Rangers and Mike Napoli Discussing Long-Term Deal
The Texas Rangers and catcher Mike Napoli are discussing a long-term deal, according to ESPNDallas.com. Napoli is in his final year of arbitration and would be a free agent following the 2012 season if a deal is not reached.
Texas Rangers win Yu Darvish bid
Jaff Passan of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the Texas Rangers have won the bidding for Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish.
Rangers Hire Greg Maddux as Assistant
The Texas Rangers have hired four-time Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux as a special assistant to the GM Jon Daniels. This news coming from T.R. Sullivan at Texasrangers.com.
Rangers vs. Cardinals: 2011 World Series Game 2 Tonight
The Texas Rangers will have Colby Lewis take the mound tonight to try and tie the 2011 World Series up 1-1 against Jaime Garcia and the St. Louis Cardinals. In a close game last night, the Cardinals took the first game of the series 3-2. C.J. Wilson gave up three earned with six walks and never looked like he had complete control of the ball. Chris Carpenter, while losing control from time to time, held things together and only gave up two earned over six innings of
The Texas Rangers Come Out Swinging
The Texas Rangers had many questions coming into the 2011 season. Most of those questions were coming from outside of the organization. Was last year’s run a fluke? Is the Cliff Lee non-signing going to be a factor this year? Will their young pitching staff hold off the “best” offense in the opening series against the<!–more–> Boston Red Sox? Those questions were answered this past weekend and Monday night with the Rangers record now standing at 4-0. Even with Ron Washington changing his mind Sunday and going with Holland Monday night instead of Oganda, it seems that the decisions being made within the organization are made with confidence. It’s hard to question someone like Nolan Ryan.
The offense has come into the regular season full speed ahead. And while many on the outside worried about the chemistry of the Rangers clubhouse with the Michael Young saga taking the spotlight during the offseason, it seems there are no problems in Arlington. The Texas Rangers are 1st in Major League Baseball in runs, triples, homeruns, RBI’s, total bases and slugging percentage after the first four games of the season. And they are not too far behind in every other category. Elvis Andrus hit his first homerun in 705 AB’s, Ian Kinsler set a record for leading off the first two games of the season with a homerun, Kinsler and Cruz were the only two players on the same team to homer in the first three games of the season and Nelson Cruz joined the likes of Willie Mays and Mark McGwire as the only players to homer in the first four games of the season. Six players have a slugging percentage over .800 and there are seven batting over .300 with Adrian Beltre getting off to a slow start only batting .118 but adding a grand slam in Saturday’s contest against the Red Sox. I’m sure Rangers fans are wondering where all of this hitting was in late November of last year, but the Rangers bats have gotten off to a great start for the 2011 campaign.
The biggest thing discussed and asked many times around the sports media outlets were the questions about the 2011 Texas Rangers rotation and bullpen. The confidence within the organization’s front office, the coaching staff and the pitchers themselves was quite evident through the first four games. And with this offense coming up to bat every inning for you, it’s hard not to go out there and feel unbeatable. If your pitcher keeps the opponent under five runs and you still have a very good chance of coming away with the victory, you’re going to be in a very good situation every single outing.
The Texas Rangers starting pitching all went past five innings in the first four games, all had ERA’s under 4.50 (Wilson 3.18, Lewis 4.50, Holland 4.50, Harrison 1.29), walked under two batter’s each and only gave up one homerun combined. It’s hard to say you wouldn’t take that if presented with it before the games had been played, because with the Rangers offense, those are all situations where you have a chance fore a W.
The only major question mark that is seen currently is the Mason Tobin situation in the bullpen. Picked up in the Rule 5 Draft, Tobin hasn’t played since 2009 because of arm issues and has never played past High-A until now. He has to stay active for at least 90 days if the Rangers want to keep him. But from the looks of his first appearance, i’m not sure if he will make it that long.
The Rangers will try to make it 5-0 tonight against the Seattle Mariners at 7:05 PM CT.
Rangers’ Chuck Greenberg to Resign
From the Fort Worth Star Telegram:
Chuck Greenberg, the Pittsburgh sports attorney who for more than a year headed an investment group that gained control of the Texas Rangers’ ownership in August, could announce as soon as today that he is resigning to pursue other interests.
A source revealed<!–more–> the news late Thursday. No one reason was given by the source for the stunning development, but Greenberg’s method of operations could have created disagreements within the organization, including with team president Nolan Ryan, and among the ownership group and even Major League Baseball.
It became apparent over the weekend that a shakeup could be in the works. Greenberg was not involved in functions with the ownership group and key advertising representatives during meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Greenberg’s departure comes just shy of the seven-month mark of MLB’s unanimously approving Greenberg, Ryan and more than a dozen others to purchase the club after a courthouse auction pushed the sale price to more than $590 million.
The group outlasted Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on Aug. 3 in the bidding after then-owner Tom Hicks had sunk the Rangers’ finances and put them into bankruptcy court.
Greenberg, who became the club’s managing partner and chief executive officer, gained popularity among the Rangers’ fan base as the club charged to the American League championship and into its first World Series appearance last year.