Acne Medicine to Giants

No more Zito. The Rangers lost out to San Francisco, which if the Rangers had to lose him to another team, I would prefer it to be to a National League team than an American League one, so that we don’t have to face him every year. An 84 million offer is definitely a great offer, so I can’t knock JD for trying. Mark Mulder is still an option. I think the kid from Kansas City should be a hot topic for the Rangers, although I haven’t heard anything about Redman and what is happening with him.

I will have to come right out and say this: I am not excited about the trade of Danks to the White Sox. I’m not. Giving up Masset and Danks for McCarty isn’t something I would have thought about in a million years. Danks is going to be the next Clemens. And the kid is really good. We gave up Zito years ago. We gave up Chris Young last year. We gave up Danks now. So far, two great pitchers at a very young age who are something special have slipped our grasp. The only good thing is that McCarty is young and we can keep him for five years without so much as worry, unless he stinks it up on the mound. Danks, to be all honest, wasn’t a guarantee, but people had the ink pens ready to make it seem like one. Furthermore, he wouldn’t show his face in a Rangers uniform until mid-season at the absolute earliest, bearing a meltdown from the rotation.

Again, being honest here, I didn’t think Zito would be a great fit here. Others have tried to convince me otherwise. I listened. They talked. I was slightly convinced. Zito’s record in Ameriquest is great, blah, blah, blah. But that’s him as a visitor and not spending an entire season here. Fly ball pitchers in this stadium generally don’t work out in the long-run. Chan Ho “Out-Of-The” Park can probably give the logistics on that one pretty clearly. Needless to say, it was a wise decision for Zito to stay clear of the Rangers.

Redman, on the other hand, is something else entirely. A good groundball pitcher with a strong infield defense, well, I can’t say it enough, would create a perfect career for him here. He could sign a nice contract, low dollars for the Rangers, and re-establish himself as a better pitcher than his numbers currently say. He could stabilize the bullpen since he does knock down innings and would be a 15+ in the win column with this team. If anything, Redman should call the Rangers and ask for an offer. It would do both parties a blessing, because both would benefit in the long run.

I guess I am really going to have to start looking at Mulder in more detail now. I guess if the Rangers sign him, it would be like the X-Files at Ameriquest. Interesting.

The TXSIN Head Bashers: An Advanced Tactic

The TXSIN Head Bashers: An Advanced Tactic

On this first screen, take particular notice of the players in the “R” position. What does that say about the player? Answer: It says that the player is playing a “relief” position, or coming in for relief of another player. The next question then is this: How did these players start in the “relief” position?

To answer that question, the starters are “AWOL” or they simply didn’t show up for the game. How can this be useful for playing Bush League Baseball? People playing the game generally look at players not showing up as a BAD thing. I did for a good long while, until I realized that I have 20 players, whether they show up or not. I should utilize those players as best as I can, including AWOL players. I’m not going to put an injured player in the lineup for fear that the guy might actually play and hurt himself further. I will put AWOL players in the lineup. The players who are on the bench, come off and fill in the lineup. BLB fills from top to bottom by position (P, C, 1B, 2B, etc…) by starting from the bottom of the “Basic Info” screen on BLB. Furthermore, this will add a confusion aspect to the opponent should they check in to see if you are prepared. It will appear to them as though you are not, which in fact you are… As a further screen to them, you may want to keep your “Tactics” the same throughout the season, but constantly change your “Advanced Tactics” to continue the questioning of whether you have checked in or not on your team. If your “Tactics” always remain the same, the question mark will always remain for your opponent, keeping them guessing and ever so unsure on how to play you.

In this particular game, I planned for Bonds to come in for Glove, ‘Yungi for Babe, and Blow for Fielder. I also planned the batting order for these guys, knowing they would be replacing the others. So if Johnny Ray (3B) was “AWOL”, who would replace him? Joe Blow would, due to him being in the “B9” position. Joe Blow would always be the first replacement, since he is in the “B9” position. ‘Yungi would be the second replacement, and Bonds would be the third. If the pitcher, catcher, and 1B didn’t show up, who would pitch? Blow. Catch? Sumyungi. 1B? Bonds. Bonds couldn’t start as a replacement player in this scenario. Blow could be the only other starter in this scenario besides Sarcastic.

The 2007 Newberg Bound Edition

I was holding off on posting this until I had an actual picture of the cover. Now I do. I went to this last year and it was a blast! I got several autographs, two books, one for me and one for my dad for Christmas, and they signed my autograph book, which now looks like it will put all my children through college, should I ever sell the thing. Here's the cover followed by the scoop:

The book signing date is on Wednesday, December 13th, 2006. No word as to who exactly will be there as of yet and if Jamey has said a location, I can not recall of what that location is off the top of my head. What I do know is this... I will try to be there. Period. And I have to say try this time due to my health. There is a BONUS, two books receive a free book of a previous year's edition with the exception of one year, which is out of print. And with each purchase of a book, you recieve a voucher of a buy-one/get-one for a Ranger game* (certain restrictions - BLAH-BLAH-BLAH - you know the drill). Seriously, I have nothing to do with the Newberg Report, but I love it, thus I plug it. If you are interested in checking it out or getting one, order information follows (gjsneaker@sbcglobal.net is Jamey Newberg), followed by the Newberg website information.

Ordering by credit card through PayPal is very easy. Just go to http://www.paypal.com/, select the “Send money” option, and type in gjsneaker@sbcglobal.net where it asks for the e-mail account (and again, make sure you identify exactly what years of the Bound Edition you want, so I know exactly what to ship to you). If PayPal is new to you, signing up is extremely user-friendly, costs you nothing, and is completely secure. Go to paypal and follow the simple instructions.

More details on ordering the book are at newbergreport.com.

Tin Star: 2007 Newberg Signing

This year it will be at the same location. I don't know what is up with blogger, it won't let me update my other post... so here's another post. The address for Tin Star is 2626 Howell Street in Dallas, TX 75204 (the Quadrangle location). Note the following:

• Release of the book (excellent for a Rangers fan!)
• Q&A with several Rangers players who will be available for an autograph

And who are the players? I've been itching to put this on here all day.

• C.J. Wilson
• Kameron Loe
• John Danks
• Taylor Teagarden
• Ian Kinsler

Shin-Dig starts at 6pm, I recommend you get there early, but not before me.

Mark Redman

There is a pitcher out there in the free agent market who is a lot better than his numbers say he is. And that would be good for the team that picks him up should they have a defense to back him up. Now, I know this seems a bit of a stretch, and honestly, I was a bit surprised by myself for saying this, but really, Mark Redman is a decent pitcher. And despite being on Kansas City, he still went 11-10. Granted, his ERA was 5.71, but how much of that was the rest of the team? You can take Redman and put him in a Rangers uniform (Redman has become a ground-ball pitcher over the last few years), and I assure you his ERA will return to the numbers of 2003 when his ERA was 3.59. Also note that Redman had 14 wins that season. I am willing to bet that Redman would also come fairly inexpensive compared to the rest of the free-agents on the market right now. The Rangers are actively pursing Zito. And that is great; I can’t knock them for that. It would be AWESOME to have Zito to start off the rotation for this club. But look at the rest of the rotation, and consider what a Redman, now a ground-ball pitcher, could do for one of the best infields in baseball in the number four spot in the rotation.

• Barry Zito (?)


• Kevin Millwood


• Vicente Padilla


• Mark Redman (?)


• Robinson Tejeda

As a coach, as a general manager, one thing (A Major Thing) is to find the best players to suit your team’s strengths. I do trust in John Daniels. I don’t know if he has considered Redman. I hope he does. I hope he takes it seriously. He led the Royals in innings pitched this season. Millwood and Padilla surpassed the 200 innings mark, way more than Redman, but again, consider Redman’s situation (he’s a good pitcher on a really bad team). My suggestion is to get him. He should come cheap and you may be able to get him for cheap times two (as in two years – it should be worth it). We know Zito is worth it.