Best record in the American league at the end of May.


5.5 game lead in its division

30-19 overall record

If not for the Detroit Tigers, whom the Rangers are 0-7 against thus far, they would have the best record in baseball.


Texas has what is considered the best farm system in baseball, with 2 stud pitchers on the verge of the bigs, and 2 already arrived in Scott Feldman and d Holland. Another strong starter Matt Harrison just landed on the DL, in time for Vincent Padilla to return.

Im not stupid, we have the worst GM in baseball in Jon Daniels. Shake the Gilligan hander trades John Danks for Brandon McCarthy, and deals Chris Young for Adam Eaton and spare parts. With those 2 here right now, and the farm system in place, this team could already be a power house. But right now, we are hopeful, Nolan Ryan is actually calling the shots in Arlington, and not Johnny Boy.

The Angels have been the Big Dog the last decade, but injuries and age look to be creeping up on them. Vlad isnt the same player, and their pitching staff has been bit with the injury bug as well. Is LAA team good enough to be there in October, I sure wouldnt count them out yet. But there is hope in Big D, that Texas may be ready to take their AL west crown this year.


And did I mention our best hitter Josh Hamilton has been hurt for most of the -09 season. Let him catch fire and the offense could lead the league in runs scored.

Pitching has always been the problem here, and there is reason to hope, the kids that just came up this year, as well as the kids in the farm system are the real deal, so this team can make some noise in October and November.

Its about time to have something to be excited about in June, in Big D. Baseball is a passion for alot of people here, but our team has been run into the ground for the last decade by management decsions and ownership not opening the pocket book, after the Afraud debacle. Hopefully being bad so long, will actually help with the talent we have now. God please let this continue. Sure is fun watching this team right now.

i don't completely agree with your assessment of jon daniels; yes he made some very bad moves early in his GM career (danks trade, letting galarraga walk), but he's made a very good one that this team is benefitting from in the biggest way. that teixiera trade brought us five players, three of which are playing, and contributing in big ways to our success early on.

jarrod saltalamacchia was the big fish in that trade, and he's now our starting catcher who's improving defensively seemingly every week, and isn't too shabby at the plate neither. there's nothing i need to tell you about elvis andrus that you don't already know by living in the area; he's one of the first players people talk about around here just because of his outstanding defense. matt harrison was smoking in may, tossing 20 consecutive scoreless innings, i just hope his shoulder problems (which i'm sure are a byproduct of all the long outings as of late) aren't serious. neftali feliz is our top prospect in our farm system and can top 100mph on the gun, his only problem is he's too wild with his control. and beau jones, but he's not really anyone to get excited about i don't think.

plus, in addition to that hershel walker-esque exchange, you have to consider his sign and trades of the last two years. we signed kenny lofton, eric gagne, milton bradley, and sammy sosa all to 1-yr deals last year. milton bradley went to the allstar game and, once he didn't re-up with the rangers and signed with the cubs, texas was awarded with a supplemental draft pick that we're about to use in this month's draft. sammy sosa hit his 600th hr here, but not much else...now that i think about it, he really wasn't much good to us then maybe some revenue from dumb baseball fans who wanted to see him play. anyways, we flipped gagne to boston for david murphy (and kason gabbard, who eventually proved useless due to injuries and found his way back to boston) who's getting off to a slow start but is a very good defensive 4th outfielder, and proved his worth at the plate last year. finally, lofton was flipped to the indians for max ramirez who's holding down a catchers spot in triple a and, if it weren't for salty/taylor teagarden up here now, would be up here now.

*ahem* i'm not saying you're completely wrong about daniels. i'm not saying there hasn't been moments where i've . but he's not the worst gm in baseball (at least not anymore ). in fact, i would argue the worst is down i-45...

Reports are that Josh Hamilton has a sports hernia and is seeing the same doctor that treated Ian Kinsler last year... Kinsler missed what, the last 6-8 weeks of the season?

Playing in a bandbox doesn't do any harm either.

Hmm.... Your owner tells you to deal Big Tex because he isnt resigning the offer sheet. So Danny Boy shops him and takes the best deal?
How hard is that.

And He signs guys others dont want like Gagne, Andrew Jones and Milton Bradly with the intention of them only playing 1 season, hoping to flip them into something. Forgive me, but this takes abs from youngsters who should be playing imo. And Danny Boy told NY that in order to get Gagne they must forfiet both Joba and Hughs. Yea, he has a clue.


Nolan himself said if he was in charge earlier, there is no way he deals Young and Danks for that trash.

IMO, the Rangers are winning in spite of Daniels, not because of him. And now Nolan is in charge......

it's not as if the braves front office drew up that trade; "danny boy" was the one that told them it wouldn't happen unless feliz and andrus were involved. i don't remember anything about talks with ny for gagne; i remember him asking for clay bucholtz from boston which didn't happen. sure, a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then, but i still think it's in the very least noteworthy. also, yes the one-year deals took time away from our youngsters, but what we got in return for those vets (except sosa...) were just more youngsters, and good ones. besides, gagne was close to unstoppable before we dealt him, lofton did what he was supposed to do in spot duty (except be a thrilling radio interviewee, haha), and bradley made the all star game. yes, none of that amounted to anything really, a 79-83 season, and perhaps the pieces we got back from those trades will never really amount to much other than more trade bait, but they're gonna be worth something.

as far as andruw jones goes, who would you rather have starting over him? i know you can't expect (or want) him to play everyday in the outfield, but the dude can rake again, and he's gonna pull us something pretty nice in return, hopefully around the trade deadline.

again, losing danks and young were bad at the time. danks/nick masset for mccarthy was that deal, but most everyone only compares danks and mccarthy when they analyze it in the present...they're doing almost identical so far this year; mccarthy has a better ERA and more wins, danks has more K's. i'm in complete wait and see mode with mccarthy, though. the killer about the chris young deal wasn't even chris young, it was adrian gonzalez. here's the thing about chris young; he's a flyball pitcher, and he moved from a hitter's park to a pitcher's park. now i'm not saying he's not good at all, because that's not true; he is. but just as ursa said, we play in a sandbox and fly balls in petco are homeruns in the ballpark.

i think nolan was what the rangers, and jon daniels, needed. NEEDED. daniels bought himself a couple more years, and a few less skeptics with the big tex trade, but hasn't completely got him out of the crosshairs, even with me. it'll take a playoff run for this area to completely exonerate him of all screw-ups, which so far this year is conceivable to say the least.

Ryan, meet the biggest Rangers fan on the planet.

hello and probably not the biggest fan, but definitely the fan with the biggest beard.

Lets not forget Adrian Gonzales either. Dude leads baseball in HR, and he plays his home games at Petco. Can you imagine that swing in Arlington now, if Danny Boy didnt just give him away.


Danny Boy has traded John Danks, Chris Young and Adrian Gonzales, and has nothing to show for those 3 future all stars. So he has missed more than he has hit.

Hamilton for Volques is a wash at best.

Tex wouldnt resign, so he took the best deal available, when many teams wanted Tex.

I hardly think you could say either of those deals even come close to making up for Danks, Young and Gonzales for nothing. And yes I know Brandon McCarthy was involved in the Danks deal, and I still say nothing. Dude sucked ass until his last few starts.

Danks IMO, is worse than the empty golf shirt. At least he only gave away Travis Hafner for crap. And Hafner is no where near the player Adrian Gonzales is offensively,

Im not the least bit impressed with Johnny Boy. I think he is a complete joke, and teams will continue to try and abuse him in trade offers. Hopefully Nolan wont let that happen again. And Im not 100% sure Nolan wasnt involved in the Tex deal at some capacity, so can we really give Johnny Boy all the credit for that deal either.

Hell the empty golf shirt got us Adrian for a broken down closer. His worst deal doesnt look so bad these days, Hafner for a washed up Catcher and a flamed out starter. Hafner is broken down as well. He has former roid user written all over him.....

And the only way A Jones was a player no one else wanted. So we gave him a minor league contract and he made the club. Why are you giving credit for Jones, Bradly and Sosa. They got us nothing, and no one else wanted them. Hell why not sign John Rocker again, no one wants him either.

i guess i don't know what i'm talking about then. my opinion doesn't matter here. only sgt ryan's, all hail sgt ryan.

Your opinion obviously matters here. My point is I see it completely differently.

you ever heard of agree to disagree.

that'll work. what's your thoughts on outrighting padilla? i personally have never liked padilla, but understand he eats up innings. he just always came off to me as a dude that pitched when he wanted to. some days he'd be amazing, and then some he'd leave me pulling my hair out. i understand both sides to the argument, but i think it'll be the right move in the long run. hell to be honest, i doubt anyone claims him.

I would have liked them to keep him, because I think he has value on the trade market if healthy. Philly needs SP help so I bet they jump on him.

But I do want to see the kids pitch. Feldman was great tonight, and this organization is only going to go as far as these young pitchers take them.

Bottom line, it is great talking baseball in north texas again.

no kidding. it kind of shocked me the other day having to buy a standing room only ticket, when we played the athletics.

Hey,
The option to spend 20 more bucks for an obstructed view seat was there as well... The shocking part was everyone staying until the 8th...

you complete me

Historically , doesn't the hot weather cool the Rangers off?

May the Rangers melt in the August heat and may Washington burn in hell.

Ian Kinsler was interviewed Firday... Said he was going to clear his head, and retool some things so he doesn't hit nearly as many pop ups. If Kinsler remembers what a leadoff hitter does, paired with the return of Hammy, and the blackhole known as Chris Davis no longer haunting the team, they're going to be there all year long.
Don't worry though. The Rangers aren't making the big push until 2010

Do ya think that over the AS break that dumb shiat has realized Cruz is actually an AS caliber player and should be starting over Jones and Murphy and hitting higher than seventh. possibly maybe hopefullly.

His RBI total may go way down in the 2nd half

as long as he keeps hitting seventh it surely ain't going up.