Okay, I might as well admit it. I’m depressed. I figured this would happen sooner or later at some point in the season, but not now. Spring training is supposed to be a time for optimisim, and high expectations, right? Not this year.

This year, following the Rangers spring training camp has been more like watching an episode of "Survivor" than a baseball team (and for the record – I hate Survivor). The spring injuries, mainly those to the pitching staff, have come at a relentless pace – it’s almost to the point where it’s something I count on like the buzzing of my alarm clock in the morning: "gee, I wonder who it’s gonna be this time when I fire up the computer."

Today, it was Frank Catalanotto, removed from todays game after one at-bat today with back spasms. Yesterday, it was Eddie Guardado, straining a tendon in his knee. The day before that, Vicente Padilla was removed from his start against the White Sox with a strained muscle in his posterior.

Fortunately, those injuries are not being termed as serious by the Rangers, but you still have to wonder exactly what is going on. The condition of the Surprise Stadium pitching mound is being blamed for some of the more recent injuries such as Guardado’s, while some have perhaps been due to a lack of conditioning during the offseason (like Joaquin Benoit) but it’s absolutely dumfounding the amount of bad luck the Rangers have had this spring. Some of the more serious injuries:

On the bright side, however, the injury bug has (so far, at least) steered clear of some of the more important health risks in camp, like Jason Jennings, Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley (hopefully, I haven’t jinxed anyone by mentioning that). In fact, the injury to Catalanotto, while not serious, could turn out to be a blessing in disguse if it can get Jason Botts (who is getting absolutely no love right now, despite his red hot spring) a spot on the opening day roster.

But the Rangers need their all guys healthy, particularly their pitchers. With Guardado sidelined for now, the bullpen now lacks a healthy left-handed pitcher, and the starting rotation is still a mess, as TR Sullivan points out in his latest peice. Hopefully, this insane "injury curse" will end here and now, and the Rangers can get on with their actual recovering from it. Because if it doesn’t, I may have to consider driving out to Surprise, and dynamiting the stupid pitching mound. Hey, somebody’s gotta take some action.

Anybody remember earlier this spring? When Gerald Laird was whining about how he shouldn’t have to compete with Jarrod Saltalamacchia for the catching job?

Well, it looks like Gerald needn’t have worried. The Rangers are now loudly trumpeting that he will indeed be their opening day catcher, over the young offensive phenom Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Laird, 28, is coming off the worst offensive season of his career last year, when he hit .224/.278/.349, and posted an OPS of 627. This came after his best offensive season in 2006, in which he hit .296/.332/.473 and posted an 805 OPS, platooning with Rod Barajas. Those numbers, however, where largely skewed by the fact that he hit .400/.414/.600 against left-handers – an impressive line to be sure, but his .241/.291/.405 line against righties that year was far more indicitive of what Gerald’s limits are.

He’s a career .221/.277/.339 hitter against right-handed pitching with a 616 OPS. He may be able to mash the lefties (.307/.348/.467 career, 815 OPS)but unless he has a platoon partner to protect him against the right-handers (like Barajas in ’06) offensive years like 2007 are going to be a recurring theme for Gerald.

The Rangers, however, despite the fact that they now have one of their weakest offensive clubs in years, don’t seem to care. Instead, they sing the praises of his defense, and his 40.2% success rate at throwing out baserunners:

"He’s got a great arm, quick release, and athleticism behind the plate" says former Major League catcher and now third base coach Matt Walbeck. He’s able to pick up balls, make sidearm throws, throw behind the runner – stuff you can’t teach."

That’s great. No, seriously, that is. Gerald is a fine defensive catcher. But the Rangers seem to be forgetting what’s at stake here – and it’s a heckuva lot more important that Gerald Laird’s throwing abilities. It’s called development. The Rangers have a farm system loaded to the gills with catching prospects (Mike Hindman can tell you all about that better than I can) – plus Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the offensively lauded, but defensively decried catcher accquired in the Mark Teixeira trade last year.

Salty ‘s bat is defintely projected to be elite among catchers – Baseball America ranked him as the Braves top prospect in 2007 and the second-best in 2006, while ranking him as the organization’s best hitter for average in both years. In his time in the big leagues last year, he hit .266/.310/.422, with 11 HR and 33 RBI, stats that probably would have been much better if he hadn’t been made to play the unfamiliar position of first base by the Rangers, where he hit a miserable .203/.236/.346 at, while also commiting 10 errors (in 38 games). When playing as a backstop, however, Salty flashed his offensive potential, ripping .325/.373/.503. Taking that into consideration, one would only expect a player of his talent to improve those overall numbers this time around, if allowed to remain behind the plate.

But that’s what Texas needs to find out: will Saltalamacchia’s bat and be enough to keep him behind the plate at the major league level? Within a year or so, Taylor Teagarden, who could turn out to be a fine offensive catcher in his own right, with better defensive capabilites than Saltalamacchia, should be knocking at Arlington’s doorstep. That means now is the time for the Rangers to let Salty get consistent, full time at-bats behind the plate, at the Major League level, and evaluate whether or not his offense will be enough to outweigh any defensive shortcomings. He’s never going to be the strongest defender wherever he plays, although his defense should become servicable in time – but it’s his bat that needs to be evaluated, and allowed to develop on the Major League level. Offensively, he’s already proven he can hold his own with the big boys – now the Rangers need to find out if he’s good enough to carve himself a niche.

Because come 2009, there’s going to be another battle behind the plate in Texas – one that won’t involve a certain 28 year-old catcher who is all but expendable to the organization in the grand scheme of things. It’ll be the two young catchers, Salty and Teagarden, slugging it out for playing time – and Texas is going to have a decision to make. One will have to move to make room for the other – and with the Rangers now commited to developing the powerful Chris Davis as their future at first base, that could mean that one will be departing the organization. But the Rangers aren’t making that decision any easier on themselves by insisting that they somehow "need" Gerald Laird and his throwing arm.

With his offensive limitations, Laird is on the fast track to nowhere – especially considering the depth the Rangers have behind him. But why the front office continues to cling to this guy like he’s some kind of key defensive catylist in their plans is beyond me. They should be entertaining the offers they are getting from other teams right now, not rebuffing them. Because sooner or later, the Rangers are going to have to break down, and throw Laird aside for the younger player, be it Teagarden or Salty. Why not do it now, and allow Salty to get a jump on his development? A move like that would not only be the better path for Salty, but for the organization – so what’s the holdup? Oh wait, that’s right – the throwing arm. Gotcha.

You know, I hate it when my sense of foreboding is right: the Rangers are now taking special care to pump up their latest washed-up spare, Sidney Ponson:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080310&content_id=2417708&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex

I’m frankly speechless. This might be one of the worst attempts at justifying a horrible signing I have ever seen. Sidney Ponson has arguably been one of the worst pitchers in baseball over the past 4 years – but we’re supposed to feel better because Frank Catalanotto and Michael Young say every at-bat against him was "tough" and "a grind". Oooookay.

It’s now official: the Rangers have determined that Brandon McCarthy will be out for 4-6 weeks, which means he will open the season on the 15-day disabled list. Of course, this comes as no suprise to me or anyone reading this blog as I’ve followed McCarthy’s situation very closely over the past couple days.

Tomorrow, he will fly back to Dallas, and receive an injection that will "spin his blood and inject platelets back into the elbow". I’m sure that sounds a lot worse that it really is, and it’s certainly not the worst that could have happened – but I think Brandon himself sums things up quite nicely in the following quote:

"Not having surgery is good, but the situation overall still stinks."

Brandon, you have no idea how true that is.

Now that the Rangers know a little more about how long McCarthy will be out, they now have time to get a look at their younger options for the rotation when the season starts – as I documented when the news of McCarthy’s injury first broke, Luis Mendoza, AJ Murray and Eric Hurley are all seemingly in the running for the vacated rotation seat. Also included in that list was mention of a guy that I seriously hoped would mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. Looks like I was wrong.

The Rangers signed 31 year old right-hander Sidney Ponson to a minor league contract today, and added him to the spring training roster. Ponson, who will be entering his 10th big league season this year, saw his career year way back in 2003, when he went 17-12, struck out a career high 134, and posted a career-best 3.75 ERA. Since then, things have just gone downhill for Ponson, on and off the field. He was arrested in his native Aruba in 2004 for assault, and battled a drinking problem that got him picked up for 2 DUI’s in 2005 before he went through rehabilitation. Thanks to the drinking, he has had trouble keeping his weight down and staying in shape in the past, and the results of that where obvious on the field, as his ERA has increased every year since and his WHIP shows a similar trend, if you check out his page on baseball reference:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/ponsosi01.shtml

And yet the Rangers seem to think they have some kind of low risk/high reward signing here in Ponson, who has never been better than a fringe-average starter in his best years: "He’s thrown all winter, and we’ve seen him a few times" Says Rangers GM Jon Daniels "He’s down 20 pounds from what he was when he struggled the past couple of years. We talked with him about our expectations, and he understands where he is at this point of his career. He feels he has something to prove."

Well, that’s nice, I’m glad Sidney Ponson wants to prove he can pitch again. But does he have to do it here? What happened to the youth movement Texas supposedly undertook this winter? It seems that for every youngster we have, we manage to pick up a fringe-average veteran who "has something to prove". When does it end?

Development is all about making the young players step up. Sometimes during development, those players have to step up sooner than expected – but that’s when you find out who’s got the stuff to succeed, and who needs more time in the minors. But if young players never get that chance to learn and adjust, then they’re not going to succeed in the Majors. It’s really that simple.

Luis Mendoza and AJ Murray are being presented with a shot here. They should get their chance to run with it – without the added pressure of having a useless spare like Ponson around to muddy the waters. After all, even if they fail, at least the struggles of Mendoza, Murray, or even Hurley would mean something in the long run. The struggles of Ponson, however, would mean nothing but Ranger fans having to watch another bad signing rolling through Arlington.

A few notes on the Rangers walking wounded:

Brandon McCarthy, the subject of my last post, underwent an MRI yesterday, and the results show "severe inflammation with some fluid in the area." The good news is though, the actual elbow ligament is intact, so Brandon’s problem won’t require Tommy John surgery, as I had been starting to fear.

The Rangers still don’t seem to know what the problem is though, as TR Sullivan reports "McCarthy will likely need a cortisone shot, but the medical staff is still discussing the situation to decide on the proper course of action."

Interpert that as you may.

On a brighter note, CJ Wilson now has a timetable for a return – the lefty thinks he can return to action sometime next week, and doesn’t seem to concerned about his condition affecting his run at the closers job, saying "That’s the benifit of being a releiver. You can miss a week and not lose too much ground."

Ron Washington, though, might disagree: "We’ll see. It’s still out there. He needs to show he can throw the ball over the plate. Just like everybody else. He has to show he has stamina. Just like everybody else. But he’s got time. We still have 20 days."

Interesting statement, coming from a guy who documented last winter how he doesn’t think CJ Wilson (or Joaquin Benoit) has the "experience" to close:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070922&content_id=2224256&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex

All I can do is speculate, but it seems to me that Ron’s already gearing up to use this as an excuse to annoint Eddie Guardado (who gave up 2 runs on 3 hits across 1.0 IP in todays 9-5 loss to San Diego) the closer at the end of the month – if nothing else, it looks like CJ should be a little more concerned about his closers job than he seems.

Last call: Hank Blalock was back in the lineup today for the first time since he and his family where rear-ended on Monday while driving around in the area of Phoenix. The DH, Blalock was 0-2 before being replaced by Joaquin Arias. Blalock said his back and neck are still a little stiff, but the Rangers are plowing ahead with his recovery – they plan to use him at DH tomorrow against the Angels, and think he could return to the field as soon as Monday. That strikes me as as little soon – I hope they don’t wind up pushing Hank too hard.

Well, the Rangers problems with injuries just keep on piling up out in Arizona. Brandon McCarthy, trying to come back from a sore elbow problem that sidelined him earlier this spring, apparently re-tweaked his elbow in today’s 9-8 loss the the Milwaulkee Brewers. 

Scheduled to go two innings and throw 30 pitches McCarthy came on in the 4th, but was pulled after just one inning and 19 pitches, after he apparently re-aggrivated his elbow, which has bothered him for the past three weeks.

McCarthy said it happened when he threw a curveball: "It happened on the third curveball I tried to throw. I felt good out there. My fastball was alive, and my curveball was good. Everything felt good mechanically, and [the elbow] just flared up on me."

Dr. Keith Meister, the team physcian, will examine McCarthy tomorrow, but this development likely nixes any chances of McCarthy recovering in time to be in the rotation on opening day. He is penciled in for just four more appearances this spring, and the Rangers to not believe he would be able to build up his pitch counts and arm strength enough, even if the problem where to dissipate with a minimum two weeks of rest.

As the #4 starter, McCarthy’s first start of the year would have been against the Angels in their home opener in Anaheim on April 4th. But it now appears that Kason Gabbard will make that start, since the Rangers will be able to go with 4 starters until April 12th. If McCarthy isn’t back by then, the Rangers will have to go with one of their younger pitchers, such as Luis Mendoza, AJ Murray, or possibly even top prospect Eric Hurley.

Mendoza, who is currently the leading candidate for the call, is a 23 year-old sinkerball pitcher, who appeared in 6 games for the Rangers last September (including three starts) and impressed, posting a 2.25 ERA. He was also 15-4 for the AA Frisco Roughriders last year, posting a 3.93 ERA in 26 games. He has struggled this spring, however, giving up 4 runs in 3.1 innings so far. He also surrendered 3 runs today in 3.0 innings during a "B" game against the Kansas City Royals.

The other options are AJ Murray, a soft-tossing left hander who will turn 26 on March 17th, and Eric Hurley, a 22 year old right hander who is one of the Rangers top pitching prospects. Murray appeared in 14 games last year for the Rangers, but only started two, as he was converted from reliever to starter late in the year (although he did have a 3.27 ERA in those two starts, as opposed to a 5.29 ERA as a releiver). That conversion is being continued this spring, but Murray has had his own troubles so far, walking 4 batters in three innings, and giving up 2 runs. It’s likely Murray will stay at AAA early in the season as he continues to build up arm strength and stamina, as well as adjusting to the starters role.

Hurley, the Rangers top pitching prospect for the last couple seasons, is closing in on being ready for his Major League debut, but may not quite be there just yet. After going 7-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 15 games with Frisco last year, Hurley earned a mid-season promotion to AAA, and was 4-7 with a 4.91 ERA in 13 starts after the promotion. Hurley owns a lively fastball and a sharp slider, but could use some work on his changeup still and since the Rangers don’t want to push him, the chances of him getting the call to replace McCarthy so soon are probably slim to none. However, it is expected he will be in Arlington sometime later this season, so if McCarthy is out for an extended period, Hurley would likely get the call eventually.

It’s also worth noting that the Rangers are also currently looking at free agent pitcher Sidney Ponson for AAA depth, although you wouldn’t think the Rangers are stupid enough to consider him an actual possibility for the rotatation: since his career year in 2003 (in which he won 17 games) Ponson’s ERA has done nothing but rise yearly: 5.30 in 2004, 6.21 in ’05, 6.25 in ’06, to 6.93 (in just 7 games) last year with the Minnesota Twins. He also has had problems keeping his weight down – if the Rangers do sign him, you would have to think it would be purely for depth purposes. Right?

For my money, Mendoza or Murray is the way to go in replacing McCarthy for now, and hopefully they won’t have to do it for too long. The good news is, the Rangers have plenty of options, albeit slighty inexperienced ones – if worse comes to worse, it’s possible this could even pave the way for Kameron Loe or Robinson Tejeda getting second chances at the rotation (although neither of those are choices I would particularly endorse).

Well, it was a good news, bad news situation for the Rangers today in Arizona.

Out in Tuscon, the Rangers pitchers that made the bus trip from Surprise combined to fire a near-scoreless game – the only run was unearned, surrendered in the second inning by Vicente Padilla after Jason Ellison missed a fly ball in center field. Padilla tossed one more scoreless inning before exiting, and from there, Scott Feldman (3.0 IP), Bill White, Kea Kometani, and Elizardo Ramirez (1.0 IP apeice) all combined to hold the White Sox to just two hits the rest of the way.

Certainly a nice turnaround after Ranger pitching had given up 21 runs (9 unearned) the last two days. Other highlights included home runs by Chris Davis, David Murphy, and two by Travis Metcalf and a two-hit afternoon by John Mayberry Jr.

The bad news, however, far outweighs the successes of the day. Word came down today that the leading candidate for the closers role, Blue-gloved lefty CJ Wilson has been shut down with a case of biceps tendinitis. CJ joins Kevin Millwood (hamstring) Brandon McCarthy (elbow) and Joaquin Benoit (lack of arm strength) on the lengthening list of Ranger pitchers who have been battling some kind of physical ailment this spring.

According to MLB.com’s TR Sullivan, "the condition is not considered serious, but the Rangers aren’t sure when he’ll be able to pitch again." Not exactly an encouraging statement – especially considering how valuable a piece Wilson is to the Rangers bullpen, which was their biggest area of strength in 2007. CJ appeared in 66 games for the Rangers last year, and was 12-for-14 in save chances when he took over the closers role late in the season. He posted a 3.03 ERA and a 1.215 WHIP, while striking out 63 – all career highs, and he also held batters to a .238 line with 2 out and RISP. He had been competing this spring with Eddie Guardado for the closers role, and was the heavy favorite after his performance in the role last year.

But with him out of action for now, and with no date set for a return, the Rangers bullpen picture becomes a bit skewed. Eddie Guardado would most likely take over as closer if Wilson is still out come opening day, with Joaquin Benoit and Kazuo Fukumori the other options. But all three have their downsides: Guardado had a 7.24 ERA in 15 appearances with Cincinatti after coming off Tommy John surgery last year, and isn’t throwing as hard as he used to these days. Benoit, who spent some time as the closer late last year as well, was inactive for 4 months this offseason, and is behind the curve this spring as a result, although Mark Connor, the Rangers pitching coach, hopes to get him in a game perhaps as soon as this weekend. Kaz Fukumori has experience as a closer in Japan, but has never pitched in the US before, and has a history of arm troubles on his resume.

Presuming Wilson makes a quick recovery, none of this will matter, but if this turns into a prolonged issue for him, it could cause some problems. Ron Washington would probably like to be conservative with how he uses the 37 year-old Guardado and the sometimes-fragile Fukumori, and even Benoit, who might need to be used sparingly at the start of the year as well, and without Wilson, all three would have to pick up the slack. And with a pitching rotation as shaky as the Rangers, nothing will be more important this year than how well the bullpen will be able to handle it’s workload.

Hopefully, CJ makes a speedy recovery and this is nothing but a speedbump, but if he’s not in the bullpen, be it doing setup work or closing, it could throw a giant monkey wrench into the Rangers plans. This will be a situation to keep tabs on, for sure.

HI, and welcome to my newest venture into the land of Ranger blogging, A Lonestar in California. I’ll (hopefully) be blogging for the duration of the 2008 season and beyond, as I chronicle my thoughts and opinions on the ups and downs of the Texas Rangers.

A little bit about me: My name is Jon, and I’ve been a fan of the Rangers since 2004. I’ve been active in the Rangers blogosphere since early last season, but this is my first attempt at my own blog. I live in Southern California, but I was born in Dallas, so I consider the Rangers my "true" home team. I’m currently preparing for college, and I hope to pursue a career in either sports broadcasting or sportswriting (look out, Josh Lewin – I want your job).

A few miscellanious things about me:

- I love country music, namely the lovely Miranda Lambert

- My favorite movie so far is "Independence Day" with Will Smith (don’t ask me why, but I can watch that over an over again)

- I think Jerry Hairston was safe last year when he dove headfirst into the first base bag in Chicago, trying to break up Mark Burhle’s no-hitter

- My favorite Ranger moment so far was Hank Blalock’s grand slam off Scot Shields on Sept. 2nd last year that downed the Angels

- My favorite Ranger position player is currently Jarrod Saltalamacchia (but Josh Hamilton can, and probably will change that if he can stay healthy)

- My favorite Ranger pitcher is Brandon McCarthy – am I the only one who thinks his herky-jerky windup is cool?

So there you have it: all the major things you need to know about me. Later this week, hopefully tomorrow, I’ll make my first real post, and we can get into some heavier stuff, so check back soon for that. And when you do, always feel free to leave your thoughts, opinions, or just tell me how stupid you think I am.

Till next time, Go Rangers!