|  | | The Farm Report -- 11/6/2008 | | By Scott Lucas November 6, 2008 | Greetings from Plano!
The More You Know
Outside of pitcher-friendly Dolphin Stadium, purported Texas trade target LHP
Scott Olsen has a career 5.35 ERA, a 6.02 RA, and has allowed a homer per 5.2 innings .
Baseball America will reveal its Texas Top Ten Prospects on December 8th.
Also, baseball awards become sillier every year.
Minor-League News
Not Rangers-related but perhaps of interest: Sugar Land has approved financing for a ballpark. Ballparkwatch.com suggests a franchise in the indy American Association (home of the Grand Prairie Air Hogs) as the most likely occupant.
Another possibility is Omaha’s AAA team, which is presently in discussions with Sarpy County, Nebraska, about a new field. The Royals won’t share the future home of the College World Series.
Frisco’s Dr. Pepper Ballpark won Baseball Digest’s award for best park improvements.
Former Bakersfield and Clinton manager Carlos Subero will manage the Inland Empire 66ers, a Dodgers affiliate in the Cal League. Charlie Hough remains as pitching coach.
Arizona Fall League
Big Story #1: As mentioned by Jamey, Justin Smoak has transferred to the Peoria Javelinas in order to play more often. After batting .364/.462/.727 in three games for Surprise, he’s hitting .286/.375/.476 for Peoria. Per John Sickels of Minor League Ball, “a Teixeira-like outcome is quite possible.”
Big Story #2: Julio Borbon has 13 walks in 80 appearances, a whopping 16% rate compared to the 5% he offered in Bakersfield and Frisco. Sure, it’s a small sample, but why not be pleased? Borbon has a seven-game hitting streak during which he’s hitting .413/.500/.655. Last Saturday, he thumped his first AFL homer off Pittsburgh hurler Jared Hughes.
John Whittleman and Chad Tracy continue to struggle. Tracy homered in consecutive games last week but donned a golden sombrero on Halloween and is batting .158/.179/.368. Poor Whittleman has three singles and three walks (.075/.140/.075) since homering in his first AFL at-bat.
John Bannister (2.84 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) has fanned 16 of his last 47 batters faced (34%). He and Willie Eyre are the only AFL Rangers eligible for the Rule 5 draft.
Andrew Laughter (1.64 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) has four consecutive scoreless appearances. Beau Jones (6.35 ERA, 1.41 WHIP) had a nice 2.1-inning, 4 SO outing last Monday, after which he’s given up a run in two innings. Eyre (6.75 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) allowed two runs, walked none, and struck out three in three innings on Halloween.
Liga Dominicana
Jose Vallejo went 1-3 and played second base for Azucareros del Este last Thursday. Warner Madrigal (9.82 ERA, 2.45 WHIP) has allowed runs in three of four outings. Recently re-signed Alfredo Gonzalez has walked four in 5.2 innings but not suffered from them (1.59 ERA). Dustin Nippert (2.84 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) yielded three runs in three innings on Tuesday. He’s fanned 21 in 19 innings.
Liga Mexicana del Pacifico
Brandon Boggs replaced Steven Murphy on Los Yaquis de Obregon and is hitting .207/.294/.345 in eight games.
Liga Venezolana
Max Ramirez has produced a line reminiscent of late-period Mark McGwire: .182/.341/.545 in nine games. Ramirez has homered in three of his last five games; in fact, four of his six hits are long balls. He also owns a 39% SO rate. Renny Osuna (.087/.241/.217) went 1-5 last Saturday in his first start since mid-October. Ben Harrison is batting .310/.341/.500 during an 11-game hit streak.
Omar Poveda has a couple of recent scoreless one-inning stretches after opening the season with two runs on his ledger.
For Magellan’s Navigators, Elvis Andrus is hitting .250/.311/.304 in 15 games.
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| NEWS FLASH! 9/2/2010 3:28:17 PM- Magic number drops to 20, and we pass the savings on to you.
Read | NEWS FLASH! 9/2/2010 7:10:21 AM- Column on TexasRangers.com and footage from the Game-Watching Party.
Read | |
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 Scott Lucas Scott Lucas was born in Arlington, Texas, to Richard and Becky Lucas. He lived mostly in Arlington before moving to Austin, where he graduated from The University of Texas. Scott works for Austin Valuation Consultants, Ltd., and has published several boring articles about real estate appraisal and environmental contamination. He makes a swell margarita and refuses to run longer than ten kilometres. |
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