Texas Rangers

Great player comparison here between Hank Blalock and Mike Jacobs.

The Baseball Analysts: Adding Perspective to the Jacobs Deal

No longer able to handle the duties of third base due to a damaged right shoulder, how valuable is Blalock as a DH or even as a first baseman? Are there any comps that could shed light on this question? By golly, there is at least one that I know of, and it's none other than Mike Jacobs, the 1B/DH acquired by the Kansas City Royals ten days ago.

Before we take a look at the stats, be aware that Blalock will cost the Rangers $6.2M next season while Jacobs is likely to earn no more than half of that amount, be it mutually agreed upon or awarded in arbitration during the offseason.

Conveniently, these two players are about as easy to compare as possible. Both hail from San Diego and were born three weeks apart. Both players throw right and bat left. And both are nothing more than first basemen and/or designated hitters.

Yahoo! Bill James picks big numbers for Chris Davis

Fantasy leaguers, be advised: Bill James is projecting a breakout season for Texas Rangers first baseman Chris Davis, who hit 17 home runs in 80 big-league games in 2008 as a rookie. How big a breakout? James predicts 40 home runs, 118 RBIs and a .302 average from Davis.

Man everybody is bailing on the Brewers. Jack Z, probably all his crew, and now Mike Maddux? I'd say it's karma for firing the manager with a few weeks to go. The Brewers had their shot, and they blew it.

Now they can go back to being NL doormats for the next 15 years. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!!

MLB.com Sources: Maddux new pitching coach

Mike Maddux is joining the Rangers as their pitching coach, according to Major League sources. An announcement is expected at some point this week.

Maddux, who has spent the past five seasons as the Brewers' pitching coach, was interviewed by the Rangers this weekend and is expected to be hired. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Maddux told the Brewers that he was leaving to join the Rangers.

I haven't been near Mexicali or Yuma lately, but it is right out my back door, a simple three or four hour drive, and next February the 2009 Caribbean Series, the “Serie del Caribe”, will be held in Mexicali.

Why Mexicali I have no idea. I always remember the area having nothing but a bunch of farm land, lots of factories, being insanely hot, and pretty much a dump. Thankfully this is the winter leagues, eh?

If you ever bought something that said made in Mexico, chances are, it came from Mexicali.

The Serie del Caribe teams are typically from Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and many Major League players are called on to fill the rosters, so the quality of play is high, with national pride often at stake.

Wikipedia - Mexicali Baseball

The Águilas de Mexicali is a Mexican baseball team playing for the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico in Mexicali, Baja California.

The team was founded in October 14, 1976. They have won the championship three times, 1985-1986, 1988-1989, 1998-1999. The team also won the 1986 Caribbean Series, played in Venezuela. Their brightest moment came when they won the 1986 Caribbean Series, only becoming the second Mexican team to take the title

My goodness, I've been deathly busy that I forgot about the UEFA Champions League draw this afternoon. Despite forgetting about the draw, instinctively I had the Champions League theme song in my head while I was out on my morning run, which is also played before every Champions League match. This led me to think about which team's fans, had the best atmosphere on European nights, but the answer is always the same: it's both Glasgow teams. It doesn't matter if it's Rangers or Celtic but Glasgow becomes a different animal on Champions League evenings and probably for good reason, given that the Scottish league has always been a Mickey Mouse league, dominated by Glasgow's Old Firm (Rangers and Celtic). With greater competition comes greater passion from the fans. I thought to myself, this morning, that it was too bad Rangers slipped up in the Champions League qualifiers but there's always Celtic. So, it's a coincidence that my boys, defending European Champion Manchester United are reunited with Celtic in the group stages.

I didn't kick out a chatter yesterday. It was all drawn up, and I have a number of solid pieces in there, but it is all old news by now. Not only that, there is no chatter. No opinion, nothing. Just a bunch of links to day old news. So I didn't publish it.

So when I sat down this evening to pen out Wednesday's chatter, I figured why write two pieces, when I can just write one. Tomorrows.

I can just use yesterdays links out as a fake chatter. Just links mostly. Besides. I seriously doubt any of the guys i am linking to would be upset about being linked to. Know what I mean.

I am still dinking around with the format for these Chatters, I haven't really come up with anything I really like yet, but this is close. One thing about my chatters, is there will be a daily dose of Padres, there is no escaping that, sorry.

As you may or may not have noticed by now, I am not the worlds most consistent blogger. I don't even consider myself to be a blogger to be quite honest.

But in the past I have tried to link everyone to the different things that i come across on a daily basis, through my "Chatters"

Not the league MVP, even though an argument could be made for both Josh Hamilton or Milton Bradley, but which one of the two is the MVP of the Rangers?