Series Thread: Rangers Travel to Houston for Three Games September 5-7

[DT LUNA]

Give Marteen a bat

 

[DTC]

Rangers making Brown look like a seasoned vet. Not surprised

 

[Kelleyman]

Give Marteen a bat

Obviously Teen should be having a shutout due to the cheap run

 

[DT LUNA]

Rangers making Brown look like a seasoned vet. Not surprised

We're good at that

 

[DT LUNA]

Marteen

 

[Kelleyman]

Gotta score runs

 

[Duane1952]

Another 1run loss.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Another 1run loss.

We're good at that too.

 

[saddles]

 

[Uncle Siggy]

Rangers place three in BA ACL top 10 list

Thirty percent of the Baseball America top 10 prospect list for the Arizona Complex League consists of Rangers prospects

www.lonestarball.com

 

[DTC]

Rangers place three in BA ACL top 10 list

Thirty percent of the Baseball America top 10 prospect list for the Arizona Complex League consists of Rangers prospects

www.lonestarball.com

Nice article

 

[saddles]

Some excerpts from an article from The Athletic about Joe Maddon and analytics:

Joe Maddon isn’t one of those old dudes who wants baseball to go back to looking like it did in, like, 1967. He’s an innovator — and always has been. He’s a thinker — and always will be. So if we suddenly live in a world where no one is saying more forcefully than him that the game is out of whack, isn’t that a sign that baseball should be paying attention?

“I want all this information. I do,” Maddon told us, less than three months after he was fired by the Angels. “I just don’t like … the way it’s implemented.

“It gets to the point where the pregame is a meeting every day. And it’s an elongated meeting. And players don’t need all this information, quite frankly. They need nuggets. They don’t need dissertations.”

He then launched into an illustration of the onslaught of data that players now receive from their ever-helpful analytics department. Suffice it to say it was a lot more complicated than: “Get a good pitch to hit.” It sounded more like somebody reciting from a physics textbook.

“But you just need a nugget,” Maddon said. “You don’t need all this. People want to tell you how to build a watch. I just need to know what time it is.”

 

[saddles]

More from Maddon:

Maddon: “I still love the information. I utilize the information. Information is good. It’s the imposition. I mean, it’s to the point now where actually, our general manager had an analytical guy dressing in the coaches’ room. I mean, that shouldn’t occur. That’s an imposition.”

But it’s an imposition Maddon has no interest in signing up for again. If he gets to run another team, “I want analytics,” he said. But he wants that data presented to the coaching staff so the staff can implement it. And that, he warned, is not how the game is trending.

Maddon: “I want analytical people on my staff. But I don’t want them in the dugout. I don’t want them in the clubhouse. I want them to do their job, give the work to the coaches, let the coaches then teach the players. I don’t need presenters in the dugout, I don’t need presenters in the clubhouse. … It’s getting to the point where their impact or authority is exceeding that of a coach. And that’s what I think is wrong.

“So I’m not arguing against analytics and information. I’m arguing against the methods and the imposition with coaches. Because at the point it is right now … every day we’d get ready for the game and Harry and Alex would come in and they would start talking about how I should use the bullpen that night. Like I haven’t done that for the last 40 years. When you do that, when these people do that, the game becomes cloudy. You’re in the dugout, you know what you’d like to do. But these people have come downstairs prior to the game, and they load you with stuff that’s not necessarily helpful.”

 

[saddles]

More from Maddon:

Maddon: “You don’t have the same kind of authority or autonomy that you’ve had in the past. I mean, back in the day, these guys would never walk into Gene Mauch’s office, or into Billy Martin’s office, or into Earl Weaver’s office, and try to tell you how to utilize your players and then how to manage the game as it was in progress. That would never have occurred. So that’s what I’m talking about. There’s this interference and this method that’s being perpetrated.

“Because these groups — the baseball ops group — to me, their primary objective should be acquisition of players. It’s getting good players in your room. When you get good players in your room, any kind of analytics looks good.”

For nine seasons in Tampa Bay (2006-14), Maddon worked with one of baseball’s most innovative thinkers, Andrew Friedman. That was back in the early days of the analytics revolution. But as Maddon described their working relationship, he painted a very different portrait of how managers and front offices worked back then.

Maddon: “Andrew was really into all this stuff, (but) he permitted me to do my thing. And we would argue. It was good. He and I would argue about stuff, and it was healthy. And then even with the Cubs for the first couple of years. And then, towards the end, it got away. And I had my conversations with Theo (Epstein) and Jed (Hoyer), particularly Theo. And now this year (with the Angels) occurred, and you saw what happened.

“And I’m not here to beat up on anybody. But it’s not just the organizations I’ve been with. It’s just a trend. And it’s not going to reverse. It’s not reversing anytime soon. Because it’s this competition among front offices, to get the credit for having the most advanced, progressive methods and have them work and then be copied by others. I think that’s part of the competition.”

 

[saddles]

I have thought for a long time that I would like to have Joe Maddon as the Rangers manager.

 

[DT LUNA]

I have thought for a long time that I would like to have Joe Maddon as the Rangers manager.

Why not? Is there really a lot of choices?

 

[saddles]

From Jeff Wilson:

Progress was made Monday with a roster move that was overdue.

Catcher Sam Huff was recalled from Triple A Round Rock and the struggling Meibrys Viloria was optioned while stuck in an 0-for-32 skid.

Huff was not in the lineup, as Perez threw to Jonah Heim, but should be soon. Beasley might also considering using Huff at designated hitter against left-handed pitchers.

The Rangers remain high on Huff and have no designs on moving him to first base. No one in the system can match Huff’s raw power, and if he figures out big-league pitching, his power at a premium position would have huge value.

But with Heim playing every day most of this season and with Mitch Garver entering his final year of eligibility, Huff could be looking at another season mostly at Triple A. Then again, the Rangers could attempt to trade Garver or choose to not tender him a contract, though he has a 30-homer season in the majors.

He just hasn’t stayed healthy. He is expected to be ready to catch by Opening Day next season after having surgery in July to repair his flexor tendon.

 

[Kelleyman]

I try to look at this site out of curiosity at times

 

[saddles]

The Rangers currently have the 10th worst record in MLB. They are within two and a half games of 7th. Realistically, they are most likely going to finish with somewhere between the 8th and 11th worst record.

 

[DTC]

I try to look at this site outbid curiosity at times

Sometimes I wonder if automated strike zones will hurt Martin Perez..
He lives on the edge