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MLB Team Power Rankings
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Follow @mlbreportsSunday June.02/2013
Miguel Cabrera is absolutely unconscious this season so far; He has a 3 Slash Line of .369 (Leads AL)/.445 (Leads AL/1.121 (2nd in AL), with 17 HRs (2nd AL) and a mind – blowing 65 RBI through 54 Games Played. He is on pace for 51 HRs, 195 RBI and about 250 Hits. He keeps getting better every single year if possible. Despite his prominence – and a lineup full of ALL – Star hitters and Pitchers, the Tigers are limping along at just a few games over .500. It certainly isn’t this 30 Year Old’s fault.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Featuring the Podcasters the Big ticket Show in the Audio Portion Follow @bigticketshow
I will be doing a stat fueled rankings list on this Thursday. These rankings will have some stats and random thoughts of what I will be talking about in today’s podcast with the Big Ticket Show (AKA, Triple Play Podcast.)
Games Prior to Sunday June.02/2013
Cardinals 2013 30/30 Preview
Click the READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY ICON to continue… or scroll past the Triple Play Podcast. Read the rest of this entry
2 And A Hook Podcast Episode #6: Fantasy, Phillies And Rangers Expert Interviews + Notes
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MLB reports and The Benchwarmers Show present 2 and A Hook Podcast.
‘2 And A Hook’ is an expression from Baseball: ‘Throw the guy 2 Fast balls and then a Hook’ (AKA Curve Ball, Wiggly one, Chair etc..)
By James Acevedo – Host (Podcast Veteran) Follow @yankeeman1973
People in this Podcast:
On today’s show, brought to you by MLB Reports (www.mlbreports.com) & The Bench Warmers Show (thebenchwarmers.podomatic.com), I started by paying respects to a follower of mine on twitter (the great late Kiley) Follow @jeterfan_02 who passed away last week…not only she was a great Yankee fan who loved Derek Jeter – but also was the most sweetest giving person ever, R.I.P….
I start to talk about the Subway Series then I interviewed my first guest Derek Jackson (10 Minute Mark – 20 Minute Segment. Follow @djaxmlbreports who is a fantasy expert for MLB Reports! We talked about which callups to watch midway through the season,a look at the rookie crop of players & second year players…check out his latest fantasy article here Read the rest of this entry
MLB Team Power Rankings: Week 8
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The Detroit Tigers were second on the list for moving up rankings with 5 spots. They have overtaken the Indians in the AL Central – and have 5 players that are hitting north of .300. Their top 4 Starters may be the best in the game – and they play in an extremely winnable division where teams can`t match them for payroll or talent. Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter on the planet – and has great support.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
The Oakland Athletics are making another run at the expense of the lesser lites in the Division. This team feasts on the Astros and Mariners – and are not half bad at playing the Rangers and Angels either. The goal for them is to continue to pitch. They must try to at least take 2 games versus San Francisco in the 4 game set.
The Kansas City Royals may have rolled up snake eyes in gambling on their 2013 season. Suffering the longest playoff drought in the majors at 28 years, the franchise traded away its best prospect player in Wil Myers for a 2 year pitching solution in James Shields.
The problem is that their nucleus of young talented hitters have failed them. Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas are being outpowered by some teams Pitching cores in the NL.
MLB Team Power Rankings: Week 7
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The Padres have played great baseball since they plugged Chase Headley back in the lineup. Players like Yonder Alonso, Will Venable, Everth Cabrera and even Kyle Blanks have bashed the ball around. Since a lot of the NL West clubs have not run away with the Division, the San Diego club has entered the picture for the Division Race.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
The Rangers are #1 again based on the Division lead they currently possess, plus the fact they play all of these teams a total of 76 Games this year.
The Braves (rose their division lead to 2.5 Games with a 4 – 2 week), and Padres (18 – 13 in their last 31 Games and have been clubbing the ball lateley) were the biggest movers up for the week standings by climbing 6 spots apiece.
The biggest drops were the San Francisco Giants (hate their Starting Pitching right now – except for Madison Bumgarner) and the Baltimore Orioles (late inning magic might be dying – and still need a DH + a Veteran Starter or 2).
The Los Angeles teams keep losing ball games – and the Blue Jays lost 2 straight versus the Yankees just when they looked to be on track.
Cleveland is still ranked outside the top ten because I don’t have faith in their strength of schedule in the next month starting May 21st: 2 vs DET, 4 @BOS, 2 vs CIN, 2 @CIN, 2 vs TB, 3 @NYY, 3 @DET, 3 @TEX, 3 vs WSH and finally 3 vs KC. If they are above .500 after this stretch, I will be impressed.
Chase Headley: Contract Talks Or Trade Bait?
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Monday May 6th, 2013
Headley led the NL with 115 RBI in 2012 amongst 31 HRs, he will need to put up monster numbers for the Padres to compete with the NL West teams going forward Chase Headley actually fared well at Petco Park in 2012 – with a 3 Slash Line of .272/.357/.812. He added 13 HRs and 51 RBI. He could potentially hit a few more out this season with the fences newly drawn in.
Bernie Olshansky (Baseball Writer): Follow @BernieOlshansky
For the past few seasons, Chase Headley has been the one guy on the roster that the San Diego Padres can rely on. Last year, he put up MVP-like numbers, hitting 31 HR and driving in 115 runs.
This year, he is really the only guy in the lineup that can truly produce runs. Yonder Alonso has that capability, but he is still a bit raw. Headley is signed to a one-year $8.58 million contract.
He becomes Arbitration-eligible in 2014 and is a Free Agent in 2015. The Padres are faced with a conundrum: should they trade Headley?
This third baseman is 28 years old—about the time when most players enter their prime. With the season we saw from Headley in 2012, I think it is safe to say that he has already entered his prime, and probably has two or three more years similar to 2012 ahead of him.
If the Padres are building for the future, which I sure hope they are, they need to trade Headley right away.
MLB Monthly Power Rankings May 2013 (Podcast Version)
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Follow @mlbreportsSunday, May.05/2013
The Triple Play Show will have 5 shows per month. Each show will be about 1 hour.
By The Big Ticket Show ( AKA Triple Play Podcast on http://www.mlbreports.com) Follow @bigticketshow
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
One month down in the MLB season and that means it’s time for some Power Rankings! Chuck Booth the czar of MLBreports.com joins us in studio to rank every team from worst to first. Where does your team rank? Read the rest of this entry
Texas Rangers Payroll In 2013: Rangers Organizational Rosters + Depth Charts – (MLB + MiLB)
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The Texas Rangers have been the most consistent American League Franchise since Nolan Ryan took over as CEO of the club midway through 2010. They made the World Series in 2010 and 2011 – losing to the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco in back to back years. The club has done a great job assembling a Minor League system full of talent – and a great amount of talent via Free Agency. Will the Rangers be able to finally win a World Series in the coming years?
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024 and welcome Jeff Kleiner (Salary, Roster and Depth Chart Expert for the MLB) – visit his website here Follow @prosportsroster
You guys are all in for a treat. Jeff Kleiner recently contacted me about a partnership merge for the website. He has developed a site (prosportsrosters.com) that covers all organizational affiliates in the Minors for all of the Major League Baseball Clubs. We are going to combine efforts to bring you the best look at salaries, current 25 Man Player Rosters and Depth Charts for all 30 teams.
Jeff is going to provide the documents in form of spreadsheets and I am going to accompany the posts with deep analysis of what the numbers tell us from my perspective. If you can’t wait for all of my assessments for each club, go and visit Jeff’s website over at http://www.prosportsrosters.com.
In Speaking with Jeff, he is one of the more passionate fans I have come across towards the game of baseball. He spends enough time in updating his MLB Facts for it to be a Full-Time Job. So after the usual Video Clip and READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY button, you will find some serious &*!@?!#!
For a Full 3 year Salary Outlook plus last years Stats for every player in the Rangers Organization click here
2010 ALCS Highlight Video
NL Trade Deadline Targets
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If all goes well with the team this year, the Astros could improve on their 2012 year. If all else fails, Houston might challenge the ALL-Time Loss Record. Whatever happens, any Veteran Player with a heartbeat will be on the trading block by June. The Astros will continue to dissolve any of their assets (with expiring contracts) onto other teams in order to pick off some more prospects. The Astros will also Draft 1st overall at the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft. The Astros also play in the toughest Division in the Majors for pitching, plus have already put up back to back 100 Loss Seasons. Their second half Won – Loss Records might challenge historic rates.
By Jordan Gluck (Prospects/Baseball Operations Correspondent) Follow @JGluck777
Likely Mid season trade targets NL:
I’m assuming these teams will have a winning percentage of at least .475 and therefore will not be sellers although that doesn’t entirely rule out being sellers at the deadline. We are far away from the deadline but it’s nice to see who might be available. Nationals, Braves, Phillies, Reds, Cardinals, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants and Rockies (sleeper).
I believe these teams will be sellers and there are not many in the NL because of the parity. Many of these teams don’t have that much to offer so it would not surprise me if a team above (Brewers?) makes a few trades for over slot prices. Marlins, Mets, Pirates, Cubs and Padres.
Giancarlo Stanton (Formerly Mike Stanton hits it out of Dodger Stadium):
2013 WBC Group B Preview
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Sunday, February 17th, 2013
The WBC Tournament runs from Mar.2-19/2013.
By Sam Evans (Baseball Writer): Follow @RJA206
Group B in the 2013 World Baseball Classic is just as talented as some of the other divisions, but some of the best teams in this quartet of teams lack the star MLB players found in other divisions. From Netherlands unique blend of top prospects and washed out big leaguers to Jae Weong Seo’s veteran presence on an inexperienced Korean team, Group B definitely has it’s share of stories. They key for the two teams that will advance out of this round will likely be pitching. There seems to be a lack of proven pitchers in this year’s WBC, particularly in this group. With less than one month before these teams start playing each other, here is a preview of what to expect from Group B in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
WBC Highlights 2009 Dominican Republic vs the Netherlands:
MLB Reports Top 100 Prospects: A Rebuttal To The MLB.com’s Top 100
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By Jordan Gluck (Prospects/Baseball Operations Correspondent) Follow @JGluck777
Before I show you my top 100 prospects – I want to get you familiar with my grading tactics and styles and what I value most. All prospects have ceilings and very few players reach that ceiling. First lets go through the tools of what I personally value most and where.
Tools:
Bat:1
Power:2
Speed:3
Glove:4
Arm:5
Makeup:?
Those are the 5(6) tools that scouts use and the scale goes from 20-80. 80 being HOF rare like Giancarlo Stanton Power and 20 being absolutely terrible like Bengie Molina has 20 speed. Most people reading this will probably have more than 20 speed so that’s how pathetic it is.
Jurickson Profar Prospect Highlights:
The Texas Rangers Payroll In 2013 And Contracts Going Forward
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Texas has doubled their total team payroll since the new ownership group took over. As good as they are doing right now for Payroll – the Angels still have them beat by 35-40 Million Dollars.
By Nicholas Rossoletti (MLB Reports Trade Correspondent): Follow @NRoss56
It is easy to equate a big market team’s success with merely a willingness to overspend on free agents and use their superior earning power to dominate the sport. While the Rangers certainly are not afraid of spending all that money that playing the Dallas/Fort Worth area provides, it would be inaccurate to equate the team’s recent string of success with only their ability to outspend a fair portion of their competitors. As we enter the 2013 season, the Rangers have built a very strong base – while managing to not tie themselves to any back-breaking, future altering contracts. That is a testament to the organization’s belief in its system – and its refusal to spend on player just because they are able to. With that being said, let’s take a look at the Rangers 2013 payroll as of now and see where Texas will be spending its money next season.
Rangers 2011 ALCS Clincher:
The 2013 Texas Rangers Roster: State of The Union
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Follow @mlbreportsMonday January 14th, 2013
The Rangers had back to back World Series Appearances in 2010 and 2011 – does this club have another run in them without Josh Hamilton and Michael Young? They regressed in the 2012 Season – losing a 13 Game Division Lead in the AL West before barely capturing a Wild Card Spot. They eventually lost the Play In Wild Card-Game to the Baltimore Orioles.
By Brooke Robinson (Rangers Correspondent): Follow @bka_9
Looking back on the end of the 2012 season, and how the AL West lead was given up in a matter of days to Oakland, it’s clear the Texas front office wanted change in the clubhouse for 2013. It seems as though GM Jon Daniels’ motto for the offseason is “out with the old, in with the new….er”. Daniels is eager to bring a World Series victory to Arlington and has pieced together a team of new players with old postseason successes. There is also a chance that the Rangers will also bring up some of their promising prospects that they protected throughout the offseason trade frenzy. This makes for some very interesting lineup possibilities for the upcoming season, especially with the major roles needing to be filled by former Ranger departures such as 1B/C Mike Napoli, U Michael Young, OF Josh Hamilton, and P Ryan Dempster.
Ian Kinsler Highlights for 2012:
The Jurickson Profar Situation Brewing in Texas
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Sam Evans :
The Texas Rangers reluctance to part with Jurickson Profar is well-reasoned. They believe that Profar can become a perennial All-Star candidate and a better player than both Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler. By trading Profar, the Rangers would be letting go of a talent that only comes around about once in a decade. The Rangers should do whatever it takes to ensure that Profar, Andrus, and Kinsler all have starting jobs next year.
Texas Rangers: How They Can Regain Their A.L. Supremacy
Thursday October 11th, 2012
Jake Dal Porto: The Texas Rangers were this year’s 2011 Boston Red Sox for the lack of a better explanation. After retaining the American League West lead and even the best record in the entire American League for the majority of the season, they hit a wall at the wrong time.
The final few days of the 2012 season for Texas was comparable to a blur. Their time from the best team in the A.L. to losing the sudden death Wild Card playoff game to the Orioles happened so fast, that it’s hard to unravel what the heck happened. But the answer is now clear thanks to some time to digest the events.
The Rangers’ wobbly pitching staff and Josh Hamilton’s woes both defensively and offensively can be deemed the two main variables in their collapse. Over the final ten games of the season, the Rangers’ staff as a whole posted a 5.83 ERA. That includes the bullpen corps as well. Texas’s starting rotation was never a dominant one per say. They had 11 different pitchers start a game due to injuries and struggles from several players. With that said, the only three pitchers the were reliable were Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, and Matt Harrison. Outside of that capable trio, the Rangers had a tough time piecing together anything consistent. Read the rest of this entry
September MLB Call-Ups: The Fantasy Low-Down
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
Peter Stein (Fantasy Baseball Analyst): Follow @PeterWStein
In what many have dubbed the “Year of the Rookie”, can we really expect any more impact youngsters in the crop of September call-ups? This is the time of the year that we generally have to wait to the teenagers and early twenty-something’s. However, competing teams, particularly in the NL West, have showed increased willingness, or perhaps found it a necessity, to expedite the developmental process of their minor league talent and give them a taste of the big leagues. For many, they have had more than just a taste and proved ready to produce at the big league level. As a result, after Trout and Harper led the way, there has been an implosion of young talent in the big leagues.
From a fantasy perspective; however, this does not mean that the talent well has run dry in the core of players called up when the rosters expanded this past Saturday. And, if you find yourself out of the playoff race in your league, now is the time to scout talent for next year and try to locate the bargains of the 2013 draft. A prime example of such a player in 2011 was Addison Reed, who pitched brilliantly last September and a year later is the closer of the Al Central leading White Sox. Let’s take a look at the September call-ups who have potential to provide value down the stretch as well as in the 2013 season: Read the rest of this entry
Top 5 Shortstop Prospects in Baseball
Sunday August 12th, 2012
Codey Harrison: In Major League Baseball, middle of the field players (catcher,shortstop, centerfield) are a premium position. So much so that most teams are reluctant to trade away elite level prospects from those positions. Shortstop is arguably the most important position in baseball. Every once in a while, shortstops like Troy Tulowitzki, and Derek Jeter come along and can propel a team to great success. The top prospects in baseball this year is fairly deep at shortstop with potential superstars in the making. Lets take a look at some of the best shortstops who are still prospect eligible.
1.) Jurickson Profar (Rangers AA) – Texas Rangers shortstop prospect Jurickson Profar is the best shortstop prospect in all of baseball. Profar is so highly thought of by scouts, that some believe the Rangers may end up trading 23-year-old 2-time All-star shortstop Elvis Andrus or moving him to second base, with Ian Kinsler going to the outfield. Profar has all five tools (hit, power, speed, glove, and arm) and he’s proven he knows how to use all five. He’s currently raking in AA Frisco at only 19 years of age, posting monstrous numbers of .279 AVG, .356 OBP, .458 SLG, 23 doubles, 7 triples, 13 home runs, and 53 walks to 69 strikeouts. Some scouts believe Profar has a chance to be a gold glove caliber top, or middle of the order run producing machine, that is a perennial All-Star. No prospect is a guarantee, but Profar looks to be legit as far as prospects go. Read the rest of this entry
The Rangers Should Sacrifice Some of Their Prospects to Win This Year
Wednesday July 25th, 2012
Sam Evans: The Texas Rangers are currently 57-39, which gives them the second-best record in baseball behind only the New York Yankees. Texas isn’t just playing for this year, they also have enough prospects to acquire anyone they want at the trade deadline. Instead of waiting for young players to develop, the Rangers should recognize their chance to win it all this year, and trade away a couple of those players. If Texas could acquire a top of the rotation starter or a superstar outfielder, they should seriously consider trading some of their finest young prospects.
It will take a lot for the Texas Rangers to miss the playoffs this year. Despite playing in a division featuring an interesting Angels team, and a surging Oakland ballclub, Texas still has the highest playoff odds (99.8% chance) according to Baseball Prospectus. The Rangers could probably start Matt Kata instead of Adrian Beltre at third base for the rest of the season, and still make the playoffs. However, at some point, reaching the playoffs just isn’t enough. The Texas franchise wants to win the World Series this year, and in order to do that, they probably need to make a move at the deadline. Read the rest of this entry
Ask the Reports: ATR Answers Your Baseball Questions – April 29th, 2012
Sunday April 29th, 2012
Let’s get to your top questions of the week (LOTS of Expansion talk this week):
Q: Where will the WBC games be played in March Chris
Q: Does anyone know what the dates are for the 2013 World Baseball Classic and how it will affect the schedule for Spring Training? Steve
JH: Hello Chris and Steve. Yes, we love talking WBC on MLB reports. So much so, that we have a page dedicated exclusively to the greatest international baseball tournament of all time! Please click on wbcreports.com to find out all the latest World Baseball Classic news and reports. With the WBC qualifiers still coming up, we are still far away from the tournament itself- coming up in March 2013. The qualifiers will be played in Florida, Panama, Germany and Taiwan. Each site will host 4 countries- with 1 winner advancing to the WBC tournament from each pool. For the 1st two tournaments, the finals were held in Los Angeles (Dodger Stadium). As to which cities will be lucky to host the 2013 WBC- stay tuned. I expect the announcement to come sometime between the end of the World Series and New Years. But as soon as we have the info- we will announce it! The WBC will have the effect of extending the spring schedule to some degree. It is a never-ending battle for Major League Baseball, to accommodate spring training while still keeping the WBC schedule on track. It’s not a perfect system, so certainly expect baseball officials to continue to tweak the schedule every tournament until they find the best possible schedule. Read the rest of this entry
How Jon Daniels Turned the Rangers into a Perennial Playoff Contender
Thursday January 26th, 2012
Sam Evans: As hard as it is to rank GM’s in baseball, Texas General Manager Jon Daniels has to be considered one of the best in the game. Daniels hasn’t been perfect running the Rangers, but he’s been as close as you can get. He has completely turned around the direction of the Rangers franchise and he’s due to receive much of the credit for the recent success of the franchise.
Jon Daniels got his start in baseball as an intern for the Rockies in 2001. In 2004, he was named the Rangers assistant GM. Then, in 2005, Jon Daniels became the youngest General Manager in baseball history. Right after Daniels took over, he made a gutsy trade: moving Alfonso Soriano, the Rangers best player to the Washington Nationals.
In 2005, it had been six years since the Rangers made the playoffs. Now, seven years later, the Rangers have made two straight World Series appearances. Not to mention they have had one of the best farm systems in baseball for the last four years. It seems like every time the Rangers graduate prospects to the majors, there are even more future stars waiting in the wings.
Jon Daniels doesn’t deserve all the credit. His scouting department is the best in the majors (in my opinion). I recently watched a show about Gray wolves. The Gray wolf has evolved over the years and it has learned that hunting with fellow wolves is easier than hunting alone. Jon Daniels and his scouts are very similar to these wolves. The Rangers employ one of the largest scouting department in the majors. So similar to the wolves, the Rangers believe in strength in numbers.
The Rangers have an extremely diverse 40-man roster. Not even in terms of nationalities, but in how the Rangers acquired each of the players. On the Rangers 40-man, 15 of their players were acquired via trade, 1 was acquired through the rule five draft, 7 were international free agents, only 4 were MLB free agents, and 1 was acquired from McDonald’s. Sorry, Mark Hamburger. I couldn’t help it. A large part of the Rangers success is because of the Jon Daniels and the ability of his scouts to recognize and acquire talent through all aspects of the game.
Most of Texas’s new talent is coming from overseas, Latin America in particular. Elvis Andrus, Jurickson Profar, and Ronald Guzman were all signed at a young age by the Rangers scouts. The Rangers haven’t been afraid to hand out large bonuses to get these talented youngsters to sign. Rangers outfielder Leonys Martin, for example, was signed to a record-setting 5-year, $15.5 million contract out of Cuba.
Texas recently signed Daniels through the 2015 season. So Rangers fans won’t have to worry about Daniels going anywhere. Thanks to Daniels and his staff, Texas will be a hard team to beat in 2012. They have depth at every position and more talented players close to the big leagues. At the rate the Rangers are producing talent, they’re not going anywhere. The Rangers are going to be a consistent playoff contender for a long time to come.
***Today’s feature was prepared by our Baseball Writer, Sam Evans. We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow Sam on Twitter***
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