Posts Tagged ‘Texas Rangers’

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My MLB Postseason and World Series Predictions

October 4th, 2016 by Kyle Lutz | Comments Off on My MLB Postseason and World Series Predictions | Filed in Baseball, General, MLB

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Now that the season’s ended, the postseason begins, and less than a month from now, the Fall Classic will resume; since it ended last November 1st. Unfortunately for the defending World Series champion Royals, they won’t be returning to the postseason, after finishing at .500 this season. With the best record in baseball, the Cubs won 103 games, the fifth most in franchise history, and they’ll be making their second-consecutive appearance in the postseason. With all of that being said, here are my postseason predictions.

Postseason Predictions (the winning teams are on the far right)

October 4th- AL Wild Card- Baltimore @ Toronto– Toronto 

Like the other Wild Card game this week, this match-up tonight will be a hard-fought one. Both teams finished with 89 wins, Toronto has some of the best power hitters in the game, one of the best third baseman in the league, in Josh Donaldson (.284 average, 37 home runs, 99 RBIs), while Baltimore has a fellow AL MVP candidate, in fellow third baseman Manny Machado (.294 average, 37 home runs, 96 RBIs). Among American League teams, Baltimore ranked first in home runs (253), although they only had a team average of .256. Although it’s only one game, the problem this year for Baltimore was their pitching staff- or lack thereof.

Baltimore’s ace Kevin Gausman will most likely get the nod, although he only won nine games and had a 3.61 ERA. For Toronto, they’ll most likely hand the ball off to former Phillie J.A. Happ, who surprisingly won 20 games this year; with a 3.18 ERA to boot. I’m going with Toronto, based off Happ’s success this season, as well as the strong one-two punch of Donaldson and designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion; who had 42 home runs this year.

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Breaking: Cole Hamels traded to Texas Rangers

July 30th, 2015 by Sam Shipley | Comments Off on Breaking: Cole Hamels traded to Texas Rangers | Filed in General, MLB, Phillies

Cole Hamels has been traded to the Texas Rangers, according to multiple reports. This day has been talked about for close to a year now, and the rumors have finally become reality. The Rangers were believed to be the favorites for Hamels all week long, and it seems that they never really were going to lose out on Hamels after all.

According to unofficial reports, the Phillies will be getting back catching prospect Jorge Alfaro, who is highly regarded as one of, if not the top catching prospects in baseball. Along with Alfaro, it is being reported that the Phillies will be receiving outfielder Nick Williams, and RHPs, Jake Thompson, Jack Eickhoff and Alec Asher. The Phillies will also acquire pitcher Matt Harrison from Texas.

Williams is the Rangers 5th ranked prospect according to MLB.com, and is ranked 64th in MLB.com’s top 100 prospect rankings. Jake Thompson is listed as the 4th ranked prospect on the Rangers and is ranked 60th overall on MLB.com’s top 100 prospect list. Eickhoff is the Rangers 17th ranked prospect, and Asher is the Rangers 29th ranked prospect according to MLB.com.

Headed back to the Rangers along with Hamels, will be reliever Jake Diekman and cash.

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Matching Up With The Rangers?

July 28th, 2015 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Matching Up With The Rangers? | Filed in Baseball, MLB, Phillies

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As we make our way towards the Non-Waiver Trade Deadline on Friday, the names of possible destinations will emerge and subside. As Sam Shipley pointed out, and has continuously updated, the teams involved in Hamels Watch include the Dodgers, Rangers, Diamondbacks, Giants, Cubs, Yankees, and Astros with the Rangers currently the front-runners to acquire Hamels. One of Ken Rosenthal’s sources with inside knowledge of the Rangers organization states that outfielder Nomar Mazara is off-limits in any deal and that injured catcher Jorge Alfaro is only an option if the Phillies pay down Hamels’ future salary commitments. To me, this is just posturing on the Rangers end. I’ve agreed with Rosenthal in the past that Cole Hamels’ value is what other teams are willing to pay, but lets look honestly into what the Rangers are “refusing” to part with.

Nomar Mazara would obviously be the center piece to the deal. He is hitting .284/.355/.444 as a 20-year-old in AA Frisco. He will not be 21 until next April, so even if the Phillies left him in AA the rest of the season and/or promoted him to AAA between now and 2016, he’d realistically be a late June call-up of next year, at the earliest. Scouting reports grade him out having an above average arm and above average to well above average power. He would definitely be the left-handed bat in the middle of the lineup with Maikel Franco for the forseeable future.

For me, the secondary piece in this deal should be outfielder Lewis Brinson. The 21-year-old is currently hitting .327/.411/.588 in High A High Desert in the California League. Brinson won’t be 22 until next May and has graded out as having above average power, speed, and fielding abilities. What makes him not a center piece is that the California League tends to inflate players’ stats. The last “center piece” the Phillies acquired that played in the California League during his age 21 season? Tyson Gillies hit .340/.430/.486 before being traded and has had just one season since that he hit over .247. If acquired, I’d like to see Brinson move directly to AA Reading and let him sink or swim there the rest of 2015 and into 2016.

For as much promise as Jorge Alfaro boasts, he suffered a severe left ankle injury at the beginning of June that required surgery. An injury to the ankle that requires surgery is generally a broken bone or a ligament injury. I’m speculating that ligament is the problem as a broken bone would just simply be reported. Ankle ligament surgery is a rather lengthy process to recover from. Being that the surgery was performed in June, Alfaro can’t even start light exercising until September or resume baseball activities until January. Basically, Alfaro would most likely be behind heading into Spring Training. To basically say that Alfaro is a deal breaker is ludicrous as he will lose the best part of a year in development time.

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Report: Five teams interested in Hamels, Dodgers and Rangers emerge as “favorites”

July 26th, 2015 by Sam Shipley | Comments Off on Report: Five teams interested in Hamels, Dodgers and Rangers emerge as “favorites” | Filed in Baseball, MLB, Phillies

(Updates at the bottom)

Coming off of an unbelievable no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs yesterday, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that trade talk would increase for Cole Hamels immediately after. It was reported on Friday that the Cubs had made the Phillies an offer that included Javier Baez and Starlin Castro.

According to FOXSports.com MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal, the market seems to be expanding for Hamels:

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Blowing It

February 9th, 2015 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Blowing It | Filed in Baseball, Phillies

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We finally got to the point where the Phillies saw what everyone else had known for years: it’s over. A rebuild was the only course of action. They finally realized they couldn’t buy their way out of the mess GM Ruben Amaro Jr had created. Long time Phillies Jimmy Rollins, Marlon Byrd, and Antonio Bastardo were shipped off for the best returns imaginable (obviously team president Pat Gillick was heavily involved, if not solely responsible for these moves), but the Phillies best trade chip was staff ace Cole Hamels. The Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Padres, Dodgers, and Rangers were all publicly known to be interested in Hamels, but the Phillies asking price was reportedly astronomical. The Cardinals and Dodgers were looking for a luxury not a necessity and have apparently moved on. The Red Sox, Cubs, and Rangers all acquired pitching and now the Padres and James Shields have reportedly agreed to terms. While the Red Sox have kept in contact, they continue to shoot down all offers that include catching prospect Blake Swihart.

So where does that leave the Phillies? In the same place the Minnesota Twins were when they were in the process of moving staff ace Johan Santana. With suitors dropping left and right, the Phillies return gets worse and worse. Pitchers and catchers report in ten days and if the Phillies think they can just hold out until the trade deadline to move him, they’re setting themselves up for an even bigger let down. Other ace caliber pitchers David Price, Johnny Cueto, and Jordan Zimmermann could all be available at the deadline and will most likely be free agents next winter. God forbid Hamels gets bit by the injury bug in 2015, as that would completely derail the team rebuild. With each passing day, Amaro is risking not only his future, but the team’s as well. At some point Gillick needs to blow out Amaro before Amaro blows his opportunity to cash in his only chip.

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Deconstructing The Phillies: Starting Pitching

October 7th, 2014 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Deconstructing The Phillies: Starting Pitching | Filed in Baseball, Phillies

After yet another horrendously obvious season, the Phillies finally know that something needs to change. Whether they act on that knowledge is a different story. As we wait to see how the winter unfolds for the Phillies, I thought I’d post some of my own ideas of how to “fix” this team. Along the way, other contributors will throw in their two cents as well. In the first week we’ll address the starting pitching. So for some drastic ideas, read past the jump. (more…)

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Philadelphia Phillies (1-0) at Texas Rangers (0-1)- 8:05 PM EST

April 2nd, 2014 by Kyle Lutz | Comments Off on Philadelphia Phillies (1-0) at Texas Rangers (0-1)- 8:05 PM EST | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

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Last season, the 73-89, fourth-place Phillies only managed to score more than 13 runs in a single-game once all season long (which came on June 28th, in a 16-1 win at the Dodgers). They’ve already done it once this season, in just as many games. It’s probably not indicative of what the season will bring in full this year, as far as offensive performances and wins are concerned- not runs, but it was fun nonetheless. Then again, our starting lineup also faced a reliever who was making his first ever Major League start.

To summarize how things went for 27-year old Tanner Scheppers on the mound yesterday; things didn’t go well, or straight either. Scheppers allowed seven, yes seven, earned runs in just four innings of work, with three walks given up and two punch outs. Last year he was fantastic as a reliever for Texas, going 6-2 with a 1.88 ERA in 76 relief appearances, before taking normally what’s known as Yu Darvish’s spot in the rotation, due to the the latter’s neck injury that’ll sideline him for a bit.

On the other side, ace Cliff Lee didn’t do much better, to many people’s surprises. Lee was tagged for eight earned runs, with 11 hits allowed, and only one strikeout in five innings of work. Lee worked a perfect 1-2-3 first inning before experiencing trouble in the second. Neither team, in fact, scored in the first, yet after two innings they combined for double digit runs. Center field in newly-named Globe Life Park seemed to be a jet stream for balls hit in the vicinity as well.

This was the first time the Phightins scored double-digit runs on Opening Day since 2010, when they won 11-1 over rival Washington.

The win yesterday shows that they’re at least committed, for now, to being a resilient team. It’s imperative that they not only win in general this season, with hopes of competing in the East/NL Wild-Card race, but the close games especially, like they did yesterday. Getting out to a hot start is very important. Last season, they fell behind early and never could catch up. They were 12-15 in April of last year, and fell back 5.5 games of Atlanta, even though the season wasn’t even a fifth completed as of then. Philadelphia can ill-afford to finish not only the way they did in April of last year, but how they did the entire season as well, if people want to keep their jobs.

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