3B
5. No rushing Andrus to the parent club

What is in it for Seattle?

1. An established pitcher to replace Bedard
2. Clears a spot for Matt Tuiasosopo
3. ????

This idea is not well thought-out or heavily researched.  Just a thought for discussion.

I do agree with all that has been said about Mark Connor being a fine man.  I feel for the lose of his job and wish him well in the future.  In spite of that, we can have a little fun with the situation. 

I didn't get to watch the game last night...Night Ranger was playing at the White River Water Carnival...so I watched the MLB highlight videos.  Take note of the last few seconds of the clip of Murphy's game winning hit:

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200808013237958

Just for kicks...what did Connor say to Murphy as he patted him on the back?

With all the Harrison excitement last night, I didn't see anyone mention Kiker's line:

6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K

There was even a caught stealing with him on the mound.  That seems to be one of his better starts of the year.

There has been lots of talk about how stocked the farm system is with pitchers in the lower levels of the system.  That is certainly good.  Could it be good in another way?

I can't help but wonder if all the young arms increases the intensity, focus, and competition amongst the pitchers.  For example, did Kiker come out and fire his best game last night because he was ticked that he got passed in the pecking order by Feliz?  Does the fact that Hunter has gone from Bakersfield to Frisco to OKC in half a season show that performance gets reward, so everyone tries a little harder?  Or is the ultimate reward of the big leagues enough motivation?

I'm flying into Love Field next Friday around 1PM and need to head towards Corsicana on I-45.   What is the best route to get from Love Field to I-45?  Any major road construction  in the area?

I repeat:

I'm flying into Love Field next Friday around 1PM and need to head towards Corsicana on I-45.   What is the best route to get from Love Field to I-45?  Any major road construction  in the area?

Thanks for the help.

The Little Rock TV stations are reporting that Houston Nutt will announce his resignation tonight at 6:30PM.  If interested, the press conference can be viewed at www.katv.com

They also cite the Memphis Commercial-Appeal that he is already negotiating with Ole Miss to fill their coaching position.

Time for the winter meetings so we can stop talking about college football.

A few things I've thought about since the end of the season:

Home/Road Record - I haven't seen it mentioned much, but the Rangers won the fewest number of road games this season with 28.  That is just terrible. What do you make of this number?

So I did a little exercise to determine the teams with the greatest difference in home record and road record.  The equation is simple: Home Games Over/Under .500 - Road Games Over/Under .500. (Note: Remember two negatives make a positive).  Using this equation, the larger the number, the greater the difference in home and road record. A negative number means the team was better on the road than at home.

Our beloved Rangers tied for the highest value with the Brewers at 38. Other high values include Toronto at 30, LAA at 28, Colorado at 23.  The Mets were the only team with a negative value at -12...nice job guys.

Mr. Third Place - Once again, Tex winds up playing for a third place team and watching the playoffs like the rest of us.  Had he stayed in Texas, he would have most likely finished on another third place team.  After another third place finish with the Braves next year, maybe he will sign with Yankees and continue the streak.

Ichiro Shift - When Ichiro leads off an inning, he typically just slaps at the ball and runs real fast...like skinny guys do in softball.  So I would propose an Ichiro shift with the bases empty.  In this shift, the centerfielder would become an extra infielder with the corner outfielders sliding over to the power alleys.  This might take away some of those cheap infield hits.  He might also adjust his swing to try and hit the ball over the infield, thus popping up more.  I doubt anyone would try this...unless LaRussa manages against him.  Then it would be dubbed a great move by a genius manager.

In the Cardinal's 16-4 win over the Pirates today, Kelvin Jimenez was credited with the win.  He faced one batter, in the second inning, and struck him out.  Then he was promptly removed from the game for a pinch hitter.

I understand when the starter, Mike Maroth in this case, does not go five innings, the official scorer has the discretion to award the win to a pitcher that pitched effectively. While striking out the lone hitter faced is a nice accomplishment, it hardly warrants being credited with win.

I'm sure that Jimenez is glad to be 2-0.

There seem to be a few similarities between A-Rod and Tex:

1. Great players
   
2. Power hitting RBI men
   
3. Huge paychecks...the Boras factor
   
4. Made some comments that angered fans
   
5. The desire to leave Texas and play for a winner

Which player will have the most number of WS Rings when their career is over.  Poll at the right.

The answer will be provided in about 15 years.

So I'm watching the Cardinals tonight...have I stated before that I get EVERY Cardinal game...against the D-Backs.  In the 6th or 7th inning, Livan Hernandez hits a two-out, two-run HR.  In his trot around the bases, he has a little swagger...as much swagger as a 250-lb man can have.

So the color analyst for the Cardinals starts talking about Hernandez' hot dogging in the HR trot and how it is unnecessary.  The color analyst, by the way, is none other than Al Hrbosky.

Al Hrbosky, the Mad Hungarian, talking about hot dogging and show boating.  Well Al, what was that little thing you use to do when you pitched?  It sure looked like hot dogging to me.

Later on, Eric Byrnes is coming in on a line drive hit to the outfield.  He tries to make one of those sliding catches where the ball is caught about head high. Hrbosky proceeds to say that how the modern day outfielder tends to slide unnecessarily to make the catches look better.  Hello...Al...who plays CF for the Cardinals when he is not gimped up on the DL?  Isn't it Jim Edmonds, King of the exaggerated catch?

I know that Lewin can sometimes get annoying in his broadcasts, but I can't stand listening to Hrbosky.  

Thanks for listening.

I really hate to propose trade scenarios.  I have no idea on how to be a GM. But I thought I'd throw one out anyway.

Being in Arkansas, I get to see a large number of Cardinal games.  Much like the Rangers, their starting pitching has been terrible this season...Kip Wells, Anthony Reyes, Carpenter being hurt.  However, there is hope on the horizon.  Carpenter and Mulder should be back after the ASB.  They just traded for Maroth.  Wainwright and Looper have pitched fairly well...probably their most consistent starters.  So that means Reyes will most likely get bumped from the rotation sometime after the ASB.

Their outfield is also deficient.  Edmonds has been bad this year.  And when he hasn't been bad, he has been hurt.  He is now on the DL and is being replaced by So Taguchi.  Their order also lacks a true leadoff hitter...Eckstein is finally wearing out and is on the DL.

The Cardinals also have the benefit of playing in the lukewarm NL Central.  While they are 7-9 games back, they are one hot streak from being right in the mix.

So....how about Lofton for Reyes?  They fill their leadoff spot and get a durable centerfielder.  If Edmonds ever gets healthy, he could be placed in a corner spot.

Reyes is 0-fer season, but did win Game 1 of the World Series and pitched a one-hitter - and lost - against the White Sox last year.  He does have potential.

I'm sure there are shortcomings with this deal...and y'all won't hesitate to share them.

So Kiker goes five innings tonight and gives up five earned runs.  

Please explain how the following sequence leads to an earned run:

Kane County Top 2nd

Ramiro Mendez doubles (1) on a fly ball to right fielder K. C. Herren.
Jermaine Mitchell flies out to center fielder David Paisano. Ramiro Mendez to 3rd.
With Samuel Hernandez batting, passed ball by Kevin Gossage, Ramiro Mendez scores.
Samuel Hernandez strikes out swinging.
Christian Vitters grounds out, second baseman Jose Vallejo to first baseman Mauro Gomez.
I was under the assumption that a pass ball, while not scored as an error, is the equivalent of an error.

After the Daniel's contract extention, I read where MY stated he was for anything that helped get the team better (paraphrase), but he wasn't interested in rebuilding.  IIRC his statement was something about he didn't sign on to go through a rebuilding process.

So why did MY sign on with Texas?  

I could come up with two possible reasons:

The first possibility is that he thought the current team was capable of winning this year and the next.  He also must have approved of the hiring of Ron Washington and bought into his approach.  So this would lead one to believe that either a) MY is as bad a judge of talent as JD has been accused by the media or b) the talent is good, but has under performed this season.  I tend to favor "b" over "a".

The second possibility is that MY made a sound business decision.  He signed a contract at the peak, or near the peak, of his career.  That doesn't mean that he will not continue to perform at a high level for the next several years, but that the 2004-2006 will be the best set of years.

Are there others possibilities?  I'd love to hear other's thoughts.