Texas Rangers April/May Report Card

Catchers: C-

Laird has been throwing runners out at a decent clip, and his walk-rate is up, but aside from that he hasn’t done anything to show that he should be in the Rangers’ long term plans.

Infield: B

Tex is hitting like his old-self, MY is coming around, and Blalock was showing signs of tapping into his potential before hitting the DL. Kinsler has managed to rank as having only an average season thus far after tearing the cover off the ball for a month.

Outfield: C-

Wilkerson, Lofton, Catalanotto, Cruz, and Sosa may be one of the worst outfield rotations in recent memory. Wilkerson was actually having a quietly useful year before he got hurt (250/324/500). Catalanotto and Cruz have been train-wrecks and Lofton has played about as well as you could expect a 62 year old to play. At least Sosa’s chase of 600 homers has given the fans a reason to come to the ballpark.

Bench: A-

Every year the Rangers sign a couple of journeymen to fill the 24th or 25th spots on the bench only to have them end up as productive starters by the All-Star break. Dellucci did it in ‘05; DeRosa and GMJ did it last year; Ramon Vazquez and Victor Diaz are doing it this year. Kinda makes you wonder why Jon Daniels felt the need to pay Frank Catalanotto 13 million dollars.

Rotation: D

I wanted to give this collective group a D+ but the ‘plus’ seemed to give the grade an unwarranted positive connotation. Millwood and Padilla were supposed to be the work-horses but Padilla has been all-around horrible and Millwood has hurt himself with walks. Robinson Tejeda has shown flashes of effectiveness that can at least warrant putting him in long term discussions. The Brandon McCarthy Experiment is beginning to take his place alongside other disasters such as the Titanic and the Hindenburg. At least the DVD-trio should be arriving so…oh…oh, right. Nevermind.

Bullpen: A

I said before the year that the Rangers had the second best bullpen in the league (to the Twins) and now I think that may have been conservative. Benoit, Eye, Francisco, Gagne, Littleton, Mahay, Aki, and C.J. have ranged from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’. Feldman is the only regular in the pen to have struggled so far (16 walks in 20 2/3 IP). Daniels should be scouring the league for teams in need of bullpen help.

Coaching: B+

I like Ron Washington. He said before the season that Blalock was his project and before going on the DL Hank was putting up a 285/335/493 line. I like guys who back up their word. He’s had his disputes with players (Tex and Laird, publically), but at least he’s laid his cards on the table and challenged his players to get better. If the team doesn’t listen to his plea to be more patient at the plate after almost being no-hit twice then maybe we should lift some of the blame for this slow start off of Wash.

Front Office: D-

I want to like Jon Daniels. When he signed on in 2005 I thought he would be the one to lead the transition from the failed A-Rod era to the Michael Young era of Rangers baseball. I loved the Soriano trade and even tried to defend the Chris Young/Adrian Gonzalez for Aki/Adam Eaton trade that hurts just to type. But the fact is that when Daniels was given the reigns, the team had control of valuable bargaining commodities in Soriano, Young, Gonzalez, John Danks, Nick Masset, and Francisco Cordero. Daniels has turned those six chips into a half year of Carlos Lee (playoff appearance not included),a month of Adam Eaton, the remains of Brad Wilkerson, the pitcher formerly known as Brandon McCarthy, and (the one bright spot) Akinori Otsuka. He has also shelled out big bucks to Vicente Padilla (33.75 million) and Frank Catalanotto (13.5 million). which ended up losing him the 16th pick in the draft. How he handles the potential trades of Tex, Aki, and Gagne will go a long way in determining how long Daniels stays at the helm.

Tony

Cleveland Indians April/May Report Card

With nothing better to do before I go to sleep, I will try to analyze the Indians as they are now.

***** Starting Lineup *****

Victor Martinez ** A ** When he hits a homer, shouldn’t everyone say “Thank you for shopping at V-Mart”? I would, and I’m sure Tony would…but maybe that’s just us. Anyway, I’m happy with V-Mart this year. He is the most consistently solid hitter right now, hitting for both average and power. He is producing runs while Hafner is slumping. Also, he is way better at throwing out runners this year. In fact, he threw out two runners tonight against the Royals. I know..that’s like shooting two fish in a barrel when the fish are already dead..but still, it’s something positive.

Ryan Garko ** A ** I have good news. I just saved a bunch of money on my payroll by switching to Garko at first base. Both last year and this year he was kind of in an underdog role of having to prove that he can play. After he hit something like .292 last year with 45 RBI in the last 50 games of the season, I assumed he was ready for “the show.” So there I was..twiddling my thumbs like an idiot, thinking he was the definite starting first baseman for 2007 when I read that he will have to prove that he can handle an everyday role (for defensive reasons or something..). Long story short, he started in a platoon role but now he is the everyday first baseman and one of the most consistent hitters on the team. Also, no complaints about his supposedly poor defense.

Josh Barfield ** B- ** This is a tough one to grade. I really like the Barf and I think his hitting will come around with more time. The downside is, right now, he is hitting around .240. However, when he does hit, they are usually pretty clutch hits. Right now, his projected stats show that he would get 82 RBI with a .240 average at his current pace. That’s good production out of the 9 hole. The only thing I hope is that he gets consistent and a good eye at the plate to get his OBP up and become a #2 hitter..that’s the only thing I hope. The reason he is still in the B range is because of his defense. He makes crazy plays all the time.

Jhonny Peralta ** B ** Right now, he is a solid hitter, putting up good power numbers for a middle infielder..but his defense, while not HORRIBLE, isn’t quite Omar status. What are you gonna do, though.. If he continues to hit about .300 and gets 25 homers, I don’t care.

Casey Blake ** B ** Casey Blake is the guy you love to hate. And by “you” I mean countless Indians fans. Personally, I think he is a versatile player who has helped the team a lot this year at third base. Sometimes his offense isn’t there. He has some patches where he hits about .200, then others where he hits .300. In the end, he balances out to a .260-.270 guy with some decent power, and can play almost any position you need. I like to imagine that he shows up to the ballpark everyday and says “where do you want me to play, skip!” And yes, I do believe all major league players refer to their manager as “skip.”

David Dellucci/Jason Michaels ** C- ** Eh..I’ll just throw these two together. No offense to them, but if they are going to be used like one player, then I’m going to write about them like they are one player. Let’s call this weird genetic mixture Station (Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey). Station should be hitting a little more than it is right now. There isn’t much power coming out of left field. One thing I do like about Station is some veteran leadership, but other than that, this is a bogus journey.

Grady Sizemore ** B+ ** Grady is my favorite current player, so I want to give him an A, but right now, his offense is a little under the expected. I know he will pick it back up..his average is down, his strikeouts are up..but he is still having an ok season, just not good by Sizemore standards. Grady Sizemore? Grady SizeLESS (I don’t know, I’m tired). But his defense and speed still make him better than most, even in an offensive slump. They will start to give him errors when he dives and doesn’t catch the ball because they will say he normally would catch it. If he gets better with the strikeouts..man, I don’t know what will happen. The universe won’t be able to contain him.

Trot Nixon/Other outfielders ** B- ** Like left field, this is kind of a platoon situation. Trot gets a lot of the starts and has done pretty well when he does play. But the Indians have other guys play right field..like Gutierrez or Choo. Let’s call this mixture Preparation. Let’s go with Preparation H. On the whole, Preparation H is good. Man, that was a lot of setup to get to an Austin Powers joke. Preparation H, like Station, isn’t a big power threat, but I guess if it can collectively .270+ with a little bit of power, then I’ll survive.

Travis Hafner ** B- ** I like Hafner and I know he’ll get back on track. He isn’t hitting horribly, but for him, it’s disappointing. He has the strikeout disease right now, too. The only cure is more Pronk bars. Once he gets out of his funk, the lineup will be, to quote Shaq, like the Pythagorean theorem..there is no answer (Acccording to some ESPN anchor, the answer is c squared).

***** Rotation *****

C.C. Sabathia ** A ** I don’t know why, but some people have doubted that he is an ace. If he puts up numbers like he is now, and last year, he can be the ace on my team (that sounded really gay..in a Top Gun way). Who cares about his size…he’s large and in charge. John Candy was a pretty large guy and didn’t he make us all laugh in Uncle Buck? Well the same can be said for C.C.

Fausto Carmona ** A ** Man, if I had the experience Fausto had as a closer last year, I would have packed up, moved to Cuba and changed my name. That was painful. But he bounced back and has been a Santana-beating machine. If he can have a career anywhere close to the way he is pitching now..then..AAAAAYYYY (Fonzie).

Paul Byrd ** A- ** You know when you are having a good dream but you know you are gonna wake up soon? That’s what it’s like with Paul Byrd AKA Frasier Crane. I think he is a good pitcher, but the way he has been pitching lately is crazy. Hardly any walks, yet he isn’t getting shelled when he keeps the ball in the strike zone. I don’t get it. I hope that he can keep it up, along with C.C. and Fausto, because the rest of the pitching staff is leading me to serious heart problems.

Cliff Lee ** C- ** All I can hope for is that he is still recovering from his injury. He’s been hit pretty hard lately, but did have a game or two where he looked like he was back on track. If he could at least not lose every other start, I’d be ok.

Jeremy Sowers ** D+ ** Man oh man..I was expecting Sowers to become the biggest star in the world. THE WORLD. But this doesn’t seem to be the case. He’s a soft-throwing lefty, so he doesn’t have it easy. I hope that it’s something he can work out in AAA, because if he could get on track, this rotation would be my new best friend.

***** Bullpen *****

Joe Borowski ** B ** Here’s a metaphor: Borowski is like a boat tipping and ALMOST turning over in the ocean, but not quite, then tips back to normal. Ok, I lied, that was a simile. Sometimes, he gets the job done without any problems. But sometimes..he has games that make me sad. Most of the time, he makes me nervous and I pass out and wake up a few hours later to find out that he actually ended up getting the save. He has had two really bad experiences this year, so I can’t put my trust in him completely, but he is getting the job done.

Rafael Betancourt ** B+ ** He is pretty solid, as usual. He doesn’t seem lights out to me, but he is working out pretty well as a setup man. I’d feel better if he had a variety of pitches, but oh well.

Tom Mastny ** B- ** Up until recently, he had been putting up pretty good numbers, but then he had a bad inning and that kind of ruined those good numbers. I still think he can be a solid relief pitcher..he’s a good 7th inning guy.

Roberto Hernandez ** D ** He seems nice and all but…man, I think he is a little too old for this job. I think he is a little too old for social security. Roberto Hernandez is so old..his phone number is 1. Roberto Hernandez is so old..his yearbook is signed by Jesus. Roberto Hernandez is so old..he isn’t pitching well for the Indians. That’s my least favorite of the jokes..because it hurts.

Fernando Cabrera ** C- ** Maybe for my next birthday, I will wish that he goes back to the way he pitched earlier this season. But my birthday isn’t until February, so it won’t work for this season.

And the rest ** B- ** Guys like Rafael Perez, Edward Mujica, Aaron Fultz haven’t pitched a whole lot, but seem to have been effective in the times they did.

***** Bench *****

Kelly Shoppach ** A ** He is the only reason I included a bench section. For his role on the team, he is doing as well as anyone could ask. He is hitting well, has some power, and he has an arm that prevents him from getting through airport security.

Mike Rouse ** C ** I don’t know much about Rouse. I’ve only seen him play a few times. He seems average to me. I like Joe Inglett though…he was good last year as a temporary second baseman. A hard player with some speed..seems like a good guy to have on your team. But what do I know..

***** Overall *****

** A- ** I’ll give the whole team an A- because they are in first, but they aren’t playing to their potential. A few players still need to come around. If that happens, and the bullpen can hold up, then I will be very happy this summer. If not…then onward and upward to 2008!

Cory

Angelfire Baseball Almanac

Once, we had this idea of making a team-by-team analysis on a website.  Our best tool at the time was Angelfire, so I don’t know how accessible a site is when the address looks like: http://angelfire.com/games/baseball/baseball1/angels

We were stupid kids and it was a failed experiment.  We started alphabetically and I think we got as far as Arizona.  It was a disappointment for the fans, more than anything, who were promised neatly organized pearls of baseball wisdom and we did not deliver.  But, we are back and better than ever.

So baseball..

I’m Cory and I live and die by the Cleveland Indians.  More often than not, I die by them.  If it wasn’t such a gay name, they would be the Cleveland Heartbreakers.  I remember going to bed the night of game 7 of the 1997 World Series, a game in which Cleveland had a late lead, and waking up the next morning to find they lost.  I was only 12 at the time and I was much more into playing baseball than just watching it, so it didn’t bother me.  But if that happened now, rest assured I would be in the nearest mental institution, rocking back and forth, repeating “but they had the lead” over and over for the rest of my life.  Sad, I know.  Baseball is what it is.  You have the greatest day in the world, then the very next day, your team has a horrible game and you think “they’ll never make it.”  So if you are reading this, and you probably aren’t, then you will read a lot about the Indians.  You will feel what I feel..all the pain and heartache that comes with Cleveland Indians baseball.

I’m Tony and I think the Rangers need to trade Aki to the Indians for somebody like Jason Michaels.