This post is going to have spoilers so if you are DVRing the game to watch later, stop reading now.

 

Is anyone else watching this? The United States got the best start we could hope for with a goal from Davies in the ninth minute. Davies was basically one-on-one with the goalie and placed the shot perfectly. The Mexicans looked slow early in the game but then tied it with a long range shot from 25+ yards in the 20th minute. Mexico had been bombing away from outside the 18 yard box all game and this one finally found the mark. I wish Altidore was playing instead of Ching, but I guess I understand Bradley's reasoning. Still, Ching does nothing for me.

 

The game is available on Telemundo only. Channel 39 on regular TV (that is in Spanish) and Channel 838 on Dish Network (in English).

I was reading Rivals' College Baseball message board and came across a post where a UK baseball fan said the rumor is that Ross signed for $1.6 million.

The UK coach left to take the Mississippi State job so that may help us, but then again they just promoted the pitching coach to be the new head coach and he is maybe the guy that recruited Ross.

I have no idea if Ross would have already signed, but if he orally agreed to sign, that is great news for us. Basically, this is just a rumor that may be completely untrue, but we can hope.

Ross signing rumor

The only thing I worry about is if MLB is going to attempt to stall him from signing so that his way over slot bonus doesn't effect other draftees. If Selig attempts that, I think JD should put on his terminator sunglasses and tell Selig what he can do with his slotting system.

Elvis Andrus came in third in the Carolina League, while Max Ramirez came in one spot later at fourth. The chat hasn't started yet so we don't have any more info on them, but their reports are the same as we heard when we acquired them.

Andrus: great glove and speed, not sure how much he will hit

Ramirez: bat is well ahead of his glove and that he wears out the right-center field gap (which sounds like it will work great at the Ballpark)

Today has been interesting so far. Notre Dame started off with another loss, which makes me happy.

On to the games that actually matter.

Oklahoma loses to a not real good Colorado team. Bradford goes 8/19 for 112 yards, one TD and two picks. This is why three weeks ago I said I wanted to see what Bradford did later in the season before anointing him the greatest QB in the country. He clearly is a talented QB, but he is not the second coming of Joe Montana, at least not yet. I know his receivers didn't help him a lot with the dropped passes, but he didn't make many plays today.

Texas is once again showing that we have big deficiencies in the coaching department. The defense can't tackle, takes horrible angles and can't cover anyone. The offense has a lot of talent, but runs the same four plays over and over again. Of course the fact McCoy keeps throwing picks (although the first one was a great play by the DL and the second one was not really Colt's fault) doesn't help much either. I don't think KSU  is fast enough on defense to stop a three headed rushing attack of Chiles, McGee and Charles, which is what we may see in the second half if McCoy can't come back. Even if Texas comes back and wins, I still think we get hammered by OU next week. OU is going to be pissed and Texas hasn't shown they can play a complete game this year.

A&M also showed that Franchione selling information to boosters wasn't much of a distraction, that or maybe Baylor is just horrible.

I know there has been some talk wondering if we signed any players from Latin America, and while I didn't find a complete list, I did find out a few things. Baseball America has a new feature on international signings. The Rangers are mentioned briefly. Apparently we signed four players, two shortstops, a lefty pitcher and an outfielder. More on them in a second.

http://tinyurl.com/3ae9e4

There is also another feature on the top 20 signing bonuses given out during this signing period, and the Rangers have two of the players in the top 20. We signed two 16 year olds, a LHP named Martin Perez from Venezuela and Wilson Suero, a SS from the Dominican Republic. They seem to be the two most highly regarded players we signed.

http://tinyurl.com/33xua8

We also signed Venezuelan SS Tomas Telis and Venezuelan outfielder Edward Ceballo. I have no ages on these two players. If anyone finds out about these players or any other players we signed, please post the info here.

Here is what BA had to say about Martin Perez.

"The Rangers also made big moves again this season, signing Venezuelan lefthander Martin Perez (BA initially reported Perez had signed with the Mets) for $580,000, Dominican shortstop Wilson Suero ($558,000), Venezuelan shortstop Tomas Telis ($140,000) and Venezuelan outfielder Edward Ceballo ($105,00). Considered the top lefthander on the international market this year, Perez has drawn mixed reviews, with some scouts saying his fastball was 89-90 mph with a solid-average curveball and others saying he was 82-86 with a 62 mph curve.

I thought this would be an interesting thing to talk about since we really can't spend our days talking about signing Beavan or trading Teixeira anymore. Here are the Rangers Top 30 lists from Baseball America as published in the 2001-2007 Prospect Handbooks. There are some names on here I don't recognize and others that I haven't even thought about in years. Interstingly, Jason Botts is the only player to appear on all seven lists. Sorry for the length, but I don't know how to format it any other way.

2001

1. Carlos Pena          
   
2. Jovanny Cedeno
   
3. Jason Romano
   
4. Kevin Mench
   
5. Joaquin Benoit
   
6. Colby Lewis
   
7. Mike Young
   
8. Aaron Myette
   
9. Andy Pratt
   
10. Hank Blalock
    
11. David Mead
    
12. Travis Hafner
    
13. David Elder
    
14. Scott Heard
    
15. Ryan Duttfurth
    
16. Jose Morban
    
17. Spike Lundberg
    
18. Omar Beltre
    
19. Domingo Valdez
    
20. Greg Runser
    
21. Jason Botts
    
22. Alan Webb
    
23. Kelly Dransfeldt
    
24. Danny Kolb
    
25. Cody Nowlin
    
26. Chris Russ
    
27. Nick Regilio
    
28. Sixto Urena
    
29. Jason Bourgeois
    
30. Corey Lee

2002

1. Hank Blalock
   
2. Mark Teixeira
   
3. Mario Ramos
   
4. Colby Lewis
   
5. Ryan Ludwick
   
6. Ryan Dittfurth
   
7. Joaquin Benoit
   
8. Jovanny Cedeno
   
9. Kevin Mench
   
10. Jason Hart
    
11. Jason Bourgeois
    
12. Omar Beltre
    
13. Andy Pratt
    
14. Jose (Juan) Dominguez
    
15. Jason Romano
    
16. Travis Hafner
    
17. Laynce Nix
    
18. Patrick Boyd
    
19. Gerald Laird
    
20. Kelvin Jiminez
    
21. Justin Duchscherer
    
22. Nick Regilio
    
23. Jason Botts
    
24. Scott Heard
    
25. Travis Hughes
    
26. Jose Morban
    
27. Chris Russ
    
28. Reynaldo Garcia
    
29. CJ Wilson
    
30. Greg Runser

2003

1. Mark Teixeira
   
2. Colby Lewis
   
3. Ben Kozlowski
   
4. Laynce Nix
   
5. Gerald Laird
   
6. Drew Meyer
   
7. Ryan Ludwick
   
8. C.J. Wilson
   
9. Travis Hughes
   
10. Jason Bourgeois
    
11. Jason Hart
    
12. Marshall McDougall
    
13. Jose (Juan) Dominguez
    
14. Kelvin Jiminez
    
15. A.J. Murray
    
16. Ryan Dittfurth
    
17. Nick Regilio
    
18. John Barnett
    
19. Jermaine Clark
    
20. Mario Ramos
    
21. Chris O'Riordan
    
22. Ramon Martinez (Nivar)
    
23. Erik Thompson
    
24. Patrick Boyd
    
25. Kiki Bengochea
    
26. Derek Van Dusen
    
27. Jason Botts
    
28. John Koronka
    
29. Nate Gold
    
30. Julin Charles

2004

1. Adrian Gonzalez
   
2. John Danks
   
3. Ramon Nivar
   
4. Juan Dominguez
   
5. Vince Sinisi
   
6. Gerald Laird
   
7. Wes Littleton
   
8. Jason Bourgeois
   
9. Drew Meyer
   
10. Josh Rupe
    
11. Kelvin Jiminez
    
12. Anthony Webster
    
13. Ben Kozlowski
    
14. Edwin Moreno
    
15. Erik Thompson
    
16. C.J. Wilson
    
17. Kameron Loe
    
18. Will Smith
    
19. Jason Botts
    
20. Ryan Snare
    
21. John Hudgins
    
22. A.J. Murray
    
23. Jeremy Cleveland
    
24. Patrick Boyd
    
25. Matt Lorenzo
    
26. Nick Regilio
    
27. Nate Gold
    
28. Frankie Francisco
    
29. Justin Echols
    
30. Marc LaMacchia

2005

1. Thomas Diamond
   
2. John Danks
   
3. Joaquin Arias
   
4. Ian Kinsler
   
5. Chris Young
   
6. John Hudgins
   
7. Juan Dominguez
   
8. Adrian Gonzalez
   
9. Josh Rupe
   
10. Vince Sinisi
    
11. Jason Botts
    
12. Edinson Volquez
    
13. Eric Hurley
    
14. Juan Senreiso
    
15. Michael Schlact
    
16. Matt Lorenzo
    
17. Nick Massett
    
18. Kameron Loe
    
19. Wes Littleton
    
20. K.C. Herren
    
21. Anthony Webster
    
22. Ramon Nivar
    
23. Jason Bourgeois
    
24. Mike Nickeas
    
25. Drew Meyer
    
26. Erik Thompson
    
27. John Bannister
    
28. Nick Regilio
    
29. Jeremy Cleveland
    
30. Ryan Wing

2006

1. Edinson Volquez
   
2. John Danks
   
3. Thomas Diamond
   
4. Joaquin Arias
   
5. Eric Hurley
   
6. Ian Kinsler
   
7. Armando Galarraga
   
8. Jason Botts
   
9. Taylor Teagarden
   
10. John Mayberry Jr.
    
11. Johnny Whittleman
    
12. Josh Rupe
    
13. Michael Schlact
    
14. C.J. Wilson
    
15. Scott Feldman
    
16. Fabio Castro
    
17. Travis Metcalf
    
18. Vince Sinisi
    
19. John Hudgins
    
20. Jose Vallejo
    
21. Cristian Santana
    
22. Kevin Mahar
    
23. John Bannister
    
24. Anthony Webster
    
25. Mike Nickeas
    
26. Steve Murphy
    
27. Omar Beltre
    
28. Drew Meyer
    
29. Omar Poveda
    
30. Manuel Pina

2007

1. John Danks
   
2. Eric Hurley
   
3. Edinson Volquez
   
4. Thomas Diamond
   
5. John Mayberry Jr.
   
6. Joaquin Arias
   
7. Kasey Kiker
   
8. Nick Massett
   
9. Jason Botts
   
10. Josh Rupe
    
11. Chris Davis
    
12. Marcus Lemon
    
13. Taylor Teagarden
    
14. Omar Poveda
    
15. Armando Galarraga
    
16. Chad Tracy
    
17. Ben Harrison
    
18. John Whittleman
    
19. Fabio Castillo
    
20. Francisco Crucetta
    
21. Wes Littleton
    
22. Daniel Haigwood
    
23. Freddy Guzman
    
24. Michael Schlact
    
25. Anthony Webster
    
26. Jesse Ingram
    
27. Doug Mathis
    
28. Danny Ray Herrera
    
29. Jose Vallejo
    
30. Jacob Rasner

Who are some of the players you were sure would be stars and didnt turn out? Who turned out that you never thought would be anything?

As we get closer to the signing deadline, the over s lot bonuses are starting to get announced. The Braves announced that they signed first round pick Jason Heyward for $1.7 million, which is $170,000 over his slot as the 14th overall pick.

The Marlins also signed their second round pick, Mike Stanton, to about $57,000 over slot.

Baseball America has a free article out which explains that while GMs and Scouting Directors would like to see bonuses come down, they are not going to really adhere to the slotting system as long as other teams are ignoring it. Basically, they are not going to let the slotting system get in the way of adding a talented player to the system.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=196

I still think we sign all our first rounders, but I doubt we sign Gast and I am about 99 percent sure we don't sign Nash. The players I would really like to get are the players like Anthony Ranaudo, who we took in round 11, and are raw but have a high ceiling. Signing him away from LSU is going to be hard, but it would be a nice pickup.

Edited to show the link, not the entire content of the article.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/askba/264614.html

The latest edition of Ask Baseball America has an updated Rangers top 20 list. I found it a great read and it should make for some good discussion. One of the questions was from our very own Adam J. Morris.

Top 10

Hurley, Beavan, Kiker, Whittleman, Teagarden, Andrus, Main, Borbon, Poveda, Arias.