Rangers In Depth: Part 2

Sorry for the layoff, I had a nervous few days, but now I know I'm not the father. Sucks to miss out on $50 mil, even if it is less than my normal stud fee. So to cheer me up, I'm here with JJ to talk about the Rangers pitching, but first a few random sports related topics.

LH: Quote from Durant on declaring for the NBA draft, "I felt like this was an opportunity I had to take. I don't want to say that it's because of a shoe contract or getting injured or anything like that."...but it is. But hey, Wayne Ellington is coming back for his soph. yr.

JJ: I have an abbreviation for you... DICE-K. 10 K's, 1 earned run, and one hell of a Pedro-in-his-prime impersonation. Red Sox nation rests a little easier. Now if the hitters would just come around...
LH: Man, that's not really an abbreviation, it's a nickname they're different. And you're not even from Boston, you're from Dallas. Talk about Dallas sports.

JJ: OK, the Mavs accomplished this week a first in franchise history, a phrase we have come to hear often this year- Western Confrence regular season champs.
LH: Yes, the Mavs are now mathematically the best team in basketball -- take that Hollinger. Home court throughout and an assurance of not paying the Suns or Spurs in the 2nd round. Doesn't get much sweeter.

LH: Pac-Man is in the news again. This marks the 73rd reference we've made to him in this blog -- a new record. He won't be playing in the league this year. I really can't believe that the Commish suspended him for an entire year without pay when he has yet to be convicted of a crime. I'm not trying to make him out to be an alter boy, and I think the NFL and Players Association are doing the right thing by trying to fix their image. But the NFL has no authority to suspend the writ of habius corpus for its players. The new Player Conduct Agreement gives up basic rights that all Americans have, regardless of occupation. If Pac-Man wants to challenge this in court he will win. Just a thought for Roger Goodell, is Pac-Man really the kinda of guy you want to F with?
JJ: How great would it be, just to see in law books years from now Pac-Man v. Goodell, until then I guess he'll have to make it as the center fielder for the Mariners.

LH: And there's that hockey thing still going on. Playoffs are about to start so I guess we should act like we pay attention to it, or something.
JJ: Don't want to delve too much. Maybe we should just hit the highs (Stars winning it all) and the lows (Av's missing for first time since I believe 98.)

JJ: And now for the meat and potatoes.
LH: Rangers!!!!
JJ: Yes Lincoln, Rangers...calm down.
LH: I've been meaning to take an in depth look at the pitching staff, but that whole baby-mama-drama really put me behind schedule. So lets try and tackle it here. I would also like to note that in the middle of the 2nd inning of tonight's game vs. Tampa Bay I said that they should get Wright out of there (even though he was working on a no-hitter) and that the Rangers would score 10 runs (when they had 1.) I'm kind of like a baseball prophet (see: preseason predictions)
JJ: Easy there big fella, don't turn yourself into the baseball Tom Cruise just yet.
LH: Good point, because unless that means I can hit this, I'm not interested in taking a ride on that crazy train. Let's just take a look at the Rangers staff and take things nice and slow.
JJ: So Kam Loe is one of the surprises going into the season.
LH: That he's not in the rotation?
JJ: Yeah, not only does he intimidate with his hulking presence, but he might just bring his snake to the mound one day, now that is scary!!!
LH: That would be awesome, red tailed boas make terrific pets. But aside from his height, pet preferences, and affinity for tiny shorts; he is a far superior pitcher to Wright.
JJ: Hopefully Wright's horrible performance tonight will make the Rangers realize this and make a switch.
LH: PECOTA foresees Loe being nearly 12 and half times as valuable as Wright, in half the innings.
JJ: Personally I think that's a bit conservative. At least the Rangers got things right picking their 4 starter. Tejeda is greatness. His opening day performance was good stuff. I was there and it was an absolute gem.
LH: I really think he's transformed for a thrower to a pitcher. He's no longer trying to throw as hard as he can every time out, his K's are down but so are his walks and his performance is way up in his last 10 starts. And by the way it's Ta-HAY-da, not Ta-HA-da. He is not related to Miguel Tejada, and you can tell that because his name is spelt differently. That is if you're not retarded and pronounce them the same way.