Tom Strange

Newberg had this funny line today: "...expect Ramirez to be traded today, in baseball's first 30 team deal."

that's kind of a dilemma of mine... what if there are other life forms other than carbon based??? what if they're there and we just don't see them?

It occurs to me that (at least in my case) I accepted some of the bad/wrong things that happened to others becuase all I had to offer was that phrase "it's the stones in the brook that make it sing"... kind of a 'shrug it off' mentality... rather than dealing with it.

Don't know what to tell ya about Manny... from here on the outside it looks like he's gone across the line of "playful antics", which is how he usually comes across from here... another story has Bay going to the Cards which would kill the Marlin deal... I know that three way has gotten a lot of pub, but I can't see the Marlin taking on that contract and for the life of me, I can't understand why Manny would want to play there where he'd have to play a large size outfield in a stadium where home runs go to die... I wouldn't be surprised if he's still in Boston tomorrow, you guys all kiss and make up and he goes on a tear... Pudge to the NYY... sadly, he's not the same Pudge offensively since now that we're in the "post steroid era"... but each team he's jumped to after leaving here has won a ring... We don't know what the stRangers are gonna do, they're saying that they're "listeners" this year... personally, I don't care if they trade a couple of the catchers for some pitching but there's not really any quality pitching being offered out there... there are a couple of pieces (Byrd, Catalanato) that they could trade... but they're acting (and hopefully will stay the course) like we're just fine, we don't want to give away the farm just to get someone... everyone likes the core of the team... too bad that Blalock has turned to glass the last couple of years. Junior to the Cubbies? ...back with Sweet Lou? it could happen... which also reminds me, watch out if Cuban gets the Cubs, he's not afraid to write a check...

yeah... and did anyone who did that ever get any answers?

Pudge to the NYY for Farnsworth just went down.

I do agree with you (mostly)... I just ask "how did you get to the point that you even wanted/needed the AC?" ...how did you get to the point that you bought what veepee was teachin' ya hook, line and sinker? (we all did for the most part) I just think that the 'programming' was pretty much complete by the time you got to the AC... it was the icing on the cake that sealed in all of the good and tasty freshness!

good points sky... but like others, I firmly believe it began right in PLAF! and to anyone who thinks it was all good, or some good, why do you think they called it "foundational"? why do you think they wanted you to take it over and over, again and again? (I could probably still watch that thing and within 15 minutes be mouthing the words along with veepee) the foundational class started building your loyalty to 'the one true ministry' the foundational class started you 'thinking evil' of established denominations the foundational class taught you secrets that 'no one else had known since the first century' the foundational class started you on the road to alienation of friends and family (if you couldn't suck them in) the foundational class gave you 'status' in god's household by the time you got to the advanced class... you were locked in and knew that 'with knowledge comes responsibility'...

Anyone watching it? It's a new series on A&E... (I think) I've seen the first three episodes... like it pretty much The episodes build upon each other, but you could probably jump in and figure it out...

I have no doubt that Tex will deliver for them... and if nothing else, Sciosia should be able to control the room at least along the lines of "he's only gonna be here a half a year" so that his "mercinary qualities" won't disrupt the room... He's a Boras guy thru and thru... his lifetime goal is to play for his hometown Orioles and if not them, the NYY... but he does love the money...

...and now freakin' Blalock turns up injured again last night... and Milton was grabbing his quad last night and had to come out. He's been so good for this team, and we'd love to keep him around, but you have to figure he's gonna miss a third of a season each year don't you? If Jon Daniels can work some magic without touching the core of this offense, which has Michael Young as the eldest, then I think everyone will be happy... but I'd heard that teams were even inquiring about him (MY)... Newberg says that we've been inquiring about KC RHP Zack Greinke, Minn RHP Boof Bonser and CWS RHP Nick Masset (Bonser & Masset are childhood buddies). I think every stRanger fan would be just fine dealing BOTH Laird and Salty and going with Ramirez/Teagarden on a daily basis... if we can turn them into even more prospects to use in trades to get pitching or use them in a couple of three way deals to get pitching life will be better... We just can't seem to make up any ground on the Angels because they keep on devouring the rest of the AL... we've only lost (I think) 2 series since April and we can't make up any ground on them... we'll just have to take care of business when we play head up... should be an interesting day.

They probably figured that it was better that what they could get with their two compensatory draft picks... or maybe they (the Braves) just wanted to really try and get back at the stRangers for the amount of (potential) quality players they gave up to rent him for a year... Maybe the Angels will get lucky and Mike S can talk some sense into him during this last half...

starman... according to Tony Masarotti of the Boston Herald: "...Manny Ramirez is no longer an elite hitter, and in fact has been outproduced in the last half-season by David Murphy. That’s right, the same David Murphy whom the Red Sox dealt to the Texas Rangers because, quite simply, there was no place for him to play” Have I asked you to thank Theo lately? :)

Just got word that the freaking Angels have traded for Texeira... (the guys on the local sportstalk station are broadcasting from Oxnard, Ca this week... they had an earthquake on the air about three hours ago... 5.8 or something like that... HIWAY... TIME FOR YOU TO CHECK IN)

From Newberg this morning:

get feeling better starman... Baseball's Golden Age is on the FSN here... first one was on here last night... haven't watched it yet but it's on the DVR... the next one is in a couple of days, I don't know if they show them on your local FSN at different times but you could probably search for it... it looks like it's gonna be good...

sweetNika... it's too HOT to type...

I have to agree... the food at AT&T in SanFran is pretty pretty good... I like the food and selection here as well. Of course, it's all localized so we have BBQ brisket sandwiches available, foot long corny dogs, chicken fried steak and of course, fajitas. But it is all way over priced except that every Wednesday that they are in town is 'dollar dog night'... sure, they're the smaller dogs but it's still a great deal and on Sundays it's dollar sundaes... hiway, don't you guys have the Giants comin' to town? I know that it's a "storied rivalry" but isn't their offense about as boring as watching ice melt? The stRangers have been in the cooler climes since the break and they open a long homestand tonight... it's 106.7 in the shade on the covered patio here at my house as I type... and it's supposed to be over 100 for the next week or so (before cooling off to 98 or so)... it doesn't get below 90 here until sometime between 11 PM and midnight these days and the overnight low is usually still over 85... at least in the desert they get the cool nights... starman, no thanks! I'm thinking Hamilton is going to be a stRanger for quite some time... and Kinsler and Davis and Young and (probably) Murphy... oh yeah, did I remember to thank you for Murphy? :)

And don't forget MLB Trade Rumors (not affiliated with MLB)

There's a lot of interesting stuff (for all teams) on MLB.com. On the top right part of the home page in the 'Headlines' section, find 'Trade Deadline' and click on the link for 'Trade Talk Blog'. You'll find links to specific recent stories/rumors and also, further down on the right, a section called 'Team Rumors' where you can click on a specific team and it will pull up all of the rumors for the last couple of months starting with the most recent. Also Baseball Prospectus is free July 21-July 27 (sorry, I just found out)

sorry to bug you guys again... but make that 9 homers in his first 86 at bats for Chris Davis... A's were ahead 5-0 after 3 innings. Rangers score the next 14 unanswered (including 8 in the 9th) and win 14-6... Padilla gets win number 12. From Newberg: Among the key stats of the game, as far as I'm concerned, is that Josh Hamilton got 25 hours of sleep in the 48 hours leading up to the game... According to T.R. Sullivan at MLB.com: And Millwood went on the DL (again) today...

(following Murphy's homer) Base hit, walk, Kinsler sac bunt, Young sac fly, Hamilton two out homer... score now 5-5... But those Cruz numbers are outrageous aren't they?

you misunderstand grasshoppah... I was not offering you C Davis just telling you about him... (remember, down here all we've got is offense, no pitching)... Cruz has been up a couple of times and done OK... we've just got everyone we need right now... like I said, if they move Bradley, he'll likely get the call... (Padilla loaded the bases with no outs, got it to two outs with only one run being scored... then... 4 more runs... before they decided to test Mr. Murphy's arm from left field... perfect strike) I hope Padilla will stay focused... the were little chip shots and texas leaguers... they're not hitting him well, just often... he saws 'em off and they drop one in front of the outfield... Padilla just has to remember that we're a team that thinks nothing of overcoming 5 or 6 run leads... Anyway, we've got another guy down on the farm named Jason Botts, he kills at all levels on the farm but can't do it in the show... Cruz isn't like him though... I've been wondering what simonzeeloaded and our other fans of the Chicagos think about Mark Cuban being in the finals to purchase the Cubbies... ...home run Murphy, 5-2 now...

starman! take a look at what Nelson Cruz has done for our AAA team this year... he has very impressive numbers... if you need a fourth outfielder. we just don't have any room for him here unless we move Bradley (and it's still up in the air as to what will happen with that) reports we're getting are that there's some infighting among the LAD management regarding Blalock... as I recall, there was some of the same last year or else Texeira might be an LAD instead of a Brave... Oh yeah... and I did want to bring up another bright prospect that's worked out well... Chris Davis... he was called up during the Houston series and has hit 8 home runs in his first 83 AL at bats... and he's not bad with the glove either!

Don't you guys already have an ex-catcher of ours up there for that? There are reports that NYY is calling about Laird and that the LAD have joined a couple of other clubs showing interest in Blalock... ...heck, who knows? This from Gammons (last year) via Newberg: Did you remember to thank Theo for me starman? ...please do so again!