Through three and a half innings on Thursday night, it looked like the win streak was going to come to an end for the Texas Rangers.
Going into the home half of the fourth, the Rangers were down 5-1 after the Pirates had opened the game with four runs in the very first inning against Rangers starter Scott Feldman.
But the Rangers kept whittling away at the lead and eventually tied the game with two runs in the seventh thanks to a Michael Young RBI triple and an RBI single from Ian Kinsler.
The game would stay that way until Vladimir Guerrero sent the Ranger fans home happy with a walk-off, game winning single in the ninth, scoring Elvis Andrus. Andrus worked a one-out walk and advanced to third after a single from Michael Young and a fly-out by Ian Kinsler.
Now, with the win streak at 11 games, and getting a little help thanks to a 10-6 win by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Angels, their lead in the AL West is now at four and a half games.
With this win streak, could this possibly bring all the trade talk to an end?
The Rangers are currently going through bankruptcy proceedings and on Thursday, they were ordered into mediation with the creditors, which will push back the deadline of the sale past Major League Baseball’s trade deadline.
There had been several rumors that had Roy Oswalt possibly headed to the Texas Rangers. Evan Grant and Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News went as far as to say that the Rangers were the front-runners to land the Houston right-hander.
Now, it looks like the Rangers aren’t front runners to land anyone at this point. However, 105.3 FM in Dallas discussed the possibility of landing Seattle left-hander Cliff Lee and referenced a twitter conversation between David Cameron of USSMariner.com and Jamey Newberg of The Newberg Report .
In the conversation, Cameron asked Newberg what players might be involved if the Rangers were to make a deal for Lee. Newberg brought up three different players, one of which was Chris Davis, along with Martin Perez, a 19-year-old left-hander currently in Double-A Frisco, and another lesser prospect.
So it begs this question: If those are the three players that could be involved in a deal, and assuming that Seattle will accept those three players, would you make that deal for a three-month rental?
Let’s not forget that there’s a slim to none chance that Cliff Lee signs a long term deal with the Rangers, so you can pretty much forget having him past October.
If I’m the Rangers, I’m not hesitating for a second before I make that deal.
The Rangers are not getting what they thought they would out of Scott Feldman, who was their top starter last year, and you’re without both Rich Harden and Derek Holland for an extended amount of time.
Adding a guy like Cliff Lee would just about sew up the AL West division. You can pretty much hand the division title to the Rangers unless the Angels go out and add Roy Oswalt and Prince Fielder, in which case I would say all bets are off and let the best man win.
Here’s the question that I would ask:
There’s no guarantee that the Mariners are going to take that deal or even consider moving him to a division rival. So, assuming that Lee isn’t heading southeast to Dallas/Fort Worth, are the Rangers good enough to stand pat and still win the division?
Does this win streak mean that this team is for real and that they can win with what they have?
If the Angels make the aforementioned moves that I brought up before, adding Oswalt and Fielder, can the Rangers still hold them off?
Oswalt makes the Angels a heck of a lot more dangerous than they currently are. Adding a power pitcher that steps into a rotation that already boasts Jered Weaver, the Angels are definitely ten times better than they currently are. We also know that they are in need of a first baseman after the injury to Kendry Morales. Adding Fielder gives them that, as well as a whole lot more power in the lineup.
The AL West would go right down to the last week if the Angels make that move and the Rangers stand pat.
I know that Ranger fans always say that the team folds after the All-Star break, but let’s be honest, this is not the same Ranger team that has folded in the past. Those Ranger teams didn’t have Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, and Michael Young all in the same lineup.
I know fans are getting jumped on, especially yesterday, by some of the on air guys around the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and maybe rightfully so. With the team having won nine straight going into its game on Wednesday, The Ballpark at Arlington only had just over 33,600 confirmed fans for that night.
You’d think a first place team with a nice win streak going would draw more fans than that. What makes this even sadder is it was “dollar hot dog night” at the ballpark, which more than likely drew more fans than would normally be there on any other night.
Before you Ranger fans come on here and say “it’s too hot,” I’ll use a phrase that’s been coined by Greg Henson on 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas: “Shake yourself, Ranger fans.”
Last night, with the team already up three and a half games on the Angels in the AL West, the attendance in Arlington, Texas was 19,567. Ouch. The Houston Astros drew more at their ballpark (26,662) on Thursday night against the San Francisco Giants. It was 91 degrees at game time in New York and the Mets still drew over 31,000.
If the Dallas Cowboys had run off 11-straight wins, the airwaves would be buzzing around here with bandwagon fans coming out of the woodwork in droves.
Instead, the airwaves are pretty quiet with very few people wanting to talk about the Rangers. Unless you get called out by the on-air guys in town, then you come out with just about every excuse you can find, most of the excuses being “it’s too hot.” But that’s just fine to the players, they figure you’ll come around, if only for playoff time.
Because even if it’s hot outside, you’ll still show up at the ballpark, wear your Texas gear, and become the fans you should have been all season long.
This team may not be able to make a trade at the deadline, but if they don’t fold after the All-Star break like so many think they will, will you start coming around then? Or will your excuse still be, “it’s too hot?”
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