The Rangers Report

Team Record as of May 15, 2006

(19-17), First in the American League West

State Of The Rangers

The Rangers hold onto the divison lead, but mostly due to the fact that the Games with Boston were rained out and that Oakland was destroyed a few times by the Yankees. 

The Benefit of a Nor'Easter

One benefit about the Rainouts is that it allows the Rangers to improve their rotation that is going to be against the Yankees.  So, here's how it will shake out.

Monday - Kevin Millwood vs. Mike Mussina.  Millwood should be better after his shellacking against the Twins (more on that later.)  However, I still think Moose will get the win against Texas.

Tueday - John Koronka Vs. Shawn Chacon.  Lefties do well at Yankee Stadium.  Despite Chacon being a solid pitcher, I gotta go with Koronka on this one.

Wednesday - Kameron Loe Vs. Chein Ming Wang.  Tough call.  Both are brilliant pitchers when they're on, god awful when they're off.  Won't make a decision on this one.  It's too close to call.

Thursday - Who The #### Knows Vs. Jaret Wright.  Vicente Padilla is the tentative starter, but he's currently battling tendinatis and might not be ready for Thursday.  If this happens, Texas could recall John Rheinecker or Robinson Tejada from Triple A Oklahoma to pitch.  I'd go with Rheinecker, the lefty, on this one.  The Rangers would probably get the win on this one, depending on how bad Wright is.

All in all, some great matchups this week.

Ouch

Kevin Millwood gave up nine earned runs in 1 1/3 innings in the Rangers' 15-5 loss to the Twins last Tuesday.  He would go in at 3-2 with a 3.52 ERA.  He would leave at 3-3 with a 5.13 ERA.  Though Millwood has always had trouble with the Twins (who were batting .354 off Millwood entering the game), there is still no excuse for being that bad.  Millwood had control issues the whole night, throwing his pitches dead center, right for the Twins to take advantage of him. 

The Ranger offense did it’s job, putting in 13 hits and five runs scored.  The pitching just betrayed them that night, as relievers Scott Feldman, Antonio Alfonseca and C.J. Wilson gave up five runs (three earned) in the last three innings, killing any chance of a rally.

The long term damage is that this kills any confidence in Millwood the fans have.  Now whenever Millwood is on the mound, we’re going to expect disaster to be just a step away, much as we do CJ Wilson whenever he’s on the mound.

I guess I shouldn’t feel too badly, as Randy Johnson got destroyed in Yankee Stadium that same night.

Bad night for aces, May 9^th was.

Jim Reeves Actually Wrote Something of Value…

Normally, I take whatever Jim Reeves writes up with a grain of salt.  But his recent article about the situation of the Rangers’ pitching kinda hit home for me a point that I had made several weeks ago about the Rangers finally having pitching.

He pointed out that with all the shifting of roster spots to several different starters, such as Rob Tejeda, Rick Bauer, and John Rheinecker, that we have virtually forgotten about the supposed saviors of the Rangers’ future rotation, Edinson Volquez, John Danks, and Thomas Diamond.

He had a point.  I hadn’t thought about them in weeks.

I’ve also forgotten about other players in the Texas system.

Adam Eaton – We’ve been so enamored with the job that John Koronka has done that we have forgotten the man responsible for his trade, Adam Eaton.  Eaton was slotted to be the second starter and was supposed to be fine here (not great).  He’ll be back in July, but I’m not sure he’ll stay with the Rangers long, as I think he’s going to be trade bait at the waiver wire deadline.

Josh Rupe – A great pitcher who wowed people when he came up last season in September, Rupe went down with an injury in Spring Training.  He’s been doing great in working to come back and he could be a option soon.

Brian Anderson – a veteran lefty, coming back from Tommy John surgery.  He should be available come September or so.  Maybe sooner.

All in all, this not only gives the Rangers depth, but valuable trade options, something Texas has not had in ages.  With such depth, the Rangers could also have the option of further restocking the farm system with more talented players, or maybe make a play to trade for a solid veteran pitcher or outfielder.

I can hear the Barry Zito trade talk start again.  Marvelous.

Plus, this takes the pressure off of Volquez, Danks, and Diamond, granting them the most vital ingredient necessary in player development:  Time.

Next week, we’ll take a look at how the 2007 Ranger Rotation may shape up.

A Casualty of Pitching Depth

Brian Shouse was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend for Enrique Cruz and a player to be named.  Though Shouse was one of the league's most effective situational left-handers in 2004, Shouse apparently no longer fits in with the Rangers’ plans.  It’s likely that the team is going to begin grooming another situation lefty, likely C.J. Wilson, Fabio Castro or Ron Mahay, though Mahay may be groomed into a starting pitcher and Castro as a long reliever, setup man or closer.  Combine that with starting pitchers John Danks and John Rheinecker in the system and you can see that there really was no reason to keep Shouse. 

San Diego Padres Rapidly Become Texas Rangers Pacific

Do we deal with any teams other than the Padres anymore? 

The Rangers traded for outfielder Freddy Guzman and pitcher Cesar Rojas from the San Diego Padres.  Guzman is a 25-year-old switch-hitter who is hitting .274 with a .348 on-base percentage in 30 games for Triple-A Portland, with 15 runs scored and 11 stolen bases.  He's had Tommy John surgery, but could still become something great.  As it was mentioned, he's got great speed and could challenge Adrian Brown for his bench job in the near future.  Rojas is a 19-year-old right-hander who was 2-4 with a 6.75 ERA for the Padres' Arizona Rookie League team.  In 49 1/3 innings, he gave up 48 hits and 32 walks while striking out 33.  He'll probably get sent to Class A Clinton for more work.  If he does well there, it's possible he could wind up at High Class A Bakersfield by the end of the year.

The Padres will get first baseman/outfielder Vincent Sinisi and pitcher John Hudgins.  Sinisi was the Rangers' second-round pick in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, an All-American out of Rice University whose career was set back by a severe broken arm suffered while playing at Class A Stockton in 2004. He is batting .271 in 32 combined games for Double-A Frisco and Oklahoma with no home runs and 16 RBIs.  The Rangers signed him for $2 million.  The Rangers hoped he would be a top offensive prospect, but he hit just 10 home runs and drove in just 51 runs in 383 combined at-bats between Class A Bakersfield and Frisco last year.  Hudgins was a third-round pick in the 2003 draft out of Stanford and is 1-1 with a 6.38 ERA at Oklahoma.  He was thought to be a great future rotation but, but he was 3-7 with a 5.87 ERA at Oklahoma in 19 starts last season and has fallen behind many of the Rangers' other top Minor League pitching prospects, most notably Edinson Volquez, John Danks, Thomas Diamond and Josh Rupe.