Okay, so maybe yesterday was an off-day for the Rangers. But it wasn’t the complete baseball vacume that some off-days can be. That’s because I still had the Oklahoma Redhawks (the Rangers AAA affiliate) season-opener to listen to on MiLB.com gameday audio, which is free on MiLB.com. Great little feature, since all you have to do is register at the site, and you can keep an ear on some of the Rangers top prospects (and of course, a few deadbeets like Kevin Mench).
Pretty dramatic game for the Redhawks, too – it was tied 3-3 after the Redhawks rallied back from a 3-0 defacit in the 5th inning, and it stayed that way until Ryan Roberts hit a walkoff single up the middle that scored Jarrod Saltalamacchia from second in the bottom of the 10th inning. The call at the plate was disputed, of course, but by all accounts I’ve heard, Salty was indeed under the tag.
Among the noteworthy performances in the game: Eric Hurley, the Rangers #1 pitching prospect, had a so-so day on the mound, allowing 3 runs, but striking out 7 over 5 innings, and a couple familiar faces from Arlington, Kam Loe and Wes Littleton each tossed two scoreless frames. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (remember him?) was 1-4 with a bloop double, and a HBP in his AAA debut, and of course scored the winning run. Not exactly the most noteworthy of debuts for our displaced young catcher, but I’m sure he’ll crank it up – with the way Gerald Laird has been playing so far, I’m hoping it won’t be long before Salty is back where he belongs.
In some more AAA-related news, RF Nelson Cruz, who did not make the Texas roster this spring and was DFA’d, has cleared waivers, and is being sent to OKC.
I admit, I’m a little suprised by this, as Cruz was once a hot commodity, and a regarded prospect – I was fairly sure one of the 29 other MLB teams would take a chance on Cruz, who is still a fine athelete, albeit not a very prodctive one. But it appears his age (he’ll be 28 July 1st) and lack of success in the Majors have taken more out of his value than I had estemated, and dropped him to a guy that nobody even wants to claim off waivers and put on their 25-man roster and take a chance with.
It’s still a nice development though, as Cruz makes good AAA depth, but as my friend Joey Matschulat, over at Baseball Time in Arlington notes this morning:
“Cruz is unlikely to reemerge as a legitimate outfield option at the big league level for Texas, but he’s not the worst emergency backup in the world to have lying around the farm – and if nothing else, his torrid offensive pace at AAA-ball over the last three seasons (.269/.382/.490 in 208 AB in 2005, .302/.378/.528 in 371 AB in 2006, and .352/.428/.698 in 162 AB in 2007) suggests he’ll play a vital role in helping to fulfill any Pacific Coast League championship aspirations the Redhawks might possess in 2008.”
Maybe he and Kevin Mench can become buds, no?
Robinson Tejeda, the other guy whom was DFA’d along with Cruz, is still being shopped around by the Rangers right now – reportedly, the Mets may have some interest, so perhaps Jon Daniels can squeeze some margin of value out of Tejeda, whom in my estimation (which has already proven faulty, but still) would most defintely get claimed by a team looking for some bullpen or even rotation help once he’s put on waivers.
Last, please be sure to enjoy this fluff article from TR Sullivan on my favorite catcher Gerald Laird. Here’s an excerpt that caught my eye:
“I was trying to earn money for a camping trip,” Laird said. “My dad and his buddy were laying 5,000 blocks to build a wall and I’d be the guy who carried the blocks to them so they could lay them down. He paid me hourly. I remember one time I had accumulated the hours and I got enough for my fishing pole, so I went to sleep in the back of the truck.
“He found me and started laughing. From that day forward he said, ‘I hope you make it getting a job in baseball or you’re going to starve.’”
Thank God Gerald’s been able to avoid that.
Later tonight, Kason Gabbard faces off with Dustin Mosely and the hated Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - let’s hope our offense wakes up, because if spring training was any indicator, we’re gonna need it with Gabbard out there. As always, Go Rangers!
