(Dallas, TX, January 23, 2010) – Hicks Sports Group LLC announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell the Texas Rangers franchise to Rangers Baseball Express LLC, an investment group headed by Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan, the legendary pitcher who now serves as president of Texas Rangers Baseball Partners. The agreement represents completion of the second major step to sell the team. It is still subject to approval by Major League Baseball and certain lending institutions, as well as completion of financing.

"Together, we have worked exhaustively since last month to attain this agreement," said Tom Hicks whose family controls Hicks Sports Group. "It’s a complex business deal that positions the franchise positively for the future."

Continue reading this post »

I'm going to try and get a live blog  for today's Frisco game up and running at D's Inside Corner.  Drop by and join in.

Moscoso's first start.  Lemon at DH hitting sixth.  Vallejo back at 2B, batting second.    Wind blowing out to RF.

See you there.  Remember, the game is on Channel 21.

And away we go:  Moscoso's first pitch a ball....  Second, an 89 mph fastball for a strike... 

As you all know, we're trying to reinvent the wheel in a way.  Please check out our opening day stuff and let us know where you think we failed or scored, drilled it or missed the bullseye.  As always, let us know what you want.  And please -- for the sake of Dr Pepper and all that is holy -- hit us like we're Duane Bobick and you are Kenny Norton.  Check us out here:  http://insidecorner.dmagazine.com/

I hope you all enjoy this.    Your boy would have made you all very very proud today.

http://insidecorner.dmagazine.com/index.php/2009/03/20/farm-futures-live-from-surprise-320/

As always, thanks for your support of Inside Corner and please remember that your Inside Corner enjoyment will be enhanced with a nice cold Dr Pepper, official sponsor of Inside Corner. 

What better way to fill up the word count than to pimp my employer and my sponsor?

Evan has left the DMN and hooked up with the fine folks at D Magazine to kick off a sports blog http://insidecorner.dmagazine.com/

As Evan notes in his initial post, it won't be a traditional blog.  Evan will be back in the clubhouse delivering the best in Rangers beat coverage.   I too will be posting at D Inside Corner  from now on.

Evan is on his way to Surprise right now and will be reporting on today's game. 

Please bookmark http://insidecorner.dmagazine.com/ and make it a point to drop by frequently for your Rangers news.

I just caught Adam's eulogy to the DMN's Rangers coverage and thought maybe I could shed some light on the situation based on what I've been told.

The DMN will no longer have beat writers (Evan & Richard).   The DMN will print the same daily beat stories & notes by Jeff Wilson and Anthony Andro that appear in the Startlegram.

The DMN will maintain their Rangers blog, but Evan will not be a part of it because he was transferred to the Cowboys beat (cuz lord knows, you just can't have too many Cowboys beat writers in the spring).

Richard Durrett has been reassigned as an all-purpose blogger, joining Tim MacMahon in that capacity.   Both Richard and Tim will contribute to all DMN Sports Blogs.   I have been asked to stay on with the DMN Rangers Blog.   I have been told that I am free to continue to do whatever I think is best, whether it's doing game stories from Frisco, interviews, Q&A's, roundtables, etc.     Jeff WIlson and Anthony Andro will also contribute to the DMN Rangers blog.  

The DMN general sports columnists -- JJT, Tim Cowlishaw and Kevin Sherrington -- will continue to provide original Rangers-related exclusive content for the DMN as they see fit.   The Startlegram's columnists -- Gil, Reevo, Galloway & Galloway-Lite -- will continue to provide Rangers-related exclusive content to the Startlegram as they see fit. 

I am far from the official source on this -- and I'm sure this could all change again next week -- but it seems that y'all haven't been told much about what is going to happen and I thought I'd try to clear it up a bit based on what I've been told.    

Like you, I'm extremely disappointed not only in this whole development, but  the way it was communicated to fans and readers such as yourselves.

If you still want Evan Grant reporting on the Rangers for you,  take a minute and fill up a couple of e-mail boxes.  Might help, might not:  Might as well try.

DMN Sports Editor — Gary Leavell: gleavell@dallasnews.com
DMN Deputy Managing Editor Sports — Bob Yates: byates@dallasnews.com

They still haven't told me what they are going to do about the blog and I'm not sure that they've made a final  decision.   I do know that even in September, Octobe and November, the Rangers blog was the second most active DMN blog (behind the Cowboys, of course) and that we routinely got five to six times as many hits per day as the Mavericks or Stars blogs and ten to fifty times as many as any other DMN sports blog.   I also know that beat reporting on the sports teams gets far more action than the columns. 

So why they want to cut back on beat reporting and keep columnists around is beyond me.   Seems that bloggers have replaced traditional columnists, but as good as guys like Adam or Jamey or Joey are, they can't take the place of great beat reporters.

http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/report-rangers-throw-big-bucks-at-tazawa.html

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94L7LE81&show_article=1

But he's still going to sign with Boston, and that's probably just as well.  Hopefully, it results in Buchholz for Salty.

Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler Filler  Filler Filler FIller Fill Fill Filler Phillies FILLLLL

Are those of you who think Hurley should break camp in the Rangers rotation of that opinion because of what he's done this spring, or last year in OKC?   Or is there another reason that I don't get?  

And if your other reason is that he's better than Sidney Ponson, my next question is "so what?"

with lots of photos
\
if you're interested......

http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com

players featured:

Manny Pina, Wilmer Font, Neftali Feliz, Johnny Whittleman, Bobby Wilkins, Thomas Diamond, Kennil Gomez, Derek Holland, Matt Lawson .... etc.

Photos of Engel Beltre, Elvis Andrus, Chris Davis, Jose Vallejo, Blake Beavan, Kasey Kiker, etc.

It's now clear that at least one Rangers pitcher must leave each ST game with an injury.

So who is it going to be today?  Those scheduled to enter the line of fire today are listed below and in the poll to your right.............................................

Luis Mendoza
Kameron Loe
Jason Davis
Josh Rupe
Elizardo Ramirez
Warner Madrigal
Doug Mathis

starting in 20 minutes.....
http://www.dallasnews.com/chat/launch.html

should be hot and heavy, no?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&

I've known CJ Wilson for many years and I like him very much.  He's not my best friend or anything, but I know him well enough and have watched enough baseball with him to know that he is a guy who wishes the best for his teammates.  

I've watched him pointedly and aggressively trying to boost Ryan Dittfurth's confidence when Ditt was coming back from an injury.  I watched him do the same with Ben Kozlowski.  I've seen and heard him yearn for his friend Jason Botts to get his fair shot.

Now, before Ben shits all over me for name dropping, I will say that I mention these things merely to illustrate that based on what I've seen and heard with my own two eyes, I don't think that Wilson's teammates think of him as someone who isn't a good guy.   He's got a pretty good track record of being a good teammate.

Having said all of that, CJ was way, way, wayyyy out of line in the EPSN story and then what he did here was beyond inexcusable.  As a man, he now has to suffer the consequences and there should be consequences.    I hope it makes him a better man and a better ballplayer.  I think it will.

As for Michael Young, I have to say that I've often criticized him for not carrying the leader's mantle adequately.  Here, he did the job.   Not only did he step up and stand up for the other 58 guys in the room, but I think it's clear that he made sure that the story got out.  
Given the circumstances, I don't blame him at all.  

CJ pissed on his teammates in public and now he's going to have to pay the price in public.

And as for Evan Grant, I have to say that I appreciate the way he's been taking us inside the dynamics of the room this spring.    In this instance, he had to make a judgment call:   do I protect CJ, or do I go with this story when three of the most powerful people in the room clearly endorse me going with it?    I think he made the right choice.

I note that many of the folks here are making Evan out to be the bad guy in this.   But consider this:  clearly Michael Young wanted this story to go public,  Millwood wanted it to go public.   JD clearly didn't have a problem with it going public.   He could have simply said that didn't want to comment on it, but instead he underscored the issue by pointing out to Grant that he had previously warned CJ about things like this.

Wilson is the only bad guy in this situation.  But the good news is that he's not a bad guy, I'm pretty sure his teammates know he's not a bad guy, and that this will all blow over.  

In the end, I hope that CJ grows up a bit and this brings the ballclub together behind Michael Young who has evidently finally placed himself in the role of the man in the room to whom all others must account for their actions.

http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com

And today's filler material includes three songs that I think you should know, but probably don't:

"Ugly Sunday" by Mark Lanegan:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzdTv7d72O0

Pearl Jam, before they hired Eddie Vedder and changed their name to Pearl Jam.  This was when they were known at Green River and Mark Arm (later of Mudhoney) was their front man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd6ZvfIreNU

The Pogues have a Fiesta:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kWakTWGE_w

check it out:   http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/sports/baseball/10score.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=clemens&st= nyt&oref=slogin

********************************** ********************************** ****************************

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/romney-to-quit-presidential-race/index.html?hp

Filler:   Deep thoughts from the Fake Peter Gammons.....

Will Ryan Rowland-Smith and his tomato please come home?

The names, turning, keep blowing around like anteaters in a tornado: Carlos Pena, Eric Gagne, Ryan Freel -- rumored here (Chicago) there (Baltimore) and everywhere there are reserved teams -- Mariano Rivera, Daisuke Matsuzaka -- or sad, consistent owners: like shrimps, never sure -- Ron Mahay -- if they are (Atlanta) up or down, tactless or friendly.

The Giants will be willing to move Bengie Molina to Pittsburgh if Kevin Thompson or Josh Wilson becomes available because of salary constraints, but that depends on Pittsburgh making that decision, which may happen, because John Russell keeps calling them nitpicking oranges.

Randy Johnson gives Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin a solid second pitcher to go with Jailen Peguero, further support for Doug Davis, and the confidence that because they are so secure, they can beat anyone come October.

11-20 are up now:   http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com/rangersfarmreport/2008/02/top_20_prospect.html#comments

Let's fill with the five greatest horse races I've ever seen in person:

5. Flanders holds off stablemate Serena's Song in the 1994 Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MlRMUAmxmU
4. Grindstone comes out of the coulds to pick off the 1996 Kentucky Derby:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRMqKbjnDRk
3.  Not a close race, but historic.  Cigar wins the 1995 Breeders Cup Classic:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydT4SRxZT1Y
2.  The most explosive move on a turn I've ever seen.  Arazi in the 1991 Breeders Cup Juvenile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-grCjvnxehI
1. Sunday Silence beats Easy Goer in the 1989 Preakness.  Greatest stretch dual ever:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSaQPrMS0RQ

My legal assistant and another legal assistant in our office were just talking about the Super Bowl.  

The other one asks my LA who she thinks is going to win the Super Bowl.  My LA asks, "what colors are the teams?"   The other gal says "Giants are blue and white and the Patriots are blue and silver."   My LA says "ooh, silver.  I like the Patriots."

I walk into the office kitchen and find a newpaper laying open with photos of players in both uniforms and then another picture of Brady.  I show it to her and she says "ooh, Tom Brady, his hair is always so sexy."

So to summarize:  my legal assistant is intimately familiar with the history of Tom Brady's hair but has no idea what team he plays for or what color their uniforms are.

And he barely does commercials, so how she can know one without the other is beyond me.

That's transcendent.

Catchers:  http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com/rangersfarmreport/2008/01/prospect_previe_9.html#comments

And I shall fill with the top 5 rock / pop songs performed by chicks as selected by me, a grown-ass 40 year old man.

5)  Margo Timmins and her brothers ripping off the Velvet Underground, but doing a good job of it.  Cowboy Junkies:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHRFZFmEq9o

4.  Nico with Velvet Underground themselves:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5GWmkTYO8
3.  Patti Smith, written with the Boss:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hicSuUyYbPs
2.  I've always had a thing for the super maudlin, codependency rock of Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJn4Uo1u-s4
1.  Chrissie.  This thing resonates with me a lot more these days than it did in the mid 80's:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdd0PJqslfE

http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com/rangersfarmreport/2008/01/prospect_previe_8.html#comments

Characters:   how about 20th century theater?

Estragon, Hamm, Lucky, Pozo, Vladamir & Krapp; Willy Loman; George, Martha, Honey & Nick;    Cavale and Slim;  Jimmy and Alison Porter, Cliff and Helena;  Stanley Kowalski, Blance DuBois and Stella Kowalski

http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com/rangersfarmreport/2008/01/prospect_previe_7.html#comments

And now for your characters:

Holden, Allie, Phoebe, D.B., Ackley kid, Franny, Zooey, Seymour Glass, Buddy, Boo Boo, Walt, Waker, Esme, Uncle Wiggily,  the Varioni Brothers, that goddam bitch Muriel (or is she?), Sybil, Sergeant X, Mr. McArdle and Teddy ("I'll exqusite day you, buddy, if you don't get down off that bag this minute. And I mean it").

ESPN.com, citing an unidentified individual familiar with the inquiry, reported Hardin is hedging on whether Clemens will give a deposition because it could interfere with the defamation suit Clemens filed against McNamee on Jan. 6. The individual also said Hardin might not give the committee the recording of a Dec. 12 interview involving McNamee and Clemens' investigators. In Sinclair v. United States, 29 U.S. 263 (1927) a witness at congressional hearings refused to provide answers, and was prosecuted for contempt of Congress. The witness had noted that a lawsuit had been commenced between the government and the Mammoth Oil Company, and declared, "I shall reserve any evidence I may be able to give for those courts ... and shall respectfully decline to answer any questions propounded by your committee. The Supreme Court upheld the witness's conviction for contempt of Congress. The Court considered and ejected in unequivocal terms the witness's contention that the pendency of lawsuits provided an excuse for withholding information. Neither the laws directing that such lawsuits be instituted, nor the lawsuits themselves, "operated to divest the Senate, or the committee, of power further to investigate the actual administration of the land laws." Clearly, the committee has the power to force Rocket to testify in a deposition or otherwise. This nonsense about not answering questions because of a pending civil suit is clearly unfounded in law. If they don't compel him to appear and testify, they will prove that this is all nothing more than grandstanding.

I've got a bad feeling about this one.  

Giants win 31-13

Further predictions:  

The local media unleashes a torrent of blame for this loss on a guy spending a couple of days in Cancun with his chick and his best friend and his wife.

In the aftermath, Jerry fires Wade.

Jason Garrett named head coach shortly after the Super Bowl.

Giants lose badly to Green Bay at Lambeau.

New England barely beat the Colts.

Packers beat NE

Favre retires to Mississippi and spends the remainder of his days hunting and fishing.

here you go:  http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com

Tired of characters, so I'm going to fill with links to the five best music videos ever, as judged by me:

#5:  The best rock band of the 80's secures their own commercial demise through this response to being forced to make a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tZO94Mhfzk

#4:  Somehow I am able to take one of the five silliest people in the world seriously here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jym-RtHHG0s

#3:  Another band that became progressively worse as time went on, and now it's simply gone on for far too long.   But this was 1983 and they were a revelation.  It was such a huge departure from what the music industry was giving us back then:       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1bgr2HJLB8

#2:   I know he didn't write the song, but this video comes off like a death-bed mea culpa to me.  I love how his life flashes before his eyes:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

#1:   The gold standard for music videos:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sbqIyeed4g

Starters #5 & #6:  http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com/

Here they are.  Today's category, characters from movies set in Baltimore:

Robert "Boogie" Sheftell, Carol Heathrow, Bagel, Eddie Simmons, Jane Chisholm, Fenwick, Sam Krichinsky, Gabriel Krichinsky, Michael Kaye, BB Babowski, Tilley, Cheese, Mouse, Pecker, Dr. Klompus, Tracy Turnblad, Corny Collins, Motormouth Maybelle, Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, and Uncle Belvedere Ricketts

Starters #8 and #7.  Check it out here:  http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com/

here are your characters:

Stately plump Buck Mulligan, Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, Molly Bloom, Haines,  Penelope, Paddy Dignam, Simon Dedalus, Davy Byrne, Richie Goulding, Blazes Boylan, Alf Bergan, Cissy Caffrey, Edy Boardman, Gerty MacDowell, Bella Cohen and Lord John Corley.

starting pitchers #9 & #10:  http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com/

and now for your 300 characters.  

Today's sub-category is relatively minor supporting characters:

Bookman from What's Happening?,  Rev. Jim Ignatowski, Nick Tortelli, Carl (assistant greenskeeper at Bushwood CC), Blue from Old School, my chapel partner Dirk,  and pretty much any part played by Peter Lorre, Andy Dick, Jeffrey Jones, Taylor Negron or Bob Loggia.

Flo, Floyd the Barber, My- Friend-Bob-Saccamano,  Benny,  Lenny, Squiggy, Louie de  Palma, Schneider, Eddie Haskell, Lumpy, Venus Flytrap, Bailey (mmmmm) and The Drake.

Lamar Lutrell, Wormser, Dewey Oxberger, Francis (aka Psycho), Hedley Lamar, Mongo,  my cousin Darrell,  my other cousin Darrell, Juan Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos Epstein, Epstein's mother, Pagoda and Raleigh St. Clair.

Thelma, Willona, Tex and Edna Boyle (owners of Tex and Edna Boyle's Organ Emporium),  Harry the guy with a snake on his face (owner of Harry's Sex Shop), Ted Underhill and Mr. Arnold T. Pants, esq., attorney for the former Mrs. Irwin Fletcher.

OK, maybe not actually 300

I didn't have much time to think about the batting order, but lineups could like like this, I guess. They still don't have a 1b who can hit LHP as far as I can tell. Shelton sorta had reverse splits in Toledo.

vs. RHP (w/ 2007 splits vs. RHP)

DH/LF) Cat (.291 .362 .450 .812) 3-year split
DH/LF) Milt (.307 .416 .521 .937)
SS) M. Young (.316 .365 .415 .780)
3b) Hank (.292 .354 .578 .932)
1b) Broussard (.277 .327 .415 .742)
C) Salts (.290 .335 .461 .796)
RF) Marlon (.300 .348 .461 .809)
LF) Murph (.325 .371 .530 .901) (.299 .370 .466 .836 in Pawtucket)
2b) Kinsler (.239 .333 .399 .732)

vs. LHP (w/2007 splits vs. LHP)

2b) Kinsler (.339 .425 .574 .999)
RF) Byrd (.327 .374 .452 .826)
SS) Young (.309 .369 .428 .797)
LF/DH) Milt (.304 .372 .594 .966)
3b) Hank (.298 .370 .426 .796)
LF/DH) Botts (.333 .404 .429 .833) (.350 .440 .590 1.029 in OKC)
1b) Shelton
CF) Murph (.409 .435 .636 1.071) (.231 .294 .306 in Pawtucket)
C) Laird (.305 .341 .478 .819) * 3-year split

Your thoughts?

Ichiro - Japan: .355 .418 .524
Ichiro - US & A: .333 .379 .437

Hideki - Japan: .304 .413 .582
Hideki - US & A: .295 .371 .485

Kaz - Japan: .309 .362 .484
Kaz - US & A: .272 .325 .387 (.288 .342 .405 in 2007)

So Taguchi's numbers actually went up a bit in MLB.

With a 10% dropoff across the board, Fukudome translates to .271 / .350 / .483

Compare to the following 2007 FA OF's (career numbers):

Jose Guillen: .274 .325 .447 ($10mm a year)
Eric Byrnes: .267 .329 .451 ($11mm a year)
Torii Hunter: .271 .324 .469 ($19mm a year)
Andruw Jones: .263 .342 .497 ($16mm a year)
Aaron Rowand: .286 .343 .462
Mike Cameron: .251 .341 .445

Compare to other RF's (2007 numbers):

Jeff Francouer: .293 .338 .444
Andre Ethier: .284 .350 .452
Bobby Abreu: .283 .369 .445
Mark Teahen: .285 .353 .410
Nick Swisher: .262 .381 .455
Randy Winn: .300 .353 .445
Milton Bradley: .273 .358 .439
Travis Buck: .288 .377 .474

He's obviously not going to be an Ichiro or a Maggs or a Holliday, but he projects as a very acceptable player.

Hints at Crisp for CJ.  I'll be handing in my Rangers fan credentials if that one goes down.

The Dodgers are said to be after Rowand now.  They're stuck with Pierre, who they'd have to play in LF, and I don't think they'll deal Matt Kemp, leaving Andre Ethier free.   They also pop up in rumors about Blalock.

If LA signs Rowand, wouldn't Blalock + something relatively inconsequential for Ethier and LaRoche make quite a bit of sense for Texas?  Blalock is signed for one more year with a club option for 2009.