http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_29_orhaaa_omaaaa_1

I wonder whether Nippert will get another look this season?

Nippert's final line was:

7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

There doesn't appear to be much room in the pen for Nippert for the time being. His last start wasn't too bad either, as he went 7 innings and allowed only 3 runs. Here are his overall stats, as of now:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Nippert%20%28W%2C%206-2%29&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=430962

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3234453

I don't ever want to wish an injury on any player. Nevertheless, if Escobar's shoulder irritation does persist beyond spring training and limits his playing time this season, that could bode well for the Rangers chances of contending.

I realize the Rangers chances of contending are close to nil. Even so, the only way it could conceivably occur is if the Angels and Mariners have some setbacks, such as injuries.

It will be interesting to see if Escobar is fully healthy and effective at the beginning of the season.

Or that is how it seems now he says in his most recent entry tonight.

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6508

This certainly is a huge change from what we were talking about earlier in the day. It will be interesting to see what Evan Grant or TR Sullivan say later tonight.... We shall see.

I saw this while combing through the Braves SportsBlog.

From baseball prospectus:

"Talk persists around baseball that the Pirates are willing to part with right-hander Ian Snell if they can land a power hitter in the deal. Two reported targets are the Braves' Jarrod Saltalamacchia and the Dodgers' Matt Kemp, though the Dodgers would prefer to deal Andre Ethier."

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6485

If you could deal Teixeira for say Matt Kemp or Saltalamacchia, would you consider turning around the shipping that hitter to the Pirates for Snell?

I know most media outlets including those in DFW have reported that the Rangers would prefer to get major league starting pitching back in any deal, and this might be one way to get a pretty solid starter back. Just a thought and I hadn't seen it discussed anywhere else.

Although, I would honestly imagine that if LA or Atlanta could get Snell straight up for one of those two players, they would have already done it given their pitching needs.

With all the talk about Teixeira and the Dodgers, Braves, or Yankees, I really think we are overlooking the most obvious and realistic trade partner for Teixeira: The DBacks.

They are certainly in the playoff race in a very tight NL West. In the meantime, their leading hitters are Chad Tracy and Eric Byrnes. To say the least, they could use a solid, middle of the lineup hitter like Teixeira.

A package like Micah Owings, Connor Jackson, and Carlos Quentin for Teixeira and Gagne would certainly interest me.

In any event, I think Arizona will be one of the teams that makes a big push for Teixeira's services and they match very well with Texas in a trade. Just a thought.

In his report today, Jamey Newberg suggested:

"You think Texas would be interested in pitchers like Chuck James, Kyle
Davies, Joey Devine, Matt Harrison, and James Parr?  How about outfielder
Brandon Jones?

Or catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who certainly has enough bat to move to
first base or left field, either spot of which he'd fit nicely in Texas?  He
has the chance to be special.

Oh, and for those of you who subscribe to the Norm Hitzges theory that you
should never trade for a young Atlanta pitcher because they're all
overhyped, do Kevin Millwood and Jason Schmidt and Jason Marquis and Odalis
Perez and Adam Wainwright and Jorge Sosa not count?  How many clubs have
traded more young arms that ended up working out well?

For some reason, Atlanta is getting largely ignored as far as this story is
concerned, and I'm not sure why.  The Braves are four games behind the Mets
and a game in back of Arizona for the Wild Card, have no aversion to dealing
with Boras (Andruw Jones, Alex Rodriguez in 2000), and have a chance to get
a local hero.  

Which team wouldn't do Teixeira for James, Saltalamacchia, and Parr?"

I don't know about you, but I would be absolutely thrilled with that return. James is already quality, middle to top of the rotation starting pitcher and Salt could be an incredible asset behind the plate. I really can't imagine the Braves offering that much though. Thoughts?

Hey, for those fans living in Austin, I have time warner cable and I was curious what channel the alternate feed is on for Ranger games that conflict with Astro games? And do you normally get the majority of Ranger games?

Also, I have digital cable. Does anyone know if the alternate feed are available on digital cable as well as standard cable?

Thanks for any help you can offer me!!

I just picked up the annual CBS magazine and their projections for Ranger players are pretty optimistic.

Kenny Lofton .288/.345/.389 (.734 OPS) 3 HR 39 RBI 24 SB
Frank Catalanotto .297/.360/.421 (.781 OPS) 5 HR 53 RBI 1 SB
Michael Young .314/.361/.472 (.833 OPS) 19 HR 100 RBI 8 SB
Mark Teixeira .300/.388/.557 (.945 OPS) 40 HR 120 RBI 4 SB
Brad Wilkerson .252/.358/.448 (.806 OPS) 19 HR 55 SBI 5 SB
Hank Blalock .272/.335/.456 (.791 OPS) 25 HR 92 RBI 1 SB
Nelson Cruz .267/.313/.448 (.761 OPS) 16 HR 60 RBI 6 SB
Ian Kinsler .285/.348/.455 (.803 OPS) 16 HR 68 RBI 14 SB
Gerald Laird .266/.316/.404 (.720 OPS) 10 HR 51 RBI 3 SB

Kevin Millwood 16-11 3.90 ERA 1.270 WHIP
Vicente Padilla 15-11 4.11 ERA 1.346 WHIP
Brandon McCarthy 13-11 4.01 ERA 1.297 WHIP
Robinson Tejeda 7-11 4.10 ERA 1.462 WHIP
Kameron Loe 8-10 4.46 ERA 1.392 WHIP

Eric Gagne 3.75 ERA 20 Sv 1.25 WHIP
Akinori Otsuka 2.44 ERA 11 Sv 1.086 WHIP
Wes Littleton 2.85 ERA 7 Sv 1.067 WHIP
Josh Rupe 3.57 ERA 0 Sv 1.283 WHIP
Daniel Haigwood 4.78 ERA 1.408 WHIP
Edinson Volquez 8-11 4.53 ERA 1.442 WHIP

Anyways, some interesting stuff. Seem to be pretty optimistic on our pitching staff and reasonable on the hitting projections. I would like our chances if we had our pitchers put up numbers like that and Teixeira post a solid year like they project.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/baseball/rangers/stories/121506dnsposherrington.2960 712.html

Can someone please tell me, what was the point of this article? I have read through it twice, and I must say I am at a loss.

I don't normally have anything against Sherrington, but this article seems to go on without a real point. I have been very disappointed with the DMN staff as a whole recently.

Don't let the title of this piece fool you, there is not any real solid opinions or new information in this article.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6258894                                

Rosenthal says it is close.

Starting again at C tonight, and against a righty no less.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore;_ylt=AuyWf22msmrPv9imxZGBRS85nYcB?gid=260731109

That makes it a third night in a row. Good Stuff.... Hopefully it will continue.

Stairs isn't in the line-up, which is probably expected given the late nature of the trade today.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5361

He says maybe Lidge, Nieve, Ensberg for Barajas and Wilkerson.

Are you kidding me? No way that happens. I would be so happy I might go through the roof. I can't even imagine why the Astros would make this deal. I know that Lidge has struggled, but Lidge has great stuff and is a year removed from being absolutely dominate.

Anyways, thought it might be something ya'll would be interested in.

http://rangers.beloblog.com/archives/2006/07/saturday_afternoon_gm.html#comments

Some of Grant's suggestions include:

"Proposal 1: To Baltimore, I offer Robinson Tejeda and Joaquin Benoit for DH-OF Jeff Conine"

Seem's like a really high price for a 40 year old player with a .731 OPS, but probably not unreasonable.

"Proposal 2: To Cleveland and Philadelphia, I ask for either Paul Byrd or Jake Westbrook (from the Indians) or Jon Lieber (from Philly). I am willing to part with either Volquez, Diamond or Rupe plus Joaquin Arias plus either Scott Feldman or NIck Masset. Whichever team agrees first, I strike a deal with."

This one I don't quite agree with since I would say Westbrook has significanlty more value tahn Lieber given how young he is and that he has had solid success this year. I would be happy though with something like Volquez, Arias, and Massett for Westbrook. Byrd would also be a great addition if Westbrook is not available.

The third proposal I was not too excited about:

"Proposal 3: At the same time, I offer Kansas City its choice of either Diamond, Rupe or Arias straight up for Mark Redman. Only one for one. "

Seems that Redman would just replace Koronka in the rotation if you were to add someone like Lieber/Westbrook/Byrd as well as Eaton this coming week. I don't think Redman is any better than Koronka.

Anyways, just an interesting read.