SB Nation User Blog: slimshadty12

Sheffield released...

slimshadty12 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:49:48 -0000

Not sure how far his bat has regressed but if we're contemplating Jones' bat at DH, why not Sheffield?...again that is if he can still hit. But, apparently the Tigers dropped him because they did not want him clogging up their DH. They wanted some versatility. But in my opinion, I'd trust Sheffield's bat any day over Jones' putrid production last year.

Sadly, I'm guessing we're too far into Rudy's experiment.

Offseason Splash Poll:

slimshadty12 — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:23:17 -0000

I always like an offseason poll of if/when we'll make a splash. I think this is a perfect time for the poll since some big signings went down and things could be brewing now for mid-small market teams.

I figure this could bring a little better discussion then the rumor diaries going around. Especially when it's dead at this current second.

Anywho (ah 5 friggin words short)....here's the question:

Poll

If and when will the Rangers make a big splash? (We're talking Ben Sheets, even Randy Johnson, or a big trade like one of the catchers, Blalock, Millwood, etc.) By the upcoming weeks...

1 Week: Dec 14-20

18 votes

2 Weeks: Dec 21-27

59 votes

3 Weeks: Dec 28- Jan 3

37 votes

4 Weeks: Jan 4-10

14 votes

5 Weeks: Jan 11-17

4 votes

6 Weeks: Jan 18-24

6 votes

7 Weeks: Jan 25-31

3 votes

8 Weeks: Feb 1-7

1 votes

9 Weeks: Feb 8-14

1 votes

10 Weeks: Feb 14-20

0 votes

After Players Report for ST

0 votes

Never

26 votes

169 votes | Poll has closed

Very OT: Audio Problems

slimshadty12 — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:39:32 -0000

I've been real frustrated in trying to eliminate the static noise in my car audio system. My setup is this: I have my ipod hooked up to a device that provides an lcd screen to show what's being played and it then hooks up to the aux input in my car. I have found the source of the problem being my hookup from the aux to the device and it's the device's problem because when my ipod is hooked directly to the aux it works perfect. So getting a better wire is not the solution I would think.

My question is there anyway to improve the connection of the device by a quick fix or something? Some kind of aluminum foil trick? lol

Keith Law Chat- Skimmed for Ranger Related Content

slimshadty12 — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:06:34 -0000

Dan (Oak): Trevor Cahill vs Neftali Feliz...who has the higher ceiling and who has the higher probability?

Keith Law: Feliz has the higher ceiling, absolutely. Probability is close to even; Feliz could pitch right now out of a big-league pen, just airing it out and throwing some changeups, whereas Cahill is slightly more likely to work out as a starter. I'm thinking Feliz will be in my top 10-15 prospects overall when I do rankings.

Pat (Philly): What in the name of all that is holy has happened to Rich Hill? From promising late-blooming pitcher to complete washout. 75 walks for Rich Hill in 82 innings in 2008 (combined between all levels). 56 runs allowed.

Keith Law: I didn't see him live but I heard from a scout who saw him that he might have the yips (Steve Blass disease). I certainly hope not - I was never as high on Hill as a lot of stathounds were, but he was a strong 4th/5th starter candidate.

Russ (Vancouver): Kinsler of Utley over the next 3 years? Same question for Joba and Price?

Keith Law: Utley. Probably Price because we've got a little uncertainty around Joba's shoulder.

clayton Dallas: Do u now anything about this martin perez, lefty prospect for rangers? More upside than holland?

Keith Law: Yes, a lot more upside, but Holland is the better prospect for me right now because he's so close and still has big stuff.

Paolo (Tempe, AZ): What's your take on this rumors of the Dodgers being down on Russell Martin? Any hint of truth in them?

Keith Law: Not enough to trade him. That's directly from Colletti. They don't have another catcher internally.

Brian (Glen Ellyn, IL): Tell me Kenny Williams isn't selling low on Swisher and Vasquez. I can't take much more of this.

Keith Law: Vazquez is available. Haven't heard anything to substantiate the Swisher rumors.

Austin (Fort Worth, TX): Are the Reangers actually going to do something, (trade a catcher for young pitcher) or is it just wishful thinking?

Keith Law: They're going to trade at least one of the four catchers. I can't imagine they get to March with more than three and I bet they're down to two.

Will, Boston: Keith, glad you made it. Red eye back? With everyone high on Texas catchers can you say what each offers or rank them at least? Teagarden has got to be the best, hearing that they would want Bowden/Bucholtz for him right? Thanks

Keith Law: Bad redeye. About two rows behind me, there was a young girl, maybe 1.5-2 years old, who was up screaming for good chunks of the flight - I think the pressure in her ears was bothering her. Nothing you can do. 1. Teagarden 2. Ramirez 3. Saltalamacchia (I like his upside, but he was bad this year) 4. Laird. No one is commenting on whether Teagarden/Buchholz is actually on the table, but if I'm JD, that's where I start.

Marcos( miami, fl ) : Mr. Law, do you see the Marlins trading Olsen to the Rangers for ramirez or jarrod S. If so, which one is better?

Keith Law: I wouldn't take a guy like Olsen, whose value has to be way down right now, for either of those catchers.

Greg (KC): Hello Keith, I just read that Joe Posnanski said Micheal Young won the GG at SS, this is a joke along with McLouth...why even pay attention to the GG awards?

Keith Law: I don't. Nor should you.

Melissa CT : What do you think cc Sabathia contract will be

Keith Law: 7/$150MM+.

Todd Nizzle, SF: Any Giants news from the meetings? What do you see Sanchez's value as?

Keith Law: I saw Sabean once the entire time, and he didn't come to the GM/media hour either (although to be fair, he never does). I think they should hang on to Sanchez - he's likely to be much better in 2009 than he was in 2008. They're not as bad a team as you might think; if they add a bat and one or two good defensive players in the infield, plus get a full year of Sandoval ... Cain improves and gets some run support, Sanchez improves ... it's not hard to see them winning 83-85 games, which is contention in that division.

Ellis (Kansas): How good do you think Zach Greike can be?

Keith Law: #2 starter, maybe even more. If the Royals do make him available, the queue of GMs at the Bellaggio should stretch to the Venetian.

Jan (Amsterdam): Small market kick, huh? How about an A's question? What's the next step in the Billy Beane master rebuilding plan? Is it time to start adding established ML talent or still trying to stockpile the minor league system? Who's left that would have value in a trade?

Keith Law: I think it's still all about value. If they can package a few of the prospects they have to get a young big leaguer who's cost-controlled for a few years, they'll do it. But they're also happy to sit on the prospect bulk they accumulated and let the kids trickle into the big league club.

Jon (Columbia, SC):: What order would these guys be drafted if they were all eligible for the 2009 draft: Inoa, Darvish, Strasburg, Harper

Keith Law: Darvish, Harper, Strasburg, Inoa.

For those blacked out on MLB.TV

slimshadty12 — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:36:27 -0000

This should do the trick: http://xssports.getfreehosting.co.uk/

Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers! Go Rangers!

Volquez

slimshadty12 — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:00:06 -0000

So someone please explain to me outside of his whip and k/bb why Volquez era will be below 4 for the rest of the year if he doesn't improve those categories?

Discuss....

Oh and I expect some graphs.

JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton JoshHamilton

Question of the day: Why are players from other countries more and more taking over baseball?

slimshadty12 — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:42:34 -0000

Here's something I've been thinking of after doing some baseball camps lately:

1. Why does it seem like pitchers from the Dominican and other countries throw harder? Genetics?

Simply put- they aren't over coached. They pick up the ball and throw it. Here in America we teach pitchers to have pretty deliveries instead of effective deliveries. We teach balance points to the death. We have for the most part taken the athlete out of the pitchers.

Here's a question? Why does an outfielder tilt his shoulder back to throw it 300 feet but we teach pitchers to be balanced and not tilt back? You cannot throw the ball 90+ mph without a big enough leg kick and tilting back. Then we take our kids arms, stop them in the middle of it and say you need to here instead. Do you think stopping a kids arm in the middle of throwing is going to teach him to speed it up? Then we teach our kids that we have to be in perfect fielding positions...good luck trying to get your kid to finish his delivery, throw it 90 mph, and field it like Kenny Rogers.

All these pretty, balanced, little deliveries and we still haven't learned from guys with the quirkiest of deliveries (Nomo, Dontrelle Willis, El Duque, etc.) that know they're only chance of succeeding is deception?

Advice...if you don't truly know how the body works to throw a baseball hard and efficient, throw your kid in the outfield where he'll have no choice but to use his body to throw a baseball hard.

2. Why do hitters from other countries seem to be such strong pure hitters?

Simply put- they literally are not allowed to walk in little leagues. They know they have to hit to "get off the island." Now I'm not taking away the importance of knowing the strike zone but you're not making it anywhere in baseball until you can hit. I can go on all day about the mechanics of hitting and pitching but I can't emphasize enough that you can't take the athlete of the player. That's really what we're doing. We're turning our players into inefficient robots.

Until this is realized and preached, expect to see your kids and the rest of America lag behind the upcoming kids from other countries.

It's early but man I was wrong...

slimshadty12 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:59:52 -0000

I thought it would be worth it to pursue Andruw Jones for the discount he'd be at. Well:

He's slugging .182 after creaming a single yesterday and collecting his 2nd rbi of the season yesterday.

I think it would be a decent bet that Hamilton outperforms Jones and Rowand this year. Maybe Hunter.

So I guess the point of this thread is to remind people of contracts like Zito/Hunter etc. that we avoided by accident and that the fact that we don't have another albatross of a contract makes Hamilton that much more valuable and easier to see Volquez tear it up.

Wed April 2nd Streamed Games

slimshadty12 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:39:31 -0000

Today's streamed games can be found here.

Once again to be able to enjoy these free games you need Sopcast or sometimes TVAnts.

Enjoy!

01:05PM Kansas City Royals @ Detriot Tigers
02:20PM Milwaukee Brewers @ Chicago Cubs
03:35PM Boston Red Sox @ Oakland A's
07:05PM Washington Nationals @ Philadelphia Phillies
07:05PM Chicago White Sox @ Cleveland Indians
07:05PM Tampa Bay Rays @ Baltimore Orioles
07:05PM Toronto Blue Jays @ New York Yankees
07:10PM Arizona Diamondbacks @ Cincinnati Reds
07:10PM New York Mets @ Florida Marlins
07:10PM Pittsburgh Pirates @ Atlanta Braves
08:10PM Los Angeles Angels @ Minnesota Twins
08:15PM Colorado Rockies @ St. Louis Cardinals
10:05PM Houston Astros @ San Diego Padres
10:10PM Texas Rangers @ Seattle Mariners

April 1st Streamed Games

slimshadty12 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:23:58 -0000

Today's streamed games can be found here.

07:05PM Toronto Blue Jays @ New York Yankees
07:10PM New York Mets @ Florida Marlins
08:10PM Los Angeles Angels @ Minnesota Twins
08:15PM Colorado Rockies @ St. Louis Cardinals
10:05PM Boston Red Sox @ Oakland A's
10:05PM Houston Astros @ San Diego Padres
10:10PM San Francisco Giants @ Los Angeles Dodgers
10:10PM Texas Rangers @ Seattle Mariners