OOTP X: Texas Rangers

[Doc_Brown]

November part 2:

You're Fired!!!!!!!
11/3 Terry Francona has been fired by the Boston Red Sox.
11/3 Andy Barkett becomes the 2nd manager to be fired by the Chicago White Sox this year.
11/3 The Los Angeles Angels decide the time is right to fire Tony Reagins and Mike Scioscia.
11/3 Bobby Cox has been let go by the Atlanta Braves.
11/3 The Chicago Cubs have fired Jim Hendry and Lou Pinella
11/3 Houston Astros have called time on the regins of GM Ed Wade and manager Cecil Coppes
11/3 Colorado Rockies after finishing with the worst record in baseball have fired manager Clint Hurdle

Retirements:
11/3 Tom Glavine
11/3 Trevor Hoffman
11/3 Randy Johnson
11/3 Gary Sheffield
11/3 John Smoltz

Suspensions:
11/26 Wesley Wright has been banned for 10 games for taking PED's

Trades:
11/12 Los Angeles Angels-Toronto Blue Jays: Howie Kendrick(2B) for Luke Scott(RF) and $1,935,000
11/12 Oakland Athletics-Philadelphia Phillies: Brad Nelson(1B) for Yusuf Carter(RF) and Ryan Madsen(MR)
11/12 Pittsburgh Pirates-Kansas City Royals:Matt Capps(Cl) for Tyler Sample(SP)
11/15 Washington Nationals-Los Angeles Angels: Josh Willingham(LF), Graham Hicks(SP) and $2,450,000 for Jose Arrendondo(MR)
11/15 San Francisco Giants-Toronto Blue Jays:Jose Bautista(3B) and $2,400,000 for Wendell Fairley(CF) and Aaron King(SP)
11/16 Pittsburgh Pirates-Seattle Mariners: Jimmy Barthmaier(SP) for Ray Avclair(C) and Denny Almonte(LF)
11/16 Cincinnati Reds-Toronto Blue Jays:Scott Downs and $3,000,000 for Yorman Rodriguez(CF) and Todd Frazier(1B)
11/18 Seattle Mariners-Detroit Tigers: Yuniskey Betancourt(SS) for Carlos Guillen(LF)
11/20 Seattle Mariners-Kansas City Royals: David Asrdsma(MR) for Derrick Robinson(CF)
11/20 Seattle Mariners-Toronto Blue Jays: Justin McGowan(SP) for Michael Saunders(RF) and Tyson Gillies(RF)
11/22 Colorado Rockies-San Francisco Giants: Manny Corpas(MR) for Scott Barnes(SP) and Sharlon Schopp(2B)
11/26 Baltimore Orioles-Pittsburgh Pirates: Rich Hill(SP) and $711,000 for Brad Lincoln(SP) and Justin Byler(LF)
11/26 Toronto Blue Jays-New York Yankees: Casey Jansson(SP) for Bradley Suttle(3B) and Kelvin De Leon(RF)
11/28 Pittsburgh Pirates-New York Mets: Jason Jaramillo(C) for Mike Pelfrey(SP) and Elvin Ramirez(SP)

[Doc_Brown]

December:

Rangers News:
Joaquin Benoit signs a 3 year deal worth $8,310,000. It's a little more than we offered him before he went to FA but we're glad to have him in our bullpen.

In other news the big names, Holliday, Harden, Ludwick, Lackey and a few others are still on the FA list, we've had some contact with Ludwick as we have a weakness at RF. But we're limited in what we can offer due to Millwood and Padilla's combined contracts which equal $27,000,000 for the year, if we could get rid of them it would make things a little easier for us, but trying to get another team to take them will be impossible.

Retirement:
12/4 Kazuo Matsui(Houston Astros)- Hasn't recovered from his torn back muscle and has decided to call time on his career.

Rule 5 Draft:
The Colorado Rockies signed Josh Rupe
We signed Ian Ostlund from St.Louis Cardinals. Ostlund is a left handed pitcher and will fit right in. I also happen to think we've gained a better pitcher than the 1 we lost.

Trades:
12/1 Baltimore Orioles-Seattle Mariners: Jayson Nix(2B) for Maikel Cleto(SP) and Ryan Feierabend(SP)
12/3 Arizona Diamondbacks-Pittsburgh Pirates: Josh Whitesell(1B) for Shelby Ford(2B)
12/17 Baltimore Orioles-Detroit Tigers: Jim Johnson(MR) for Wilkin Ramirez(LF)
12/17 Baltimore Orioles-Los Angeles Angels: Mike Costanzo(3B) for Ryan Chaffee(SP)
12/17 Baltimore Orioles-Boston Red Sox:Radhames Liz(SP) for Travis D'Arnaud(C)
12/17 Seattle Mariners-Toronto Blue Jays: Tyler Johnson(MR) for Henderson Alvarez(SP)
12/18 Colorado Rockies-Chicago White Sox: Jorge de la Rosa(SP) and $1,800,000 for John Ely(SP) and Salvador Sanchez(RF)
12/18 Pittsburgh Pirates-New York Yankees:Brandon Moss(LF) for D.J.Mitchell(SP)
12/18 Los Angeles Dodgers-Cincinnati Reds: Delwyn Young(RF) and Devaris Gordon(SS) for Micah Owings(SP)
12/19 San Diego Padres-San Francisco Giants: Kevin Louzmanoff(3B) and Jeudy Valdez(SS) for Kevin Frandsen(SS)
12/19 Seattle Mariners-Houston Astros: Cesar Jimenez(MR) for David Duncan(SP)
12/20 Boston Red Sox-Kansas City Royals: Zach Deges(RF) and Luis Exposito(C) for Anibal Sanchez(SP)
12/20 Los Angeles Angels-Arizona Diamonbacks: Chone Figgins(2B) for Brandon Webb(SP) and Patrick McAnaney(SP)
12/20 Arizona Diamondbacks-Seattle Mariners: Yusmeiro Petit(SP) for Michael Pinda(SP) and Blake Tekotte(LF)
12/20 Washington Nationals-Seattle Mariners: Dimitri Young and $3,000,000 for Mark Lowe(MR) and Danny Carroll(CF)
12/21 Cleveland Indians-Toronto Blue Jays:Ryan Garko(1B), Jared Goedert(3B) and $857,000 for Scott Richmond(SP)
12/22 Toronto Blue Jays-Arizona Diamondbacks: David Purcey(SP) for Kevin Eichhorn(SP)

[Doc_Brown]

January 1st- April 6th

What was a frustrating time for us, we made offers to a few players and in the end they picked other teams who weren't offering as much money as we were. Nevermind I still believe we have a good enough team to go all the way this year.

Free Agent Signings:
2/10 Mark DeRosa signs a 1 year deeal worth $1,600,000 with the Los Angeles Angels
2/10 Derrick Turnbow signs a 1 year deal worth $7,040,000 with the New York Mets.(This gets us a 1st round draft pick)
2/12 Bobby Abreau signs a 3 year deal with the Chicago Cubs
2/12 Adrian Beltre signs a 3 year deal with the Baltimore Orioles
2/14 Matt Holliday signs a 3 year deal worth $61,650,000 with the Philadelphia Phillies
2/17 Felipe Lopez signs a 1 year deal with the Detroit Tigers
2/17 Mike Gonzalez signs a 1 year deal with the Seattle Mariners
2/18 Adam LaRoche re-signs with the Pittsburgh Pirates for $23,640,000 over 4 years
2/19 Ben Sheets signs a 5 year deal worth $67,900,000 with the Los Angeles Angels
2/19 Brett Meyers signs a 4 year deal worth $34,600,000 with the Baltimore Orioles
2/21 The New York Yankees re-sign Johnny Damon to a 3 year deal worth $21,390,000
3/5 Rich Harden signs a 4 year deal worth $84,790,000 with the Kansas City Royals
3/9 Octavio Dotle signs a 2 year deal worth $6,160,000 with the Baltimore Orioles
3/12 Rick Ankiel signs a 3 year deal worth $22,080,000 with the San Francisco Giants
3/12 John Lackey signs a 4 year deal worth $66,030,000 with the Arizona Diamondbacks

Trades:
3/24 Philadelphia Phillies-Atlanta Braves: Jason Donald(2B) and Will Middlebrooks(SS) for Buddy Carlyle(MR)

Injuries around the league:
3/17 Danny Herrera(Arizona Diamondbacks)- Torn Flexor tendon(elbow)-13 months
3/23 Clay Buchholz(Boston Red Sox)-Torn Flexor tendon(elbow)- 10 months
4/3 Travis Buck(Boston Red Sox)- Torn meniscus- 5-6 weeks
4/4 Matt Thornton(Chicago White Sox)- Torn rotator cuff- 4 months
4/4 Jack Taschner(Philadelphia Phillies)-Strained triceps- 7 weeks
4/6 Javier Vazquez(Atlanta Braves)-Elbow tendinitis- 2-3 months

[Doc_Brown]

April 7th-11th

Rangers News:

4/7 Last year we priced the tickets at $19.75 and a total of 4,382,251 fans came to watch us play in the regular and post season. This year in a bid to grow and be able to compete with the bigger teams, we're going to up the ticket price by $4 to make a tickets $23.75. If it seems we're pricing fans out we'll lower the price by $2.

4/11 The owners have came up with their aim for this year and it's to win the World Series. So no pressure there then.

4/11 Kevin Millwood, A.J. Murray and Joaquin Arias were designated for assignment. Murray and Arias were on the spring trainning roster and are out of option years but if someone else picks them up I'm fine with that. As for Millwood he's more than welcome to leave if he can find a club here he's on $15m for this year but isn't good enough for a spot on the roster.

25 Man Roster:

40 Man Roster:

[Doc_Brown]

April 12th

We start the season with a 4 game home series Vs

Hopefully it will be a good solid start for us and we can get out of the blocks quickly.

Projected starters;

Los Angeles Angels

B.Webb
B.Sheets
E.Santana
J.Weaver

Texas Rangers

S.Feldman
N.Feliz
B.McCarthy
M.Harrison

[Doc_Brown]

April 12th-15th

Game 1, Att: 48,653



Opening day and it was a long one, as both teams cancelled each other out. Although the Angels after scoring their runs didn't create another chance to win. In the 9th and 10th we loaded the bases but couldn't get the winning run, in the 11th we managed to sneak the win. The Angels hit both home runs of the game, Willingham sent the 2nd pitch he saw as an Angels player flying out the ground in the 2nd and in the 4th Napoli opend his account for the year.

Game 2, Att: 38,615



After 7 scoreless innings it looked like the Angels may be shutout, during the game we'd picked up runs here and there to go into a 7 run lead. In the top of the 8th Belliard got on base and we pulled Feliz who was getting tired, Benoit came in and got 1 out but allowed 3 runs of his own, Francisco came in and completed the innings with no further damage, going into the top of the 9th Strop came in got the 1st 2 batters out by then imploded and allowed the Angels to draw level during the inning change over having chewed out a rather poor effort and deciding who to pitch next, Kinsler went out to lead off the bottom of the 9th and he did it in some style a walk-off home run, and we snatched the win.

Game 3, Att: 48,606



Another tight one against the Angels and today it went their way. They took the lead in the 4th and scored what turned out to be the winning run in the 5th, thanks to an error by McCarthy he went to throw Belliard out by his throw didn't find Davis and that enabled Matthews to get from 2nd to home. Saltalamacchia hit our only run of the game in the bottom of the 5th for his 1st 4 bagger of the year. But the Angels who produced some good defense held on for their 1st win of the year.

Game 4, Att: 49,108



Again the Angels ran us close, but once again we did just enough to get the win. We got off to a good start by scoring 4 runs in the 1st 2 innings, the Angels got on the scoreboard in the 6th we cancelled that out in the bottom of the 6th, then in the top of the 7th with 1 on Napoli hit his 2nd home run of the season they added another run to make it a 1 run game, we extended the lead in the bottom of the 7th and this time Perez and Strop did enough to secure the win for us.

[Doc_Brown]

April 16th

Rangers News:
4/15 We signed Pedro Powell, Shane Lowe and Zoilo Almonte to minor league deals, they'd all been on the FA list since they were released by their previous teams. I don't think they'll make it to the Big League with us but they offer us options in the minors.

Contract Extensions:
4/14 Magglio Ordonez(Detroit Tigers)- Signed a 2 year contract extension worth $31,480,000

Milestone:
4/15 Brian Giles(San Diego Padres) 200th career hit

Achievements:
4/12 Brian Roberts(Baltimore Orioles) 3 home run game(including a GRAND SLAM) in the 24-9 win Vs New York Yankees

Injuries around the League:
4/12 Johan Santana(New York Mets)-Torn triceps- 2-3 months
4/12 Roy Halladay(Toronto Blue Jays)-Oblique strain- 4 weeks

Next up for us a 3 game series Vs

Projected starters;

New York Yankees(5th AL East 1-2 1GB)

C.Janssen 0-0
E.Ramirez 0-0
J.Chamberlain 0-1 22.50ERA 1BB 3K

Texas Rangers(1st AL West 3-1)

D.Holland 0-0
S.Feldman 0-0 2.57ERA 1BB 8K
N.Feliz 0-0 1.29ERA 1BB 11K

[Doc_Brown]

Thanks to a back-up save, I can carry on.

New York Series to come shortly.

[Doc_Brown]

April 16th-18th

Game 1, Att: 49,188



The way the Yankees started off the 1st it looked like it was going to be a long night, Jeter hit his 1st home run of the year and Rodriguez hit his 4th of the year, but that was it for the Yankees. Saltalamachhia got the fight back started in the 2nd with his 2nd home run of the year then we added a few runs in the 4th and the 6th to wrap up the game.

Game 2, Att: 48,821



Once again another close game that ended in our favor. Davis got the ball rolling in the 1st with 2 on as he hit his 1st home run since 2008, but we just couldn't pull away from the Yankees as they kept in contact. Swisher got his 1st of the year in the 9th to make it a 1 run game, but Strop held his nerve to take us to the win.

Game 3, Att: 48,775



The key to this one for us was to get Joba out of the game early and we did, so in 2 starts this year Chamberlain has lasted 4 and 1/3 innings. By the time he was pulled we were 5 runs to the good although it wasn't all Joba's fault as Cano committed 2 errors to help us out. In the 2nd with 1 on Byrd hit his 1st home run of the year and in the 3rd with 1 on Davis got his 2nd of the year. Feliz once again pitched well he got into a little trouble in the 8th but no harm was done, as we swept the Yankees.

[Doc_Brown]

April 19th


Achievements:
4/19 Dan Haren(Arizona Diamondbacks) 16 K's vs Milwaukee Brewers in a 10-2 win


Next up for us a 3 game @

Projected starters:

Seattle Mariners(4th AL West 1-6 5GB)

D.McGowan 0-0 0.00ERA 0BB 10K
R.Rowland-Smith 0-0 19.29ERA 6BB 3K
Y.Petit 0-1 9.64ERA 1BB 1K

Texas Rangers(1st AL West 6-1)

B.McCarthy 0-1 1.00ERA 1BB 4K
M.Harrison 1-0 3.86ERA 0BB 5K
D.Holland 1-0 3.00ERA 2BB 7K

[Doc_Brown]

April 20th-22nd

Game 1, Att: 46,928



A comfortable win for us against the Mariners, we didn't send any out of the ground but we did score 6 runs spread over 3 innings. The Mariners did score 2 runs in the 9th but it was too late by then although it did break up McCarthy's shutout.

Game 2, Att: 35,156



Today we had an off day and the Mariners took full advantage of that to snap their 7 game losing run. We had trouble getting runners round the bases and the rare times we did, we couldn't get them home. Nix hit the only home run of the game in the 2nd for his 1st of the year.

Game 3, Att: 34,734



We left it late today, 7-3 down going into the 9th, we fought back although we didn't send any out of the ground we didn't need too as Morrow had a nightmare he walked 3 and gave up 2 hits as we tied the score at 7. In the 10th we scored 4 runs to make the game safe and Strop did his job with no worries.

[Doc_Brown]

April 23rd

Rangers News:
4/21 Kevin Millwood cleared waivers but refused the option of going to one of our minor league teams, so he was released. He was picked up by the Boston Red Sox and assigned to single-A: Greeneville Drive.

A.J.Murray and Joaquin Arias also cleard waivers and were assigned to the Oklahoma RedHawks.

Achievements:
4/20 Dustin Ackley(Baltimore Orioles) 5 hit game in the 14-5 win Vs Boston Red Sox
4/20 Adam Jones(Baltimore Orioles) 5 hit game in the 14-5 win Vs Boston Red Sox

Next up for us a 3 game series @

Projected starters;

Minnesota Twins(1st AL Central 7-4)

S.Baker 0-1 6.35ERA 4BB 8K
F.Liriano 1-0 3.21ERA 4BB 17K
B.Dueusing 1-0 2.76ERA 3BB 12K

Texas Rangers(1st AL West 8-2)

S.Feldman 1-0 3.29ERA 2BB 12K
N.Feliz 1-0 1.23ERA 2BB 21K
B.McCarthy 1-1 1.53ERA 3BB 8K

[Doc_Brown]

April 23rd-25th

Game 1, Att: 43,943



A game that swung back and forth until Minnesota decided to turn on the power hitting. There were 4 home runs in the game, Teagarden hit ours in the 8th with 1 on for his 1st of the year for the Twins; Morneau in the 5th with 1 on hit his 3rd of the year and in the 7th with 1 on he got his 4th of the year and Gomez completed the home run scoring when he got himself a GRAND SLAM as Minnesota took the win.

Game 2, Att: 45,178



A game heading into the 7th that could've gone either way, but a tired Minnesota bullpen couldn't keep it tight and we took advantage of that, so a game that looked like it was going all the way became an easy win for us. There were 3 home runs in the game all from Rangers batters; Byrd hit his 2nd of the year in the 7th with 2 on, Hamilton got his 2nd of the year in the 8th and in the 9th Kinsler got his 2nd of the year.

Game 3, Att: 45,498



Once again we committed an error and it proved to be costly as Minnesota took full advantage and scored 5 runs in the inning(this year we've committed at least 1 error a game or so it seems), and it looked to be enough for them to win but a mini fight back in the 8th by us and a run in the 9th sent it into extra innings. Once again the Twins bullpen couldn't help out their starter and they caved in to allow us to take the win. The only home runs came from Rangers hitters, Cruz got his 1st of the year in the 2nd, Davis got his 3rd of the year with 1 on in the 8th and in the same inning Byrd got his 3rd of the year.

[Doc_Brown]

April 26th

Rangers Achievements:
4/24 Elvis Andrus 5 hit game Vs Minnesota Twins

Injuries around the League:
4/23 Justin Morneau(Minnesota Twins)-Quadriceps strain- 4 weeks
4/24 Brian Roberts(Baltimore Orioles)-Strained forearm- 5 weeks
4/26 Dustin Pedroia(Boston Red Sox)-Elbow sprain- 4 weeks


Next up for us a 3 game series Vs

Projected starters;

Kansas City Royals(3rd AL Central 6-7 2.5GB)

K.Davies 0-0 5.56ERA 6BB 8K
D.Cortes 0-0 7.71ERA 2BB 5K
R.Harden 2-1 3.78ERA 6BB 23K

Texas Rangers(1st AL West 10-3)

M.Harrison 1-1 4.73ERA 0BB 11K
D.Holland 1-0 5.25ERA 4BB 10K
S.Feldman 1-0 4.58ERA 2BB 17K

[Doc_Brown]

April 27th-29th

Game 1, Att: 48,702



Only one team was in this game and it wasn't us, the game was finished by the 3rd as Kansas out pitched and out hit us. There were 3 home runs in the game all from Kansas; Ka'aihue hit his 5th of the year in the 2nd, Buck hit his 1st of the year in the 3rd with 1 on and Callaspo hit his 1st of the year in the 7th with 1 on.

Game 2, Att: 48,764



Harden and Holland were involved in a pitching duel with neither wanting to give up a run or the lead, we broke the deadlock in the 5th but Kansas struck back in the 6th, with both starters gone it came down to which team had the strongest bullpen, in the 8th it looked like Davis had given us the win with his 4th home run of the year, but an error by Young in the 9th allowed Kansas back into the game which sent the game into extra innings and during the extra innings Young atoned for his earlier error as he was the winning run.

Game 3, Att: 49,157



Another win that could've been more comfortable for us, all was looking well until Strop came in to close the game out and it got a little tense in the Rangers dugout as Strop carried on being hit and miss, We may give Perez a chance to stake his claim to be the closer. The bottom of the 5th is where the game was won, with Teagarden on 1st Andrus hit his 1st home run of the year and in the same inning with Young on 2nd Kinsler hit his 3rd of the year, for Kansas DeJesus hit his 1st of the year in the 6th.

[Doc_Brown]

April 30th

Rangers News:
4/30 Eduardo Nunez was signed to add cover for Elvis Andrus. Nunez has been a free agent since being released by the Yankees. He's joined us on a 1 year deal and will get some game time with the Oklahoma RedHawks.

Achievements:
4/29 Carlos Lee(Houston Astros) 5 hit game Vs San Diego Padres

Injuries around the League:
4/28 Chad Billingsley(Los Angeles Dodgers)-Partially torn ulnar collateral ligament- 11 months

Suspensions:
4/28 Chase Utley(Philadelphia Phillies) and Adam Wainwright(St.Louis Cardinals) 3 game ban for starting a bench clearing brawl.



Next up for us a 3 game series Vs

Projected starters;

Seattle Mariners(4th AL West 3-13 9GB)

C.Silva 0-0 0.00ERA 4BB 15K
F.Herandez 1-1 3.47ERA 7BB 23K
D.McGowan 0-2 2.11ERA 7BB 14K

Texas Rangers(1st AL West 12-4)

N.Feliz 2-0 2.57ERA 2BB 26K
B.McCarthy 1-1 2.66ERA 6BB 11K
M.Harrison 1-2 7.20ERA 2BB 12K

[Doc_Brown]

April 30th- May 2nd

Game 1, Att: 49,198



An easy win against a struggling Mariners. We weren't at our best with the bat, but we ddin't need to be as Feliz pitched a 4 hit shutout.

Game 2, Att: 45,408



Mariners fans look away NOW!! A one sided game if ever there was one as the Mariners were poor today. Everyone in our line up got in on the act and Young was a triple away from the cycle. There were several home runs; Hamilton got it started in the 3rd for his 3rd of the year in the same inning with 2 on Murphy hit his 2nd of the year, in the 4th with 2 on Young got his 2nd of the year and in the 5th Davis hit his 5th of the year.

Game 3, Att: 48,734



We had an off day today and the Mariners took advantage of that to record a rare win. Hernandez was on top form as he limited to a few hits and not much else. Seattle hit both home runs in the game the 1st came in the 2nd by Raben for his 1st career home run and in the 5th Cedeno hit his 1st of the year.

[Doc_Brown]

April in review:

Rangers Hitting:


Rangers Pitching:


GM's Press Release:
It's been a good start to the year for us, we're in 1st and looking comfortable. Our hitting has looked good so far with special mention for Davis and Byrd, Byrd started off slowly and didn't get his 1st hit until his 12th at bat but from that point on he's been on fire. Andrus hasn't had the same success rate of stealing the bases this year, maybe the other teams have woken up to him. Pitching has been good the starters have performed well and for the most part the bullpen has done it's job, still not sure on who should have the closers role.

Rangers MVP: Chris Davis
Rangers Cy Young: Neftali Feliz

Minor League Teams:

AAA Oklahoma RedHawks: 1st 11-5.
The RedHawks have got off to a good start to the year as they sit on top of the division at the end of the month, although Round Rock Express have the same record and the New Orelans Zephyrs are only a game out. But we have high hopes that the team can carry on it's form and begin to build a lead over the chasing teams. Justin Smoak has been the standout hitter although a few others are also hitting well too, pitching has been good although they've lost Hurley who's been called up to fill the hole created by Matt Harrsion's trade.

RedHawks MVP: Justin Smoak 6HR's 17RBI's .403 AVG
RedHawks Cy Young: Doig Mathis 2-0 1.52ERA

AA Frisco Rough Riders: 4th 2-12 6GB.
Again the Riders haven't been playing to the best of their ability, although there is some hope that even though they've been woeful they're still only 6 games out of 1st.

A Bakersfield Blaze: 1st 13-3.
A great start by the Blaze as they've opened a 4 game lead over the Modesto Nuts. The team has had some great batting and pitching displays with Chad S.Tracy earning a special mention for his batting and also his fielding, pitching wise they all get some praise, Schlact has the worst ERA at 4.87 but he's 3 wins from 3 starts.

A Hickory Crawdads: 5th 7-9 8GB
The poor realtions of our Single A teams, I'm not sure if that's something on my part and sending the "better" players to the Blaze. But if the Crawdads can keep close to .500 this year then I'll be more than happy with them.

MLB Standings:

[Doc_Brown]

May 3rd

Rangers Trades:
5/1 B.Harrison(LF), M.Harrison(SP) and I.Ostlund(MR) we traded to the Colorado Rockies for Dexter Fowler(CF). It looked like this deal would never happen but adding M.Harrison in place of A.J.Murray(MR/SP)seemed to do the trick it was a choice between Harrison and B.McCarthy but i decided to send Harrison to Colorado. The Rockies had weaknesses in left field, the bullpen and their rotation and I've been searching for a better center fielder for a few months, Fowler is a switch hitter and he has a useful turn of pace in the field and going round the bases. As part of the roster moves Eric Hurley has been called up from the Oklahoma RedHawks and he'll move into the 5th starter slot.

Rangers Achievements:
4/30 N.Feliz 4 hit shutout Vs Seattle Mariners

Milestone:
5/2 Chipper Jones(Atlanta Braves) 2500th hit

Achievements:
5/1 Adrian Beltre(Baltimore Orioles) 20 game hitting streak
5/2 Ryan Ludwick(St.Louis Cardinals) 5 hits in a 15-2 win Vs Los Angeles Dodgers

Injuries around the League:
5/2 Sean Marshall(Chicago Cubs)-Shoulder inflammation- 7 months

Suspensions:
5/3 Jack Cust(Oakland Athletics) and David Price(Tampa Bay Rays) 3 game bans for fighting.

Contract news:
5/3 Derrick Turnbow who only signed with the Mets in October 09, signed a 3 year extension worth $21,120,000.
5/3 Victor Martinez sigend a 5 year extension with the Cleveland Inidans for $77,350,000.

Next up for us a 2 game series @

Projected starters;

Tampa Bay Rays(1st AL East 14-6)

S.Kazmir 2-1 3.91ERA 15BB 25K
J.Shields 1-1 4.91ERA 9BB 13K

Texas Rangers(1st AL West 14-5)

E.Hurley 0-0 0.00ERA 0BB 0K
S.Feldman 2-0 4.44ERA 3BB 20K

[Doc_Brown]

May 4th-5th

Game 1, Att: 36,816



A tight one, we didn't look like scoring whilst Kazmir was on the mound, but in the 7th he was pulled whilst he had a few runners on base and we took advantage of the Rays bullpen, Tampa pulled it back to a 1 run game in the 8th but Strop did his job to secure the win.

Game 2, Att: 34,172



A game that should've been put to bed almost ended up with us having egg on our faces. We should have seen the warning signs in 3 seperate innings the Rays had the bases loaded and only managed to score 1 run but in the 9th poor pitching from Hammel, Perez and Strop allowed the Ryas to gete back into the game and almost snatch the win. What made it more "funny" was all the Rays runs came from walks and the one time they got a hit it was a flyout to end the game. Upton scored the only home run of the game in the 5th for his 3rd of the year.