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All Star Break: Back and ForthJuly 20th, 2008
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While Back-and-Forth would certainly be an accurate description of the Rangers to this point, a team written off for dead before April was over (at least twice…check our columns…) that has clawed its way back to the fringe of the playoff picture without sweeping an opponent yet. But this column is Back and Forth as Cary and I take turns looking at Texas topics for the second half. Cary’s answers will be in bold. Mine will be intelligent.
KEN: So, I’ll start this by tossing you a softball. (Just don’t hit it back at me….we both know I can’t field it…) Who is the Rangers’ MVP so far? The two-time player of the month, or are you going to avoid the obvious answer?
CARY: I will avoid the obvious and go with Ian Kinsler. He was an absolute doubles-machine in the minors and he’s carried it straight into the majors with 30 so far in his 3rd year in the bigs. There was a time not so long ago that Shortstops dominated offensively with Jeter, ARod, Garciaparra, Tejada…and now is the time for Second Basemen with Kinsler, Utley, Pedroia, Uggla and Brian Roberts. Kinsler is the catalyst of this Texas offense.
KEN: Kinsler is certainly a good choice, suddenly finding himself atop of the batting average list for 08. Of course, I guess that a couple of 19-game hitting streaks will do that for you. Obviously, Josh Hamilton is probably the answer, seeing that he kept the ship afloat for the first month by himself and has continued to pound the ball since. Michael Young is never a bad option here either. But I’ll go ahead and argue for our 4th All-Star, Milton Bradley. Listen to the reports out of the clubhouse. Watch his reactions during the game. Heck, say something bad about him during a radio broadcast. All you have to do is stare and him and you get a “We’re not going away” vibe. I’d argue that Milton is setting the tone, the don’t-mess-with-us mojo that you want from an MVP. I think that as long as he stays cool and keeps leading the way, the Rangers may stretch this season out for awhile. Next category: Least Valuable Player? Who were we counting on in Spring Training that has given Texas nothing?
CARY: Well, I see him all the time…sort of…because I see John Danks. Therefore, my LVP is Brandon McCarthy. They were pretty much traded straight up for each other, with McCarthy being more desired by Texas because he was more Major League ready. HA! Danks is getting All-Star consideration (the Major League variety) and McCarthy is getting high scores on Grand Theft Auto. A close second would be Saltalama-(yawn)ccia. I really thought he would be a go-to between first base and catcher that hasn’t panned out yet with him flirting with the Mendoza Line.
KEN: Nice swerve. I had you pegged as going after Jason Jennings due to your reputation of picking on wounded players, (really, what did Justin Thompson ever do to you?) but you reached out and slapped McCarthy and J.Daniels in one swipe. Salty is right there with them. We just haven’t seen anything out of him like I thought we would. But I’ll go ahead and pick one of my favorite Rangers for LVP, hank Blalock, who is about to be the first player to ever get the Double Wally Pipping. Vazquez has bounced him from third to first, and it certainly is starting to look like Chris “Crush” Davis is going to stake a claim over there. Next stop after rehab might be the Dodgers at the trade deadline. (Benoit would absolutely be in the running here, except I never counted on him.) NEXT: Who has to step up for the Rangers to stay in 2nd half contention?
CARY: Double Wally Pipping…I like that. I think A-rod’s wife has been Double Wally Pipped the past few months too. As for who needs to step up, I am going with Kevin Millwood. This is getting back to Pennant Chase Basics here, but you must have an ace pitcher who can roll out every five days and stop losing streaks and start winning streaks. Instead, we have a former AL ERA champion pitching with the support of the #1 Offense in all of baseball…And that’s resulted in a 6-4 record and just over 5 innings a start? The fact that Scott Feldman is providing a better ERA than Millwood and over 6 innings a start should be considered a great bonus, not the norm. A realist (cynic) like I try to be knows deep down that the current Rangers roster could be a house of cards. Sometime soon they will have a stretch where instead of 7 runs a game, they will score 2 per game, and a player like Millwood will have to step up and hold the other team to ONE run to secure victory. (And Ken, I bet you thought I wouldn’t be able to resist bringing up that Millwood makes 25% of the payroll by himself…Well, proved you wrong!)
KEN: I’m thinking along the same lines with you, but I’ll go with the other 80%. How about one or two more pitchers to go along with Millwood? Because, and this may demonstrate my limited understanding of math concepts, we still need someone to run out to the mound to start the game the other four nights in a row, right? Matt Harrison stepped up for one. Mendoza, not so much against the Angels. Some guy named Bullpen Committee did pretty well against the Angels last week. But you called it. Some stretch is going to see us scoring 2 or 3 runs a game, and we’re going to need quality innings out of some of the starters, plural, not just Millwood. This past week, the Rangers started guys who began the season at triple A, double A, and 3rd shift at Whataburger. Big chance here for someone to grab a major league starting spot and not give it up for the next decade or so. NEXT: Trade Deadlines coming. Who do you trade, if anyone?
CARY: Who would I trade? How about the same guy that should have been traded each of the last 5 years? Hank Blalock. I say start showcasing him right after the all-star break. I pray that he hits .400 from July 17th to July 30th, and then trade him at the deadline. He once was a valuable, overrated commodity. And now he’s just a commodity, having lost the value and the luster that made him overrated.
KEN: Hate the luster-losers. They say that’s the first thing to go, followed by typing ability, and then sdk tqwerhng, wefdgklja rg sg aser a sgas ragt asdrf ggjarg. Hank is going to get his tires kicked pretty seriously, which probably means another 2 months on the DL with Bruised Tires. Millwood? Padilla? Wow, K-Mart Shoppers, I don’t see the customers lining up. Bradley? Please no. Keep him, sign him, let the Ron Washington Love Train continue to appreciate him and let him knock the AL around. So I’ll go with Jamey Wright and Every Day Eddie. There are going to be teams trying to steady up bullpens, and staying in the Texas bullpen is like pouring RedBull on your Captain Crunch every morning. There’s going to be a lot of action, but at some point, you’re probably going to burst into flames. FINALLY: Do the Rangers hang around and make September interesting?
CARY: I think that we’re in for a run that ends in early September. I would love nothing better than for the Rangers to make a push to greatness, and there are a couple of recent developments that could help them in that push. One is the selling off of Oakland A’s. Billy Beane is at it again, trading away his best players for prospects built for a run in later years. This should allow the Rangers to take second in the AL West, and with several games left against the A’s, give them a chance at the wildcard. Another is the fade of the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa is the odds on favorite for the wildcard, and they are having a little trouble lately. Having said all that though, I think the Rangers are put together with chewing gum and balsa wood. The “Mother Lode of Offense without a Lick of Pitching” method is dicey at best. Seldom does a team work that formula to perfection. Add to that the fact that the offense is a bona fide surprise being helped along by some guys that were in the minors earlier this year, and this whole thing could be a house of cards. Sure, I could tell you what fans want to hear, but that’s not what I do.
KEN: Sadly, what fans in this area want to hear are reports from Cowboys Training Camp about some guy that’s going to get cut in 3 weeks. I will say that I’ve managed to catch games in real baseball cities over the past couple of years (Baltimore and Chicago in particular) and I’m jealous. I don’t know that if we just haven’t had the tradition here, or if we just haven’t gotten to develop and exercise it, but the atmosphere at Ranger games is generally lacking. However, the series finale vs. the Angels was different. The night after Josh smoked KRod over the wall, the Rangers rallied to take the Ana-Los-Cali’s to extra innings, and the crowd was INTO it. Standing for 2 strikes, waiting to explode for the big hit, cheering loud enough and long enough that Max Ramirez had to come out and take a curtain call. Wow, it was just like a big league baseball game. I don’t know if they will hang around, but I sure hope so. If they could, it would be incredible. And doesn’t every baseball fan deserve an incredible season once in awhile?
See You For the 2nd Half!
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