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Kameron Loe now a Hawk

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The guys that sat in the front row of (roughly) Section 322 or 323 have to be bummed out now. Word came over the wire a few minutes ago that the career of Kameron Loe as a Texas Ranger is over. The rights to Kam were sold to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan. Apparently Kameron signed a two year deal with them right after that worth a reported $2 million total, which is way more than he’s ever made with the Rangers. His max salary was 2008, when he made $410,690.

I liked Kam, it was a shame he never put it all together and stuck around long term. My favorite Kam moment was when he was pitching in the pen late one year, and said “Hey, I deserve a shot at the rotation”. He got it, and for a moment at the end of that year, it looked like we had found a great starter – but it didn’t carry over into the next year. He will get to play with a legend though, as his manager will be Sadaharu Oh. At least once he’s done managing the Japanese team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. No more stories about his snake, or his bald head, or anything like that.

Congratulations Don Wakamatsu

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Not that long ago, Rangers bench coach Don Wakamatsu took a demotion to third base coach after he was passed over for the Manager’s job. I recall at the time thinking that had to be his last season here, as you don’t generally like to stick around in situations where you were actively moving backwards.

So it was with some excitement and trepidation that I read the news tonight that Don was named Manager of the Seattle Mariners. The excitement was easy. When Don was here, he was well liked (at least my memory says that). He was someone I didn’t particularly want to see leave when he did, but I can understand why he left. Made sense. So I’m happy for Don that he will get his shot. I’m still pretty happy with the guy who got the shot here in Texas over Don, but I’m glad that Don got his. Which brings me to the trepidation part.

Don is staying in the division. As we’ll see him 19 games a year, one has to think that he’ll have some small insight into the Rangers. That will help Seattle, although Seattle needs way more help than that. Assuming they don’t go panicy, giving in to the fans and sports writers (like the Rangers fans and writers tried to do here in early 08), he should help them in the long term. I always felt he would make a good manager.

So yeah, the bottom line is a good guy who used to be here is getting his shot. Good luck Don. Just not too much luck.
If you want to see what Mariners fans are saying check out this post and this one from ussmariner.com. They’re probably the best Mariners blog out there, and perhaps one of the best overall sports fan blogs there is.

Phillies DVD / Blu-Ray

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I know this is a Rangers site, but I wanted to pass along that you can pre-order the World Series DVDs / Blu-Ray discs now through Amazon. :) If you don’t see the links, turn off your ad blockers for www.rangerfans.com. I don’t run ads here, so there’s no need to block me. :)

Here is a list of the extras that are going to be on the disc.

The Cubs

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There goes Mark Cuban’s chance to buy the Cubs. The Wall Street Journal is saying he was charged with insider trading.

Of Gloves and Contracts [UPDATE]

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Yesterday afternoon, Michael Young got some vindication when he won the 2008 AL Gold Glove award for shortstop. This has been a bone of contention between Rangers fans and the uh “National media”, who always seemed to slag Young on defense. There were always these really strange sabre-metric things which showed Young at the bottom of the barrel defensively, that other guys are better shortstops if you apply these strange numbers and conditions (like what compass direction a digested twinkie is moving in your digestive system). But you just had to watch Young to know he was a good shortstop. If you’re one of these people who rely on strange numbers to prove anything, I think you’re missing the point. Use your eyes, not your head – Young is a great defensive shortstop. Now I don’t make a case that he’s the best ever, but he’s certainly up near the top of the game. I think by the time his career is over, he’ll have amassed a huge number of individual awards beyond the ones he already has. Will he have a ring to go with it? Hopefully. :)
His 2008 numbers were quite good. He had a .984 fielding percentage, which was second in the majors (behind only Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies). He lead all shortstops by being involved in 113 double plays (which is more of a team stat than an individual stat, really), and ranked second in assists and total chances. I think he’s pretty deserving, and yeah, I’m a Rangers fan, so I’m bound to say that. But show me someone in the AL who is better this past year. Unless you’re going to play the homer vote for your own team, you can’t, really.
The other thing I wanted to talk about is Hank Blalock. As I type this sentence at 12:46PM on Friday, the Rangers have not yet picked up Blalock’s option. Several local media outlets have said that it’s a foregone conclusion he will, so I’m writing this as if they already have. If for some reason they do not, I’ll have to re-edit this story later today. :) Anyway, with Blalock’s option picked up for 2009, he’s on the books for $6.2 Million. Apparently, the reason it hasn’t been picked up so far is the Rangers wanted to talk to him face to face, and tell him what they have planned. Which, according to several published reports is to trade him for pitching. If we kept him, it wouldn’t be awful, but would create a logjam. Blalock probably can’t effectively play third anymore, so he’d be either at first or at DH. Being at first puts a block on Chris Davis. Now Davis can go play third, but he’s better at first. I also personally have never liked the concept of a dedicated DH. I always felt that the DH should be an open position that someone who is hurt, or needs a day off can go bat, and not strain themselves too much on the field. I think Blalock will be moved somewhere in the offseason, Chris Davis will open at first.
That leaves a regular third base job open. The immediate thought would be Ramon Vazquez (they’d have to sign him for more than one year, and hand him third base to keep him), or Travis Metcalf. He can play third, but his long term bat is still a bit suspect, I think. We’ve been hearing the Rangers kick the tires of a few free agent third baseman, none of which really excites me. I’d rather take my chances with Metcalf, or resign Vazquez to play 3B.
As for Blalock, though, I always felt he’d be here for a long time, it’s a shame it appears he’s on his way out. Guess there will be no more Hank’s Homies. They’ve been gone as a regular game sight for awhile, but this would finish them off, I’m sure. That was quite fun when it was new.
Anyway, congratulations to Michael Young on his Gold Glove. Hopefully he wins some more hardware to go with that. Like one all of us can celebrate.
UPDATE @ 5PM Friday: Just noticed that Blalock’s option was officially picked up. No surprise there – I think the shock would have been if they did not. Of course, now the fun begins as to see what we do with him. I did find it funny that the Rangers official site used this headline on the site for this story. “Rangers bring back Blalock for 2009 campaign”. That’s not quite what they did. They picked up his option. Misleading headline there. :)

Mike Maddux & Coaching Stuff

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I meant to write about this the day it happened, but I was having a bit of a pain flareup, and was not in the mood to creatively write. Now I’m laying in my bed with my leg raised up on a pillow, and leaning to my site to write on my laptop after about seven hours of watching election returns. A quick note about that. I really enjoyed the returns on my HDTV with NBC’s coverage. The space on the side that you wouldn’t see on an old style TV was filled up with other info (recent state wins, electoral tally, etc) which was really cool to have while the main talking was going on. I enjoyed that.
Anyway, the other day the Rangers hired Mike Maddux to be their pitching coach. By all accounts, this is a great hire. There are a lot of numbers you can point at during his tenure in Milwaukee. Their ERA was great, several pitchers who left there tanked elsewhere. As a fan of the team, all the local fan website writers are all behind the move – and I am, too. This move should really help our team with one if its biggest problems – pitching. If you’re reading this site, you are no stranger to the numbers that comprise the Rangers pitching staff stats. 5.97 ERA last season, and while I don’t have them in front of me, they weren’t much better in any of the other recent years. Maddux’ pedigree says he should help improve our staff. You know it, I know it, Jamey Newberg knows it, and team management expects it.
Thats’ where my excitement about a pitching coach hire ends – because I think this is not the kind of hire that will excite the fanbase, really. Why? If you are reading this site, or any of the other Ranger fan sites (Baseball Time in Arlington, Lone Star Ball, Jamey’s site, etc, etc, etc..) then you know the value. But your average Joe Six Pack (yeah, had to work in another presidential thing) doesn’t really care about that. I’m talking about the doofuses who call in to post game shows and go “When are we going to get some pitching in here?” These are the guys who will look at the 2009 rotation of Millwood, Padilla, Feldman, Harrison, & ? and go “These are the same guys – they’re not doing aything!” Your average fan who is interested only in things like the all you can eat seats won’t give a rats spit about the coaches. They want wins. Obviously, we all want that, but unless you’re a fan who reads a site like mine, you probably don’t care whether the pitching coach is Dick Bosman, Orel Hershisher, Oscar Ocosta, Mark Connor, or Mike Maddux.
Having said that, I think the move is a good one, it should help us. I’d be surprised if it helps us in 2009, though. I’m sure we’ll see an improvement, but probably not an immediate dramatic one. It’s probably a good idea that we kept on Andy Hawkins on the staff. His familiarity will certainly help, I’m sure.
I still think we should have John Wetteland as a bullpen coach, however. Would LOVE to see that.

Here we go, another off season

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Well, the World Series is over, and my home town Phillies won. It was quite a surreal feeling, my franchise is not used to winning. Yeah, you heard a lot about how we won in 1980, and that was awesome. I was 15 at the time. I thought it was great! Then the years went on, we got teased in 1983 with the Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, & Tony Pena mostly Reds Phillies team. We got teased again in 1993 (Friggin Joe Carter can TOUCH THIS!).. But overall, the Phillies are a historically bad franchise. They lose. A lot. So when I sat there on Wednesday night watching the three and a half inning game, I didn’t know what to feel. I couldn’t go much of anywhere, since I”m confined to a recliner or the bed due to my surgery, but at least I got to experience the World Series in High Definition (save for game 1, which was in a hospital bed). The parade is going on now as I write this. ESPNNEWS is carrying parts of it, but not the whole thing, which disappointed me. Hopefully the eventual DVD of the World Series will have the whole parade on it. To finish up on that, I’ll quote a sign I saw in the stands right after the game was over. “Mitch, we forgive you!” :)
Anyway, now that the World Series is over, the other stuff starts. The off season. As with every Rangers off season, we’ll be looking to shore up pitching. That seems to be the story every season. I’m sure we’ll also hear a lot about how bad the Rays were last year, and they went to the World Series. While of course, anything can happen, I can’t see the Rangers doing that. The Rays seemed to have a better foundation of pitching. We have too many holes to fill. Oh sure, a perfect storm of pitching would be great, but I can’t see it happening.
Yesterday, the first batch of Rangers filed for free agency. I’ll say something about them below. My gut feeling is no big name comes in here, if we do have any inbounds, it will probably be a name like a Joe Blanton that the Phillies got – no name that will set the world on fire, but someone who is “good”. Might be via Blalock, who knows. Here goes, the Rangers who have filed for free agency:
Hank Blalock: I must not understand the technicalities of free agency filing, as the Rangers hold an option on Blalock. I was under the impression that he isn’t a free agent unless we decline his option, which is unlikely to happen. I think everyone in the world expects the Rangers to pick up his option for 2009. After that, who knows – but I think there’s a decent chance he’ll get traded in the offseason for some sort of startng pitching. However, if Bradley doesn’t return, it could make Blalock more attractive to keep – put him at DH, and play Chris Davis at first.
Milton Bradley: Milton has been making a lot of noise about how he will retire unless he gets a multi-year deal. Yes, he had a career year in 2008, and I have to admit, I liked him when he was on the field. But that’s his big question mark. He missed a decent (if not a lot) amount of time on the field, and there was a scramble at the end of the season for him to get qualifying at bats. That is not the mark of a truly healthy player. I would love to have Bradley back, but the only way I see him back here now is if nobody will give him a multi-year deal. I could see us offering him a one year with a team option, but my guess is his ego won’t allow him to accept that. Shame.
Bradley was also declared a Type B Free Agent on Friday. That’s not as good news for the Rangers, as they were hoping for an A I’m sure. The Type B means that the Rangers wouldn’t get a good pick if someone else signed him after we offered arbitration. As a Type B, the Rangers would get a supplemental pick only. Oh well.
Ramon Vazquez: He has been fantastic for us here, and the only way I see him returning would be if they decide to play him as a regular third baseman under the Chris Davis scenario I mentioned above. If his slot would be utility guy, I can’t see that happening – he won’t want to do that again, I’m sure, and he deserves a better spot. Plus we have some other guys who can do the utility thing a lot cheaper (Joaquin Arias, German Duran). I don’t see him back. In memory of the 2008 season, I’ll take one last lift of the finger under my nose in his honor.
Jamey Wright: Jamey has been a decent, if not spectacular reliever for us. However, it’s always been on a minor league deal that he’s made the club on last cut. I don’t have any hard numbers or facts to back this up, but my feeling is that he won’t be back in 2009, they’ll want to take a chance on something or someone different.
Jason Jennings: Well, that didn’t work. Guy was hurt all the time, made just six starts. Hard to judge. The local boy makes good story was a good touchy feely thing, but it didn’t do squat on the field. Major unknown – I could see them offering him a minor league deal pretty easily.
That’s about it for the first wave of moves. I’m going to try and be more forthcoming with my thoughts this season. I said that going into 2008, and I stuck with it for awhile, but kind of fell off. I guess with guys like Adam, Joey, & Jamey out there, I sometimes feel my little opinions aren’t worth much.
But the reason I’m giving it a try is the folks who wrote me during my surgery and said they liked my site, and had been reading for awhile, enjoying what I do. Thanks to all who wrote in during my recovery, and a big thanks to all who prayed for me. I’m a big believer in the power of prayer, so to have random folks I don’t really know that well pray for my recovery… it’s a great blessing. Thank you.

The Phillies win the World Series!

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Yeah, I was pretty excited about it, being a Phillies fan, too. Probably would have jumped up and down, if it wasn’t for this leg brace I’m in. :)

They don’t call him the Flyin Hawaiian for nothing..

An update on my surgery

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Here is an email my wife wrote to several of our`church friends on Wed evening. I’m home now and am pretty much confined to bed.
Hello everyone,
What a long long day. First off, if you feel lead to forward this message on to others, please do so. I’m so tired at this point, I know there are others that I wanted to send this to.
Joe’s surgery went well. We were at the hospital at 7 am for admitting into day surgery. They took him back quickly, then it was “hurry up and wait” time. Fr. Lawrence and Fr. Jeff from our church came out and blessed us both, which was great, and a huge emotional help to us. They took Joe upstairs at 9am, and I thought, okay, this is it, but the nurse came and got me again. More hurry up and wait time in a bigger room with more questions. Finally, around 10:15 (an hour 15 late) Joe was taken into surgery.
The doctor came out and talked to me, and said that the actual surgery lasted about an hour. Joe had a huge 4 inch cyst that was eating into the tibia bone. A sample was sent to pathology, but the Doctor felt that it was benign. He explained that he used bone chips and “bone marrow asperate” taken from Joe’s hip to fill up the hole. The bone marrow asperate is suppose to encourage new bone growth. He basically described cutting into Joe’s bone a little trap door, filling it up, and shutting it closed like a casket (his words NOT mine). This was a rare surgery.
Anyways, Joe is now in a full leg brace to keep his leg stable, and to keep his knee from bending. He will be in this brace for several weeks, this part is unclear, it depends on how his recovery is going. Joe got back into his room around 1pm, very groggy. He was feeling nausous, so they gave him more drugs for that along with good ol’ morphine. He was out for a few hours, during which I went home to get him some things, and to check on Samantha.
He was up a few times, but he needs to use a walker for awhile. They will be sending him home tomorrow with one, along with some more drugs for pain. After dinner, he did take a nap before his Phillies were on tv in the world series.
I have to say, we had some of THE NICEST nurses ever at this hospital. Not only were they caring of Joe, but they were beyond kind to me. This hospital was an icecube, and one nurse brought me a blanket. When Joe’s dinner came, they brought ME a dinner too. I didn’t ask for one, but they said, “Oh, this one’s for you too”. I teased Joe that this was our anniversary dinner as our 12th wedding anniversary is this weekend, but we cannot celebrate this year. What a way to get a day to ourselves. :)
I stayed until 8:30, and then had to get home. I plan on going back early tomorrow as it is unclear when Joe will be dischared.
Samantha had a wonderful day with her Grandma, and Grandma took care of her the entire day. They played “Doctor Who” toys for several hours, and didn’t even have to pull out all the art supply stuff that I had gotten as a distraction. Thanks be to God that Ellen came down, I don’t know what I would have done, as Joe really needed me with him.
Thanks to all of you who called today, either on my cell or at the house. Thanks also to all of you who were praying for us during the surgery. It truly helped to know that so many of you were keeping us all in prayer. Please continue to lift us up in prayer, as recovery is going to be hard.
Good night, and blessings to all of you,
Lynn