Oh, there you are. The hapless, can’t get out of their own way, non-pitching, injury prone, and otherwise serious kick in the groin. Since I wrtote my last entry they have managed to go on a 3 game series with the Twinkies and lost 2 of 3 while scoring only 3 runs. Winning a 1-0 game which in itself is impressive for them to get a shutout.Then on to Chicago for 3 with the White Sox and lose 2 of 3 there as well. Winning the first game 6-1 with homers from Hank Blalock and Josh and then get dominated by Buerle who kills them as often as he can. Then yesterday, excuse me while I heave in to my mid-season sickness bag, the Rangers “closers” C.J. Wilson and everyday Eddie Guarddo commence to giving up 5 runs in the eighth surrendering an 8-5 lead to lose 10-8.

It seems that the bats have managed to return from the break judging by the performances in Chicago after being killed by the good pitching in Minnesota and by Buerle. They head to Oakland to face the hated A’s. They are .5 game behind them for second and 10.5 out of first that is squarely in the Angels control. As for the trade deadline, at this oint I think the Rangers should look to sell off what they can and get some more young talent in here, especially pitching. It seems that Millwood cannot stay healthy and the young guys are holding it together with the help of Vincente Padilla, which at this point is the most valuable pitching trade bait they may have.

I hate saying this but I think you only have 3 untouchables at this time, Hamilton, Young and Kinsler. The young pitching will be hard to hang on to if you need to package something to move Blalock or Catalanatto. Saltalamachia is my favorite player just casue i like to say it and he is  catcher, but he is not showing signs that he is a key to future success, yet. Murphy, Byrd, and Boggs are your regular guys who get moved around alot but can give you good production offensively and defensively. The kicker for me is Milton Bradley. He has been playing very weel and doing what is asked of him every game. He is a free swinger but as a DH you want a little of that, he is volatile, but fire is good if it can be harnessed. He has worked his way into a top notch player again after the njury last year. I just don’t know if you can hang on to him if a good offer comes along. If I could put on my GM hat for a minute, I would be a buyer and a seller. I would look to do multi-team deals that could benefit all parties. Seattle should be in selling mode very soon if not already. I heard that the Yanks are trying to get Washburn out of them and if King Felix is on the market I would look at doing whatever it takes to get a young stud like that. If the Twins can’t keep Liriano maybe sneak in and get him. Aj Burnett intersts me but age and money are a factor. The Rangers are deep at Catcher and First so I wouldn’t look at getting any of those and probably getting rid of someone in that group. With Laird on the DL, Ramirez, Salty, Teagarden, and Davis (who can catch) and Cat, Davis, Shelton, and even Blalock playing first I think we are set there.

Back to my original point, I want to apologize for saying anything good about the Rangers because that seemed to put them back into their familiar role as a team that can’t hit timely and pitch their way out of a paper bag. I am not off the bandwagon, on the contrary, I am trying to do what I can by not talking good about them (reverse mojo at work again).

Tags: losing, ptiching, TexasRangers, Trade Deadline