Was watching some live late coverage on MLB Network tonight, and in the middle of their reporting they did an impromptu “Prime 9”, only this time on the best free agent signings of the past off season. They had Vlad Guerrero as the #1 best off season signing. Here’s the complete list:
10) John Lackey
9) Troy Glaus
8) ?? – I forgot to write it down
7) Carl Pavano
6) Matt Holliday
5) Aubrey Huff
4) Jose Valverde
3) Billy Wagner
2) Adrian Beltre
1) Vlad Guerrero
What bummed me out was that Colby Lewis wasn’t in on this list. Huff and Glaus on there over Lewis? That doesn’t seem right. And Carl Pavano should be higher than #7.
Still, it was nice to see a Ranger signing as #1 on the list as their best off season move.

Earlier today I was interviewed by nesn.com about the upcoming Rangers / Red Sox series. They wanted my perspective being a Rangers fan, and asking me some questions about the Rangers. Most of you who read this site regularly (hello nesn.com visitors!) will know most of this stuff already, but most Red Sox fans don’t. So below are the questions and answers they had for me and what I answered with. Check it out.
There’s more to this article than just my Q&A, so check out the full article over at NESN.com.

1) NESN.com: Considering both short- and long-term effects, was the Cliff Lee trade a good one for the Rangers organization?
Joe Siegler: On the short term, I think it’s an obvious answer. It helps us. I don’t think there’s a club that exists that wouldn’t want Cliff Lee for their team, especially in a stretch run. I mean, if we were the Pirates or the Orioles or something it wouldn’t make sense, but heck yeah, Cliff Lee is great because of who Cliff Lee is and what he brings.
As for long term, it’s harder to tell, as you never know how these things work out. We did import a good relief pitcher, and I expect most people figure he’s all we’ll have left next year (save for a few draft picks) for Cliff Lee (kind of like the Carlos Lee/Nelson Cruz trade the Rangers made with the Brewers a few years back). We’ll make a run at Lee, I’m sure (once our ownership gets worked out), but if he signs back here, I’ll be surprised. But the absolute best part of all this is that the Yankees didn’t get him (at least for now).
2) NESN.com: Julio Borbon has had his ups and downs this year. How has he evolved as a player since his call-up toward the end of 2009?
J.S.: I remember late last year hearing that he was going to be a great center fielder. In our park, you need a guy who is fast out there, or at least could get great reads on balls. Last year, he wasn’t so much a big power hitter that grabs your attention, but he did end last year with a .376 OBP. This year, his bat started off slow, but he’s come on lately, and still has some work to do. But his defense has improved greatly since last year. I don’t think he’s an All-Star caliber player, but he does have speed, and is not someone you worry about their defense. So that’s a big improvement.
3) NESN.com: Now that Justin Smoak has been traded, who will be the Rangers’ first baseman of the future?
J.S.: Well, the easy answer is to say Chris Davis. This is actually an extension of your first question, because now that Smoak is gone, it’s definitely Chris Davis for now. Until Smoak was moved, we had kind of a two-headed monster with Smoak and Davis. Both were projected high caliber, with Smoak perhaps projecting a bit higher due to him being a switch hitter (like Mark Teixeira). Davis however, is the better defender, so in an immediate sense, we’re probably better off with Chris Davis, as he’s a better defender and has some more major league experience.
Davis did crash and burn bad last year, though, and wasn’t exactly hitting up a storm earlier this season. So I guess “of the future” comes down to whether Chris Davis ends up as one of those AAAA hitters. We went through that same thing recently with Nelson Cruz. The light finally came on last year, and he’s living up to it. If Chris Davis figures it out offensively, he’ll be the guy of the future as he’s an awesome defender, just needs more work on offense. We’ll see if his AAA tuneup this year did anything. If it’s not him, a guy in AAA named Mitch Moreland (currently playing right field) would likely be the choice going down, unless we brought in someone.
4) NESN.com: What do you think the problem was with Josh Hamilton in 2009, and how has he bounced back to become an MVP candidate in 2010?
J.S.: I think a lot of 2009 was Josh thinking too much. Plus he was hurt for a decent part of the season. A lot has been made locally about him constantly tinkering with his swing. We do have a new hitting coach here in 2010 for the first time since 1995, so it’s possible Clint Hurdle himself fixed Josh. Hard to tell, but the Rangers TV guys have talked a lot about how Josh has gotten rid of he toe tap in his swing, and since he did that, he’s taken off again.
5) NESN.com: Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler have each missed significant time in 2010, yet the Rangers are still in first place. Who is the one player that Texas simply cannot afford to lose?
J.S.: Since it’s hard to say just one guy, I’ll go for one offensive guy and one pitcher. I’d say offensively, Vlad Guerrero. I’ve always liked Vlad going back to his days in Montreal, and I’m glad he’s with us. I’m more glad he has bounced back, and isn’t just one of those long time guys trying to hang on somewhere and under performs. Vlad’s back. Losing him would be rough, as it would make Josh Hamilton somewhat vulnerable, and would take some of the swagger out of our offense.
Cliff Lee aside, pitching wise, we’d probably be a lot worse off if we lost Colby Lewis. Lewis has exceeded everyone’s expectations when he returned here in the offseason. I think a lot of people (myself included) thought, “Well OK, he sort of figured it out in Japan, but that’s Japan, and this is the MLB — will it translate?” It certainly has. As you pointed out, we’re in first place now, and that’s before Cliff Lee. I say Colby Lewis is our pitching star this season (although I like Tommy Hunter, too).
6) NESN.com: How important is this series against the Red Sox for Texas coming out of the All-Star break?
J.S.: I think it’s important that we stay strong out of the gate. That it’s against the Red Sox isn’t so much important because it’s the “Red Sox;” it’s not like the two teams have a big rivalry as such. It’s more important for us to do well this series, as we need to hold and expand our lead. The Angels, while down this year, are still the team to beat, and I don’t think anyone can take ’em lightly. The Angels are playing Seattle this first series, and Seattle has been a big disappointment. The Angels should handle them well, so we need to have a strong showing against the Red Sox to keep our division lead.
For more sports news, visit NESN.com (http://www.nesn.com/).

I’m playing catch up with some backlogged game reports, I hope to catch up with the Mariners series tomorrow. Having said that, I was curious to see what ussmariner.com had to say about tonight’s game. They had a rather funny image posted there about the Mariners’ season:

I prefer this image I posted a couple of years back, originally.

Those who visit my site know I’m a fan of Gar Ryness, the Batting Stance Guy. I’m particularly fond of his impression of Andre Dawson (he tries to intimidate you even when he strikes out is a particular favorite moment). There’s a ton of others, too. But anyway, he’s got a book out now, and he’s running a commercial for it. I thought I’d plug it to those visiting my site.
I can’t imagine how if you read this site and know baseball you haven’t heard of Gar, but he is a guy who has the ability to mimic baseball players. Started off as a small back yard goof with his friends, and just ended up exploding on Youtube. Gar’s held court for players, been on Letterman, he’s made quite a name for himself doing this shtick.
Two of my favorite collections of his stances are the one I’ve embedded below which is nothing but Texas Rangers stances over the years. That’s on Youtube so I can embed it here. Of particular note are his Hank Blalock, and at the end, Kenny Rogers. :)
The other one I really like was this segment from MLB Network back in January of 2009. Unfortunately, mlb doesn’t allow you to stream their videos (why?), so you have to click over for it. But I guarantee it’s worth your time to watch.

Anyway, Gar’s book is full of his real life background as to why he likes baseball so much, including baseball card fascinations, and how he used to watch games back in the day. It’s some cool reading. His stories about his travels are quite good, too. I urge you to check it out. You can click on the book cover image above to be taken to a page on Amazon.com where you can buy the book. It’s also available on the Kindle too, which is where I got my copy. So Gar, if you’re ever in Arlington, I guess I’ll have to get you to sign my Kindle. :)
Check out the book. It’s a blast.

The 2010 All-Star Ballot is available on mlb.com. You can vote now. I decided to cast my first ballot based on looking at the numbers, instead of my usual batch of homer votes, and a few based on merit. So here’s who I voted for.
For the AL, I listed the Rangers player that’s on the ballot, said a few words about them, and then said who I voted for. The NL, I just said who I voted for. Here goes. Any remarks?
American League:
1B – Chris Davis – Good defense, no real serious hitting threat. Won’t even peak the top. I voted for Miguel Cabrera from the Tigers.
2B – Ian Kinsler – Hasn’t played a game yet this year, shouldn’t be on here. I voted for Dustin Pedroia. His numbers are the best now of any 2B in the league.
SS – Elvis Andrus – Off to an OK start, but “OK” doesn’t get you voted in. As much as it pains me to vote for a Yankee, I voted for Derek Jeter.
3B – Michael Young – Off to a decent start, but not enough to take this. I had to vote for Evan Longoria, his stats are better. Almost voted for Young for the homer vote thing, but went with the MLB 2K10 cover boy.
C – Taylor Teagarden – Oh yeah, right. I have a better chance of charting in this category. Despite the surprising numbers of Jason Kendall in Kansas City so far this year, you have to vote for Joe Mauer. There really isn’t another choice for AL starting catcher.
DH – Vlad Guerrero – He probably has a realistic shot at winning this. His numbers out of the gate were fantastic. But going by pure numbers, Jose Guillen is besting him, and Adam Lind is up there, too. But I had to vote for Guerrero. Homer vote.
OF – Nelson Cruz, Julio Borbon, & Josh Hamilton – Hambone is playing like 2009 again unfortunately, probably is too far removed from the HR derby to coast on that this year. Julio Borbon was dropped to ninth, and nobody outside of DFW really knows him anyway. Nelson Cruz is definitely deserving, I voted for him. Beyond him I voted for Shin-Soo Choo in Cleveland, & Michael Cuddyer in Minnesota. Vernon Wells is also doing well, this year but I picked Cruz over Wells. All three guys I voted for had their last names starting with “C”. :)
National League:
1B – It’s either Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols. Pujols will probably get elected anyway, so I voted for my Phillies guy, Ryan Howard.
2B – As much as I like to vote Phillies, you can’t argue with Chase Utley’s numbers. Utley is way out in front of everyone else, he should win this easily.
SS – This is a tossup for me. I like Troy Tulowitski overall as a player, but his numbers aren’t huge. Rafael Furcal has the highest batting average (with the most at bats), but has no HR/RBI numbers to speak of. Orlando Cabrera in CIN has no average, but the other numbers. I ended up voting for Stephen Drew from Arizona. Had Jimmy Rollins not spent time hurt already, I probably would have voted for him.
3B – I was surprised when I looked at the numbers here. Mark Reynolds is who I thought I’d be voting for, and he has the power numbers, but a bad average. Going on numbers, it’s a tossup between McGehee of MIL, and Placido Polanco from Philly. Polanco has a track record, so I went with him based on his veteran status, not because he’s from Philly.
C – I’m sorry. I’m voting for Pudge. Not going to have a ton of chances to do that much more. He does have good numbers too, so it’s not a total “Rangers homer” vote. :)
OF – Went with Ryan Braun from the Brewers, Matt Kemp from the Dodgers, & Josh Willingham of the Nationals. Look up the numbers. :)
I believe it’s the first time I haven’t voted for a Texas Rangers player in awhile. Granted, I did vote for Pudge, but he’s over in the NL.

I meant to post this a few days ago when I first saw it, but I forgot about it. It’s still relevant. Railing against the wave is always relevant. Chuck posted this over on Jamey Newberg’s forums over the past weekend, and I wanted to copy it here for more people to see.

First off, let me add I cannot stand the wave. I think it is the stupidest thing ever created in sports. I cannot stand it, and it just shows me that people who do it have no interest in the game. In my opinion, if you do the wave, you deserve to be ejected from the stadium and never allowed to return. Unless you’re a kid (like under 10) That I don’t so much care about, but adults? No way. Get out. Now. Never return.

Anyway, here’s what Chuck had to say, and I have to say it was QUITE refreshing.

Subject: Thank You and Stop The Wave
As we get ready to start the season, thank you for all of your support of the Texas Rangers during the off season. Lets all hope this turns out to be magical season for all Rangers fans.

Those can attend Opening Day, I hope you have a great time. Anytime you are at the ballpark, remember its a day at a ballgame, try to forget the bills, the traffic, work, etc., just have a good time, again, no worries, its a day at the ballpark. And as always, if you have a problem at the ballpark, shoot me an email and I will get you to the right people that can take care of your problem.

On another note, those of you that were at the exhibition game Friday probably saw a “wave” break out while we were hitting. This came up at Jamey’s Dallas gathering, somebody asked Chuck Greenberg if he could stop the wave. This goes against my old school baseball thinking “that if you pay to get in, you can do whatever you want as long as it is in the confines of good behavior”…but I would like our fans to get into the games like they do in Boston, New York, St. Louis and save the wave for another time. So, I have enlisted the help of Drew Sheppard to build me a graphic that will ask fans to wave at another time other than when the Rangers are hitting. Most of you are familiar with Drew’s work. There will be those that will be unhappy that we asked them to wave at another time…its okay to wave, just don’t do it when we have men on and a rally going.

We will see how it goes. Again, have a great time at the ballpark when you come to the games and if you have any questions any time, send me an email to cmorgan@texasrangers.com

Thanks
Chuck M

What we really need to keep an eye on are people like this. I found this picture I took on a game I went to August 1, 2009. This Ballpark vendor was trying to start the wave. Uh, NO, doofus. I hope you’re not still around.

Just a quick note. I haven’t updated since last Monday, due to the fact that I’m out of town. I went home to visit my family in Philadelphia due to having a couple of really ill grandparents, and I wanted to see them.
Thing is I drove from Dallas to Philadelphia, and wanted to surprise them, so to make sure my cover wasn’t blown, I didn’t post here ahead of time why I was going to be away from the site for a week. :)

And it begins today. Rangers on the radio at 2PM.
Speaking of Radio.. I see Victor Rojas has left MLB Network to be the play by play guy for the Angels? Oh Vic. If you were just going back to play by play, you should have stayed here. Oh, you just don’t love Texas. I see how it goes. :) j/k.
Hope it goes well for you personally, just not your new employer as such.

Batting Stance guy (Gar Ryness) is awesome. By far my favorite one of his is Andre Dawson. A ton of Gar’s stuff is great, but for some reason his version of Hawk is spectacular. Watch this clip from Gar’s appearance on the Letterman show last July. He doesn’t do Dawson, but it’s a great clip, as most of them are shticked up due to being on Letterman. :)

Finally, click this link to head over to mlb.com. It’s a video from Gar’s appearance on the MLBN “Hot Stove” program from last off season. At the 1:00 minute mark, he does Andre Dawson – this is my favorite single impression Gar’s done by anyone.
Silly MLBam not allowing streaming of their MLBN video. That would be rather cool.

A bit early I know, but watch this video. It’s really funny. Lots of visual gags, too.