Seattle Mariners

Why (and How) the Rangers Should Go All In as the Trade Deadline Looms

What a week for Your Texas Rangers. Nolan Ryan and Ron Washington took turns publicly ripping Josh Hamilton for the alarming lack of discipline he's displayed at the plate, increasing the likelihood that he'll be headed elsewhere this offseason. Fans booed the slumping slugger at home for the firs ... More >>

A Texas Rangers Midseason Report: It's Time to Go All In

With the baseball season at the symbolic halfway point, we asked former Unfair Parker Sam Merten to root around in his beard and see if he could come up with anything to say. He obliged ... and obliged ... and ... Sports are unpredictable. That's why we watch. And there's no greater evidence than t ... More >>

Yu Darvish's Deb-Yu: Five Observations of Last Night's Game from a Mariners Blogger

We asked Seattle-based sports blogger and A.L. West obsessive Brian Elsner to review Yu Darvish's Major League debut from a division foe's perspective. These are his thoughts. 1. Darvish Needs to Rely on All Those Other Pitches Everyone raves about the number of pitches Darvish can throw; I've hear ... More >>

If Signing Yu Darvish and Prince Fielder Are Mutually Exclusive, The Texas Rangers Might Be Better Off If Darvish Returns to Japan

As Wednesday's 4 p.m. deadline nears in the negotiations between the Texas Rangers and Yu Darvish, the most significant hang-up is reportedly the 25-year-old's request for a five-year contract and the team's preference for a six-year deal, according to Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan. Understandably, Dar ... More >>

Verlander, Smerlander: ALCS Preview and Rangers-Tigers Game 1 Open Thread

[Editor's note: At the request of a few regulars, we're going with a rare weekend-night open thread to celebrate the Rangers' second straight appearance in the American League Championship Series. Will we do this again tomorrow? Hard to say. Let's see how tonight goes. I'll be in and out, but tonigh ... More >>

The Real Rangers' Race is in Detroit, Not Anaheim

​Nothing like a good baseball pennant race. Too bad this year there ain't one. No divisional "race" is closer than 5 games in the season's last week and even the Wild Card is producing nothing more dramatic than a two-game edge. With another Angels' loss Monday the Rangers inched closer to a ... More >>

Rangers-Angels Take Baseball's Center Stage. Or at Least They Should.

​There are only two division races in baseball. And only one with playoff implications. As we play the regular season's final month the Tigers, Phillies, Brewers and Braves each have leads of at least 7 games with only 20 remaining. In the AL East the Yankees lead the Red Sox by 2.5, bu ... More >>

The Curious Case of Alexi Ogando

​I know it's dangerous to knee-jerk in baseball, but suddenly Rangers' pitcher Alexi Ogando is disappearing faster than Benjamin Button. And from what we've seen the last two night I'd lean more toward giving the ball to Scott Feldman than the team's early-season ace. Thanks to the lowl ... More >>

The Rangers Keep Walking Off to Hold Off the Angels

​Driving back from San Antonio last night I was re-introduced to the Rangers. Hello, drama! After overcoming deficits of 7-2 and 3-0 in the 8th inning in wins over the Indians last weekend, the Rangers -- thanks to a bad, postpartum outing by Alexi Ogando -- spotted the lowly Mariners a 6-3 l ... More >>

Rangers Partying Like it's, well, June 2010

​Your Rangers have done what good, potentially great teams do: Beat shitty opponents. When the Rangers begin their series in Anaheim against the second-place Angels Tuesday night, it will be their first opponent with a winning record in a month. Amazing. Since playing the Brav ... More >>

Josh Hamilton Hits Home Run on Letterman, Featuring a Cameo by Samuel L. Jackson

Oh, right -- the Texas Rangers, now but half a game up on Seattle in the American League West after losing five straight and eight of their last 10, three of those to the New York Yankees, including yesterday's gut-punching 3-2 loss in 12. The local sports spotlight is all theirs now, and almost as ... More >>

My Top 21 Texas Rangers in the History of Ever

​C.J. Wilson was superb in last night's much-needed win over Seattle. Pedro Strop is gone. Mark Lowe is back (uh-oh). Tommy Hunter and Nefali Feliz are getting close. And dazzling Cuban defector Leonys Martin is fast-tracking our way.In the middle of a very transitory Rangers season I was ... More >>

While the Bullpen Further Implodes and the Losses Mount, There is Good Texas Rangers News

​Watched Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler totally half-ass and boot a grounder Sunday afternoon in Oakland. On Monday Elvis Andrus made his seventh error of the season. Thought to myself, This team is getting lazy. Suddenly the laziness is compounded by the losing. Last night the beleaguer ... More >>

Even Ron Washington is Making the Right Calls During Rangers' 9-1 Start

​The Rangers are 9-1, their best start in franchise history. They've outscored their opponents a ridiculous 60-26. They've beaten the aces of Boston (Jon Lester), Seattle (Felix Hernandez) and now Detroit (Justin Verlander). They're hitting homers, getting immaculate starting pitching and winn ... More >>

Rangers Finish Perfect Homestand, With Help From Their Shiny New Toy

​The weather. The ring ceremony. The attendance. And, oh by the way, the results.When the Rangers beat reigning AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez 7-3 yesterday, it capped the perfect start to their encore season.They're now 6-0, joining the Cincinnati Reds as the only undefeated teams in base ... More >>

Eric Nadel Really Loves His Job This Season (And Has a Musical Recommendation Too)

Courtesy the Texas RangersThe great Eric Nadel, baseball broadcaster and music aficionado​Long ago I used to run into Eric Nadel -- The Voice of Your Texas Rangers -- all the time in the music section of the Borders in Preston Royal, which should tell you how long ago that was. First time I saw hi ... More >>

Your Texas Rangers Are the Best Slow-Pitch Softball Team in the Majors

​Well, it seems like it. If you're counting at home -- and I know you are -- after last night's 6-4 win over the Seattle Mariners, that's 13 homers in 32 innings for the Rangers. At this rate they'll ... man I'm really bad at math be really hard to beat. You know things are going right when I ... More >>

Texas Rangers' Pitching Staff: No. 3 in the AL West

​I fully admit it, at the end of last season I was calling for C.J. Wilson to pitch Game 1 of the American League Division Series. Considering the way he'd pitched all year and the way Cliff Lee had struggled at times it made sense. Turns out both pretty pitched damn skippy in the playof ... More >>

Texas Rangers Spring Training: My Top 10 Observer-ations

​10. Pitchers and catchers report today. Means backyard pool parties and bikinis can't be far behind. 9. Whatever happens the first week of camp, it can't be more shocking than a year ago when manager Ron Washington announced that he had snorted cocaine the previous season. 8. Last year' ... More >>

Whitt's Merten's End: 12.31.10

One of Sports Pickle's best photos of 2010​It's been a fun two weeks, sports fans. Richie's back on Monday, but before I give him back his blog, here are some week-end thoughts before I go. *Sunday's Cowboys-Eagles game looks like it might be the first NFL start for Stephen McGee as Jon Kitna ... More >>

Rangers and Yanks Both Lose Cliff Lee Sweepstakes as Southpaw Heads Back to Philly

Sam MertenThanks for the memories, Cliff.​After much procrastination, former Texas Rangers ace Cliff Lee has decided to return to the Philadelphia Phillies, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeting that the deal is for five years and approximately $ ... More >>

Do the Rangers' New Owners Have the Money and Will to Build on a Winning Formula?

New York Times Gets Its Hands on Closed-Door Meeting in Rangers Bankruptcy Case. So ...?

Sam Merten Chuck Greenberg takes a swig of celebratory champagne next to co-owner Bob Simpson outside the Fort Worth courthouse after winning the August auction.​On September 17, we noted: The New York Times, for whatever reason, really wanted to get its hands on a tape made in Fort Worth b ... More >>

Can the Texas Rangers Catch Fire? Or, for That Matter, Anything?

​We're at a rare, almost unprecedented and admittedly awkward spot in Texas Rangers' history. The Rangers will win the American League West, but they're still so far away with so much time left in the season that it makes for - honestly - some uninteresting and practically meaningless ba ... More >>

NY Times Really Wants Tapes from Closed-Door Hearing in Texas Rangers' Chapter 11 Case

​On July 9 Your Texas Rangers acquired Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners. Which was great. Very exciting. But, just maybe, something just as interesting was taking place in the chambers of Judge Michael Lynn, the Fort Worth bankruptcy judge who, on July 9, gathered behind closed doors several of ... More >>

Blue Jays 8, Rangers 5: My Top 10 Observations

​10. Even for cup-runneth-over-in-red-flavored-optimism fans, this ain't good. Your Texas Rangers have lost five in a row (outscored 37-19) and eight of 10, and in the last two nights in Toronto have surrendered a whopping seven homers. Looks more like a slow-pitch softball game with all the ... More >>

Cliff Lee, The Texas Rangers New Pitching Ace, May Have A Sweet Stay In Arlington, But Also A Short One.

Mark Cuban Loses a Bidding War; Chuck Greenberg Owns Your Texas Rangers

​Kinda sorry that I'm in San Antonio covering Dallas Cowboys' training camp because what happened yesterday in a Fort Worth courtroom was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments: A baseball team sold via auction. And billionaire Mark Cuban losing a money war. After almost 16 hours of contenti ... More >>

Texas Rangers' Bats Go Cold; You Growing Uneasy?

​I know the big news of the day regarding your Texas Rangers will be this deal about the new owner and all - Mark Cuban vs.Nolan Ryan - but quietly the baseball team is tip-toeing close to a slump. For now it's a funk, and when you build a nine-game cushion you can absorb a bump in ... More >>

Wait. The Texas Rangers Got Cliff Lee?

​So tweets New York Post baseball columnist Joel Sherman. To which MSNBC adds this concerning the pick-up of the Seattle Mariners pitcher:There is no report yet as to who those others may be. Given Texas' financial issues, it's possible that they could be veterans in salary offsets or it could be ... More >>

Are the Texas Rangers Good Enough to Dare Get Better?

​Let's don't talk too loud - might wake them up - but your Texas Rangers are suddenly 5.5 games ahead of the Anaheim Angels in the American League West. Another good start by Colby Lewis, another pivotal hit by Michael Young, another save by Neftali Feliz and, presto, a 4-3 win over ... More >>

Texas Rangers: Stick To It? Or Go For It?

​After years and a decade of wandering aimlessly from youth movement to patch-it-together-retread program to losing season, the Texas Rangers in 2007 gave general manager Jon Daniels a contract extension and a mission: Rebuild the farm system. Build a major-league winner. Three summers later ... More >>

Rangers 12, Mariners 2: My Top 10 Observations

He's alive. And well.​10. Josh Hamilton may never return to the 2008 form in which he already had 17 homers and 67 RBI through 59 games, but all the sudden he's a pretty dang good hitter. The drop to fifth in the order and the loss of the toe-tap timing mechanism have done wonders. Ham ... More >>

Lost at Sea

With a 22-Game Taste, Let's Circle the Bases: Last-Place Rangers Have First-Place Potential

Ian Kinsler makes his season debut tonight against the Mariners and lefthander Cliff Lee, who's also making his first appearance of the year. ​While Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has cryptically blamed the refs yet again for his team's fourth first-round exit from the playoffs in the last seven y ... More >>

Rescue Rangers

New Texas Rangers Owner Chuck Greenberg: Man in Black

​Spent the 8th inning of yesterday's Seattle Mariners 6, Texas Rangers 3 Spring Training exhibition - Neftali Feliz was very sketchy - soaking in the Surprise, Arizona sunshine and getting to know new owner Chuck Greenberg. After years of being alienated by Tom Hicks, you're going t ... More >>

Seattle Showdown

I Glove Elvis Andrus

Michael Who?It's taken one month to realize that Texas Rangers' rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus would be okay. It took one play last night to remember he's going to be a star. For once, I think it's safe to say the Texas Rangers knew what they were doing. In last night's 6-5 win over the Seattl ... More >>

Wrapping Up Jon Daniels' Third Year As Rangers GM

Armando Galaragga was the only thing of value Jon Daniels was able to get from the Alfonso Soriano trade. Then he gave him away for a player the Rangers released. Whoops. You want more hot-stove baseball talk from Sam? Merry Christmas ... As mentioned yesterday, Jon Daniels is entering his fourt ... More >>

A Christmas List for Jon Daniels

Here in The Sportatorium, every now and then we like to talk baseball. I mean hard-core, balls-and-strikes baseball. By "every now and then" I mean this morning. And by "we", of course, I mean seamhead colleague Sam Merten. Sam, the floor is yours: For those of you distracted by Sean Avery's ... More >>

Hey, Look Over Here. It's Next Year!

Home On the Rangers

The Arlington boys take on Seattle

Someone Needs to Tell Laird and Bradley They're On the Same Side

Elsewhere on DallasObserver.com

A Move Tom Hicks Can Be Proud Of? Believe It

Now That Basketball Season's Almost Over, Guess It's Time For Baseball. Joy.

Dog Days

Summer is here, which means the Rangers must be in last place