text:
June 2010
Good Scheppers.
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It wasn't Colby
Lewis's best start of the season, but close to it.
But his eight-pitch
at-bat in the sixth inning, facing off against Milwaukee righthander Yovani Gallardo,
was one of the great Rangers' at-bats of the season.
With Texas ahead,
2-1, Vladimir Guerrero singled and Josh Hamilton doubled to lead off the inning. Justin Smoak then struck out looking and Max
Ramirez went down swinging, and Gallardo probably felt like he'd all but
with punchless number
eight hitter Andres Blanco and Lewis slated to hit. Brewers manager Ken Macha put Blanco on
first, asking Gallardo to get Lewis out to end the inning.
Gallardo – top 10 in
the National League in strikeouts (and ERA) – snapped off a curve that broke
more than a foot to start the at-bat, and Lewis swung through it. Lewis then looked at a 94-mph fastball that missed
a bit outside. Then he fouled off
another sharp curve. And fouled off
another 94-mph heater. And fouled off
another curve. And watched a curve that
Gallardo buried in the dirt. And fouled
yet another 94-mph fastball.
And Lewis then did
bad things to a curve that broke 12 inches but stayed inside, raking it just inside
the bag at third base and down the line for a two-run single to give himself
and his teammates a 4-1 lead.
Gallardo then struck
Elvis Andrus out, just as he'd done with Smoak and Ramirez earlier in the
C.J. Wilson faces
Josh Johnson tomorrow night, and has immediately fallen far behind Lewis in the
battle for starting pitcher bragging rights at the plate.
Alexi Ogando didn't
pitch yesterday (why Frankie Francisco was called on to pitch the ninth inning
of a 7-2 contest, in a day game after a night game in which he'd thrown 26
pitches, I'm not sure). But Tanner
Scheppers did.
Ryan Aber of the Daily Oklahoman and Bob Hersom of
OKCRedhawks.com shed some light on the Rangers' plan with Scheppers, who made
his first minor league start yesterday and held Albuquerque scoreless on two
hits (by ex-big leaguers Michael Restovich and Nick Green) and no walks,
fanning a pair of Isotopes (ex-big leaguers Jay Gibbons and Restovich). Meanwhile, Oklahoma City spanked Vicente
Padilla for six runs (four earned) in his 5.2 rehab innings.
Scheppers threw 55
pitches, 37 for strikes. Of his 40
fastballs, a number touched 99 mph, and he mixed in a good curve and
inconsistent change. In blanking the
Isotopes, he lowered his RedHawks ERA to 1.57 and his opponents' batting average
to .188. In 23 AAA innings, he's walked
10 and punched out 29. The 23-year-old
righty has now faced 28 straight hitters without a base on balls.
RedHawks pitching coach
Terry Clark told Aber and Hersom that the organization's plan for Scheppers is
to make three more starts at about four innings apiece (which would bring him
to 46 innings between AA and AAA for the year).
He'll then be shut down for a week (just as he was early this month),
and make another four starts at five innings each, which would raise his total
to 66 innings as of the last week or so of July.
At that point –
assuming Scheppers hasn't first been summoned to the big league bullpen – Texas
will be right up against the trade deadline, having blueprinted about 35 or 40 more
2010 innings for Scheppers. A majority,
if not all, of those innings will probably come in the Texas bullpen. The plan is for Scheppers to help the Rangers
in relief this year, and in a best case, in their rotation next year, when the
organization believes he'll be ready to log 150-200 innings. The timing of all this is interesting, given
that Texas might be weighing opportunities to trade for another power arm to
stick in the bullpen for the stretch run – but they might have the right guy in
AAA right now.
The big league focus
is on this week's series in Florida and Houston, as it should be, but when you get
looks at Ogando and Scheppers this summer, with Tommy Hunter and Neftali Feliz
and Derek Holland ahead of them and Martin Perez and Blake Beavan and Pedro
Strop behind them, it's going to be hard not to think about where this pitching
staff is headed over the next couple years.
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(c) Jamey Newberg
Harden to DL. Ogando to Texas.
I promise objectivity with this report.
In 2003, one was on the fast track for Oakland,
starting the season pitching in AA and moving quickly up to AAA before getting
to the big leagues in the middle of the season.
The other was A's property as well, a tools monster who flashed
brilliance on the field but in whom Oakland didn't really know what they
had. He was an outfielder known as Argenis
Today, they're together again but now in Texas,
and the roles have reversed. The latter is
no longer an outfielder but instead a pitcher, no longer Argenis Benitez but
instead Alexi Ogando, and he's the AA-to-AAA-to-Arlington fast-tracker, while
Rich Harden, a rookie phenom in 2003, is someone that, despite all his obvious tools
and occasional glimpses that they're still in there somewhere, is a complete
mystery, at best.
Alexi Ogando has been recalled and will join
the Rangers bullpen, after an odyssey to the big leagues like few others, and
Rich Harden has been removed from the rotation (with no announced replacement
yet) and parked on the disabled list, victim of a left gluteal muscle strain.
My pledge of objectivity prohibits me from the
obvious follow-up line.
On tap.
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Josh on tap no more
On and off and on and off
Whatever works, man
Here's the funny thing.
When Josh Hamilton started the 2009 season, at the urging of Rudy
Jaramillo, by ditching the toe-tap that he used throughout his storybook 2008 campaign,
the experiment lasted a dozen games (.229/.283/.354). Readopting the toe-tap for the balance of the
2009 season, he hit a more respectable .274/.321/.438 the rest of the way.
In 2010, maintaining the toe-tap, Hamilton seemed to be
going just fine through the end of May (.281/.335/.500). But Clint Hurdle then persuaded him to drop the
toe-tap again, and since that time he's a .436/.450/.846 hitter in 39 at-bats.
In his three Rangers seasons, Hamilton is a .293/.352/.501
hitter in 1,104 toe-tappin' at-bats. He's
a .322/.355/.575 hitter in 87 tapless at-bats.
It's pretty clear that the key for Hamilton is not whether
he's tapping his toe, but instead that his head's right at the plate. Right now, he's as locked in as he's ever
been as a Ranger, whereas the last time he went without the mechanism he's
going without now, he struggled terribly.
He seems like the type of player who can cripple himself by overthinking
things. See it, hit it.
We all know Vladimir Guerrero was the all-time Rangers killer
in Arlington. In 193 at-bats as a visiting
player, he hit .394/.471/.705 in Rangers Ballpark.
This year he's hitting .381/.407/.669 at home.
What a monster.
Speaking of which, the Smoak Monster is hitting .400/.514/.667
in 30 June at-bats.
(I found this interesting: Smoak is up to .222/.339/.389
overall. Frequent comp Mark Teixeira is
at .226/.341/.391.)
Meanwhile, Julio Borbon is 13 for his last 24
(.542/.538/.667), and like Smoak just about every one of hits (and several of
his outs) lately have been barreled.
But Ian Kinsler is hitting .192/.288/.231 in his last 52
at-bats (and that's with several fluky base hits among the 10 he's had). I'm not sure I can remember him looking this
uncomfortable at the plate, mechanically.
Still, no team in baseball is hitting at anywhere near the
level that Texas is in June. The club's
.329 average is the only mark in the big leagues over .300 this month, and its
.499 slug is percentage points higher than Boston's and far ahead of everyone
All other things equal, bullpens tend to come into play more
often in National League parks, and Tommy Hunter, while not as sharp as he was
Saturday when he went the distance against Tampa Bay, gave the club a solid six
last night and set up an uncomplicated night for the relief crew. Darren Oliver (three strikeouts), Darren O'Day
(one strikeout), and Frankie Francisco (one strikeout) were perfect over an
inning each (throwing a first-pitch strike to all but one Mariner over that stretch),
and the pen is relatively rested going into this stretch of nine NL games in 10
days, all on the road.
In fact, in the four-game series Texas just completed, O'Day
is the only pitcher on the staff who pitched twice (one perfect inning on
Tuesday and another on Thursday, 23 strikes out of 31 pitches). That's remarkable.
Hunter's effort was the rotation's third straight quality
start, after Colby Lewis (one Seattle run) and C.J. Wilson (two runs) each delivered
seven solid innings.
Hunter is going to have a long career starting big league baseball
Oliver since May 8: one earned run (0.59 ERA) on eight hits
(.160 opponents' average) and four walks in 15.1 innings, with 22
strikeouts. He's fanned nine of the last
13 batters he's faced.
Francisco over the same stretch: three earned runs (1.98
ERA) on nine hits (.188 opponents' average) and three unintentional walks in
13.2 innings, with 23 strikeouts.
Ichiro in the four-game series against Texas: 1 for 15, and an
official scorer's changed ruling away from a hitless trip.
But you were betting on Borbon getting five more hits in
three games than Ichiro did in four in this series.
Ron Washington plans to start Guerrero in right field every
other day in Milwaukee and Florida, getting two starts in each of those
three-game series. He hasn't revealed
his plans for Guerrero's usage in Houston next weekend.
In 45 at-bats in Milwaukee's Miller Park, Guerrero is a
.356/.431/.667 hitter. In Florida's Sun
Life Stadium, his slash line is .305/.350/.515 in 167 at-bats.
It looks like Nelson Cruz (hamstring) won't be back Tuesday
as planned. He felt some soreness behind
his left knee running the bases yesterday, got a cortisone shot, and will head
out on a rehab assignment, at the soonest, early next week.
Derek Holland, after cutting a 30-pitch side session short
after 17 pitches on Wednesday, says he's fine and should throw again today.
Incidentally, when Oklahoma City
righthander Tanner Scheppers makes his first start as a Rangers prospect on Sunday,
his Albuquerque opposition will be Vicente Padilla, who made rehab starts for
High A Inland Empire on June 3 and June 8.
Los Angeles is expected to activate Padilla after Sunday's start.
Brandon McCarthy is back on the AAA disabled list with inflammation
in his right shoulder.
Righthander Danny Gutierrez, having served out his 50-game banned
substance suspension (after testing positive for a prescribed ADHD medication
that he didn't secure a therapeutic use exemption for), made his 2010 debut in relief
for Low A Hickory last night, giving up a run on a single, double, and two
walks in an inning of work.
Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago is at it again, suggesting that
Texas has "serious interest" in White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski.
(Yeah, yeah, Pierzynski gains 10-and-5 rights on
Sunday. Too much is being made of
that. He already has some level of
no-trade protection. And knowing he's
not going to be asked back this winter by Chicago, as Tyler Flowers gets closer
[despite a current month-long AAA slump], he has plenty of reason to accept a
trade to a contender and try to rehabilitate his market value.)
(I still don't want him.)
Cleveland released righthander Jamey Wright.
Boosted by the just-completed 5-2 homestand, Texas has the best
home record in the American League (23-11).
On the road (10-16), however, only
Seattle (8-20) and Baltimore (6-25) are worse.
But Milwaukee (10-17) is the worst home team in baseball,
and Florida (17-15) and Houston (14-20) are in the back half as well.
Something's gotta give in these next nine, and with Texas clicking
on all cylinders right now, this road trip is set up for the club to get that
road W/L healthier and extend what is now a 1.5-game cushion on the Angels and
two games on Oakland.
Important road swing on tap.
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(c) Jamey Newberg
Good day.
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Total wins by a
margin of at least five runs out of the Rangers' first 29 victories: Three.
Total wins by a
margin of at least five runs out of the Rangers' last three victories: Three.
Number of times in 2007 an opponent held Ichiro Suzuki to
one hit over three consecutive games: Eleven. (Texas was one of them.)
Number of times in 2008 and 2009 combined an opponent held
Ichiro Suzuki to one hit over three consecutive games: Three. (Texas was one of them.)
Number of times in 2010 an opponent has held Ichiro Suzuki
to one hit over three consecutive games: One.
(Monday, Tuesday, and last night.)
If the official scorer hadn't reversed his ruling and
awarded Ichiro a fifth-inning double on what was originally ruled a Justin
Smoak error, we'd be looking at the first time since April 2006 that one team
has held Ichiro hitless three straight days.
Texas has won 11 of 13 games in the red jerseys this year.
Derek Holland had to cut short his first bullpen session since
left rotator cuff inflammation forced him to the disabled list. His 30-pitch session yesterday lasted 17
pitches before he complained of a "minor pinch" in his shoulder.
Rangers third-round pick Jordan Akins, a toolsy outfielder from
Union Grove High School in Georgia, told UCFSports.com that he has agreed to
sign with Texas for $350,000, forgoing a football-baseball scholarship to the University
of Central Florida. If the figure is
accurate, it appears to be right at or maybe slightly over slot.
Texas took bench coach Jackie Moore's son, Johnathan Moore,
in the 45th round yesterday.
The Houston Baptist catcher hit .355 with six home runs and 51 RBI in 54
games this season.
The Rangers' 39th-round pick yesterday, University
of Alabama-Birmingham righthander Ryan Woolley, was taken in the sixth round a
year ago (by Atlanta) but didn't sign. The
Rangers' fourth-round pick in 2007, outfielder Garrett Nash, was chosen yesterday
by Arizona, also in the 39th round, 15 picks before Texas tabbed
Woolley. Nash has been on a Mormon
mission the past two years.
Matt Purke is the Louisville Slugger NCAA Freshman Pitcher
of the Year. He's gone 13-0, 3.40 for
TCU, fanning 122 and walking 27 in 95.1 innings. The Horned Frogs are in Austin for the NCAA
Super Regionals tomorrow through Sunday.
Anyone have local TV details?
On Monday, the Washington Nationals drafted Bryce
Harper. On Tuesday, they got the
greatest debut in the history of mankind from Stephen Strasburg. On Wednesday, they signed Jason Botts to a minor
league contract. The 29-year-old, who was hitting .342/.444/.530
in 149 at-bats for the Camden Riversharks of the independent Atlantic League,
joins AAA Syracuse, where his teammates will include Kevin Mench and where his hitting
coach will be Jerry Browne.
Florida designated Mike Lamb for assignment to make room for
outfield phenom Mike Stanton.
No MLB.com column this week.
I'm still recovering from the draft.
Our next Fox Sports Southwest in-game chat will probably be
June 30, when Texas visits the Angels.
You're 18 years old. In
one day:
You get an authentic Rangers jersey with your name on it, number
1 or number 21.
You and your family get to hang out in a room with Nolan
You get to meet a bunch of Rangers players and then watch
them – from a suite behind home plate – explode offensively, pitch well, and
play great defense. You dream of one day
playing on that field, in a game like that.
You get interviewed by Jim Knox.
Your parting gift: Someone agrees to pay you seven figures.
Good day, eh?
Photo/Max Faulkner/FWST
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(c) Jamey Newberg
Of Elvis Andrus, Mark Teixeira, and the draft.
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Coasting to a win like that has been nearly as rare this season
for Texas as Draft Day – the Rangers have only five wins of at least five runs,
including their last two victories – and while Texas 7, King Felix 1 probably
won't even get as much local play as The Strasburg Debut, it showcased several
really positive things:
1. Two
of the finest free agents signings anywhere in the league this winter: Colby
Lewis and Vladimir Guerrero.
2. The
continuing coming into focus of Justin Smoak, at the plate and around the bag.
game in which the manager was comfortably able to give Ian Kinsler and Michael
Young some late rest.
4. The
best shortstop in the American League.
Elvis Andrus, whose defense I'd take over any other
shortstop in the league, whose offense I'd take over any other shortstop in the
league, and whose future I'd take over almost any other player in the league,
is not only younger than two of the five Rangers prospects who were named Low A
South Atlantic League All-Stars this week (outfielder Miguel Velazquez and
reliever Trevor Hurley, who were selected along with starters Robbie Ross,
Robbie Erlin, and Matt Thompson), but also younger than five of the players the
Rangers drafted yesterday.
Think about that.
He's also two years younger than Frisco left-handed reliever
Beau Jones, who in 13.1 RoughRider innings has scattered six hits and one walk
while striking out 19, and coaxing more groundouts than flyouts.
The Mark Teixeira Trade would have been just fine if it
produced Andrus alone. Getting Neftali Feliz as well makes it a landmark
deal. Toss in Matt Harrison and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Atlanta's top
pitching prospect and top position player prospect at the time, neither of whom
we really know about yet, and it's closing in on Herschel Walker Trade
If Jones – reportedly added to the deal at the last minute
at Jon Daniels's insistence, given a bout of Harrison shoulder soreness
following his AA start six days earlier – makes it to Arlington, giving Texas
five big leaguers out of five, including Andrus and Feliz, the trade becomes
even more extraordinary.
Maybe not 7-4-2-2-0-14 extraordinary, but any general
manager would have drafted Stephen Strasburg if they had the number one pick
last year. I'm not sure how many front offices would have been able to
pull the Teixeira Trade off.
If the drafting on Monday of Jake Skole (first round) and on
Tuesday of high school outfielder Jordan Akins (third round), both two-sport
college commits, allows Texas to create even more of a budget surplus by
amortizing their signing bonuses out over five years, and if some of that
surplus can be used at trade deadline time, whether this team is out of
bankruptcy by that time or not, the chances are obviously better that this
season will extend beyond 162 games that count.
It's going to take playoff baseball – winning playoff
baseball – for the Mark Teixeira Trade to share ground with the Herschel Walker
But that's about all that separates them right now.
Last night's excellent Rangers win included contributions
from several former first-round picks (Lewis, Smoak, Josh Hamilton, David
Murphy, and Julio Borbon), but there was also a former 17th-rounder
(Ian Kinsler) hitting third and an undrafted free agent (Darren O'Day) getting
the final three outs.
Whether Texas found another Kinsler in yesterday's second through
30th rounds, or keeps another O'Day from sliding through the draft
altogether in today's 31st through 50th, we won't know
for a while.
And though we've said it before, as much as I dig the
baseball draft, give me a year like this every time, when the draft is
incidental to what's going on in Arlington. I'm excited about Skole and
Kellin Deglan and Luke Jackson and Cody Buckel and Akins and Justin Grimm and
Zack Osborne, not to mention Garrett Buechele (18th round) and the
fascinating but likely unsignable Brian Ragira (30th round), who is
expected to matriculate from Arlington Martin to Stanford, but my mind is now
refocused on C.J. Wilson against Ian Snell, and Tommy Hunter against Ryan
Big thanks to Scott Lucas for his outstanding, instant news
flashes on each of the Rangers' first eight draft picks Monday and Tuesday, and
to Eleanor Czajka for once again putting together a one-stop information store
for the entire Texas draft class on her
Minor Details blog, where you can find player profiles, scouting video, and
industry evaluations on each of the Rangers' 2010 picks.
The draft concludes today, after which work on getting the
majority of the club's 53 picks signed and ready for short-season game action
gets underway.
But in the meantime, there are two more at home against
Seattle, with the Angels and A's each within a game of the division lead and
facing each other for two more themselves, after which Texas moves into a 15-game
stretch against the National League (Milwaukee, Florida, Houston, Pittsburgh,
Houston again), a real chance to fatten up against nothing but under-.500 clubs
while the Angels get the Dodgers and Rockies and the A's get the Cardinals and
Reds over the same two and a half weeks.
I'll be at the Ballpark these next two nights, watching a
former fifth-rounder and former supplemental first-rounder take the mound to
try and help nail down a series win over the Mariners, with an undrafted kid
from Venezuela doing his thing, as he does most nights, at shortstop and atop
the order, to make the Rangers' future, tonight and next year and four years
from now, something worth investing in.
To join the free Newberg Report mailing list so you can get
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(c) Jamey Newberg
Recapping Day One of the Rangers draft.
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You can look at the top
of the Rangers' 2010 draft class in one of two ways.
You can fixate on the
fact that the club's picks at 15, 22, 45, and 49 were ranked by Baseball America, two weeks ago, as (respectively)
unranked, 51st, 126th, and 98th on the
publications assessment of the draft's top 200 prospects.
Or you can note that
the Rangers' first three picks were each speculated at some point in the week
leading up to the draft by either Jim Callis of BA, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, or Keith Law of ESPN to be the Rangers'
first overall selection at 15, and that two of the players were considered to
be riding the most helium on draft boards in the last couple weeks.
You can view the apparent fact that, according to several
sources overnight, the Rangers were on the verge of coming to terms with their first
two picks – at slot or lower – as a sign that (1) they were overdrafted strictly
because of their signability, or (2) the Rangers have gotten off to a great start
by locking down those two down, giving them some cost certainty as they head
into the remaining 49 rounds without having dipped into the $1-2 million pad
they have budgeted for going over slot throughout the draft class.
Is outfielder-defensive back Jake Skole the next Grady Sizemore? Or the next K.C. Herren?
Can Kellin Deglan buck the odds at the most difficult
position to draft well at (as Peter
Gammons wrote on Saturday: "The 35-year history of the Draft is lined with
monumental mistakes selecting catchers")?
Is flamethrowing Florida righthander Luke Jackson the next
Eric Hurley? Or the next Shane Funk?
With several high-profile pitchers still on the board, and
Tommy Mendonca a year into his pro career, was the selection of Mike Olt a
duplicative shot taken on a power/defense third baseman with hit tool questions,
or a worthwhile effort to add another slug prospect to a system relatively thin
in that area?
In the baseball draft, there are often more than just two
sides to every coin, particularly before the players even get on a plane. This year that feels more true than usual, when
compared with recent drafts that had a Justin Smoak or Tanner Scheppers to wrap
our arms around instantly, or even a signability decision like Rick Porcello or
Matt Purke to get the talk shows fired up about. In spite of the Rangers' firepower (four of
the first 49 picks) and handicap (budgetary issues reportedly handcuffing the
club more than in recent drafts), most experts probably won't single Texas out –
at least through the first and supplemental first rounds – on a short list of
the winners or the losers around the league.
It's always wise to adopt a "time will tell" attitude on any
baseball draft, but with the top of this Rangers class, it seems almost obligatory. Even without a Smoak or Porcello story to get
in the way of a good Tony Romo golf segment on local radio this morning, any or
all of the Rangers' four picks last night could end up factoring in heavily to
the big picture – or all four could disappoint.
The Rangers' four Day One selections:
(15th overall, pick awarded for failure
to sign 2009 1st-rounder Matt Purke). JAKE SKOLE, OF,
Blessed Trinity High School (Ga.) (scout: Ryan Coe)
year's first-round pick: Matt Purke; recent Rangers first-round picks include
Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan, Michael Main, Kasey Kiker, Thomas Diamond, Mark
Teixeira, John Danks, Carlos Pena; best number 15 pick in last 25 years: Chase
Utley [Phillies, 2000])
Jake Skole, safety prospect.
In football, at least.
In baseball? Maybe not.
Georgia Tech wanted Skole as a defensive back, offering the First-Team
All-State selection a full scholarship to play safety for the Ramblin' Wreck as
well as an invitation to walk onto the baseball squad in the spring, where he'd
be teammates with his brother Matt, an All-Conference third baseman who just
completed his sophomore season at the school.
But was his selection by the Rangers last night a safe
one? Judging by his placement (if at
all) on the various mock drafts published the last few weeks, and by his reportedly
imminent agreement to a signing bonus at or near slot, you might think so.
The Rangers deny it.
First-year scout Ryan Coe, who joined the Rangers in October
after coaching at Kennesaw State University since 1998 (he had former Ranger
Jason Jones in 1998-99), got to know Skole and his family when Skole was 12 years
old. There were scouts around the league
in on Skole when the 2010 season began, but none probably had a book on the kid
like Coe, who also coached Skole in summer camps.
Before Skole's high school senior season got underway, he
was nowhere to be found in BA's pre-season ranking of the top
100 high school draft prospects, or the top 20 outfielders. When he then tore ligaments in his ankle
three games into the season, getting tangled up with the opposing first baseman
as he was trying to beat out a bunt, he presumably fell off the radar for a lot
of clubs, and certainly the industry publications. The injury cost Skole nearly two months of
action and, combined with what was thought to be a solid commitment to the
Georgia Tech football program, much play during most of the mock draft season.
But he returned in time for Blessed Trinity's two-week playoff
run, and in six games he hit .452 with six home runs and 21 RBI. In what would be his final high school game,
on May 24 in the Georgia Class AA semifinals, Skole went 2 for 3 off of Cook County
High School righthander Kaleb Cowart, whose 97-mph fastball helped make him the
Angels' top pick last night, 18th overall. Skole singled and doubled off Cowart, barreling
the ball both times, and suddenly his name started showing up on mock drafts
and in blog write-ups. If anything, it
might have forced Texas to think of Skole with the 15th pick –
assuming he lasted that long (BA's Jim Callis wrote on Friday that
Toronto at number 11 was "one of a few clubs in on [the] fast-rising" outfielder,
and John Sickels suggested that Tampa Bay had strong interest at number 17) – rather
than waiting to use a later pick on him.
But regardless of where Skole thought he might go before his
late May high school heroics, he's apparently not inflating his price to the
point at which negotiations would drag on into nervous territory (as the 15th
pick, which was compensation for last year's unconverted Matt Purke selection,
would leave Texas empty-handed and without any 2011 compensation if it failed
to get a deal done by August 16 [unless the pick were a college senior]). Skole has reportedly already called Georgia
Tech football coach Paul Johnson to tell him he's not coming to school, and an
agreement with the Rangers could come this week, putting Skole in line to be in
uniform when the short-season leagues kick off later this month, assuming his
ankle is ready to go.
The Rangers will administer a physical before finalizing any
deal, but they're confident that the ankle is fine. Both sides are evidently prepared to agree to
something in the range of a slotted signing bonus (which would presumably fall
just short of $2 million). This won't be
like the Yankees' negotiations five years ago with fellow two-sport Georgia Tech
recruit Austin Jackson, who turned pro out of Denton Ryan High School for a
reported $800,000, which was a record figure for an eighth-round pick.
Incidentally, Skole won't need to actually play college
football for the five-year amortized bonus we discussed yesterday to be available. The league has to approve the five-year option
for two-sport players, and apparently it's a near-certainty for players like
Skole with demonstrable two-sport opportunities, even if they never play the second
A left-handed hitter who stands 6'1″, 188, Skole has shown raw
power and good bat speed, though he's had difficulty with offspeed pitches. A tremendous athlete who was timed at 3.79 to
first and 6.54 in the 60, he's generally graded as a corner outfielder but the
Rangers believe he can handle center field.
The future power grade and plus arm belie the occasional Johnny Damon comps,
and though he might not profile as complete a player as Grady Sizemore, that
name does come up, and not just because of the defensive back background.
As Skole develops, a J.D. Drew type of ceiling might make
more sense than a Damon upside, especially once the organization gets to work
on his swing mechanics. (And on that
point, don't be surprised or discouraged if Skole shows very little punch for a
month or so. The Rangers typically allow
a first-year player 75 or 100 at-bats before they start to modify his approach –
unless he asks for help sooner. For
reference, in past Newberg Reports there are well-documented stories about how the
club handled Chris Davis and Tommy Mendonca in their draft years.)
Kevin Goldstein's comment moments after the pick was straightforward:
"Skole is brilliant at 15. Tons of tools
and signable at 15. Just fantastic."
The Rangers insists that while the signability is a plus,
they chose Skole because he was at the top of their board when pick number 15
came up. Now, does that mean Zack Cox
and Stetson Allie, for instance, weren't on the board at all given their
anticipated bonus demands and the unprotected nature of the pick, or did Texas
simply prefer Skole from a talent standpoint?
We won't know that answer, just as we didn't for years regarding Minnesota's
choice of local prep Joe Mauer over Mark Prior and Mark Teixeira at the top of the
2001 draft, a decision that was widely characterized then as a signability concession.
Does Skole, who fairly or not will be inextricably linked to
Purke (just as Scheppers and Milton Bradley are connected), have Purke's upside? At this
point, no scout would say yes to that question.
But was Skole a signability pick?
The Rangers insist he wasn't. But the willingness to sign quickly does mean
we ought to start finding out about him right away, and that's something we can
all look forward to.
(22nd overall).
KELLIN DEGLAN, C, R.E. Mountain Secondary School (B.C., Canada) (scout:
Gary McGraw)
number 22 pick in last 25 years: Rafael Palmeiro [Cubs, 1985])
Just two years ago, Texas was thought to have more depth at
catcher than it knew what to do with. Every
national columnist was speculating as to which blue-chip pitching prospects around
the league Texas would be able to choose from by trading one if not two or
three of Gerald Laird, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, and Max Ramirez.
Daniels, rightfully so, said before the 2008 season:
"Catching certainly is the strength of our organization. We'll just let it play out. . . . Some people
may look at it as a logjam or that we have decisions to make, but I look at it
as you can't have enough of a good thing."
Today, Laird is gone, Saltalamacchia and Teagarden are
wearing AAA and AA uniforms, and Ramirez is in Texas, backing up a 34-year-old journeyman
getting the first chance of his career to be a frontline backstop.
Catching is hard to develop.
And risky to invest in. But the
Rangers have seen as much of Kellin Deglan as any club, and they believe he has
a chance to be a tremendous asset, both at the plate and behind it.
A product of a British Columbia high school that has no
baseball program, Deglan (who turned 18 last week) played for the Langley Blaze
of the wood bat British Columbia Premier Baseball League (which counts Rich
Harden, Justin Morneau, and Ryan Dempster as alums) as well as Canada's junior
national team, which traveled to the Dominican Summer League in May and faced clubs
that included the Rangers' Dominican affiliate.
His club also toured Arizona in March, passing through Surprise at one
point. (Deglan also spent a week living and
working out with Morneau this winter.)
Big at 6'2″, 200 but considered athletic for the position,
Deglan throws well and shows a feel for the game. He has good hands and quick feet, logging pop
times at or just under two seconds. The left-handed
hitter flashes plus power, and scouts believe he will compete with the bat,
though as with most catchers, patience will be required. Those makeup and leadership buzzwords will
pop up with Deglan, too, which of course is probably as important for catchers as
any other position.
Deglan's commitment to Florida International is moot, as he
has reportedly already agreed to a below-slot signing bonus of $1 million,
pending a physical later this week.
The Rangers system now boasts catching prospects from Venezuela
(Tomas Telis and Leonel De Los Santos), Mexico (Jose Felix), Australia (Guy Edmonds),
New Jersey (Vin DiFazio), Colombia (Jorge Alfaro), and British Columbia (Deglan). (Prediction: Texas drafts Columbia University
catcher Dean Forthun in the 50th round tomorrow. Not really.)
Would it have made more sense for Texas to roll the dice at number
22 on a riskier over-slot player like Cox or Allie or Anthony Ranaudo or Zach
Lee, since a failure to come to terms with the player would have meant extra
money to allocate to other picks (or July 2 international free agents) and an
extra first-round pick next year, when presumably the budgetary constraints
will be less onerous? Surely it was an
option the front office discussed, which must mean they love what Deglan brings
to the system and had no interest in forgoing the chance to add him to the fold
just to strengthen other parts of the draft or the budget in Latin America.
Especially when he was willing to sign for less than slot,
which will help with the rest of the draft and on July 2 without deferring the
pick for 12 months and losing that year of development.
(45, pick awarded for loss of Marlon Byrd).
LUKE JACKSON, RHP, Calvary Christian Academy HS (Fla.) (scout:
Juan Alvarez)
year's supplemental first-round pick: Tanner Scheppers; past Rangers
supplemental first-round picks include Julio Borbon, Tommy Hunter, Neil
Ramirez, Colby Lewis, Chad Hawkins; best number 45 pick in last 25 years:
Gerald Laird [Athletics, 1998])
Like Skole, Luke Jackson was a late riser, figuring in last
month as a possible third- or fourth-rounder before showing up yesterday as a "strong"
possibility for the Rangers at 15 or 22 (both according to Keith Law) or as
Florida's choice at 23 (Jim Callis). It's
not clear how easy a sign he'll be, as he has a commitment to pitch for the
University of Miami in the bag, though he has suggested he's motivated to turn
Jackson, a prep soccer player who didn't play baseball
year-round and who didn't take up pitching at all until the ninth grade, sat
91-94 with late life for scouts all spring, touching 96 late in the season (up
from 87-91 a year ago). His arm action
is clean and at 6'2″, 180 scouts believe there's projection for more (and for
workhorse durability), but an inconsistent 12-to-6 curve and changeup kept him
from sitting in the same pre-draft tier as fellow Florida prep pitchers Karsten
Whitson and A.J. Cole – though Cole remains on the board this morning, while Texas
made sure Jackson didn't get out of the supplemental first round.
The 18-year-old went 8-0, 0.90 with two saves in 10 starts
(including three shutouts) and four relief appearances for Calvary Christian
this spring. In 54.2 innings, he scattered
30 hits (.155 opponents' average) and 19 walks while setting 87 hitters down on
strikes. He drilled seven hitters and yielded
one home run. At the plate, Jackson hit
.308/.396/.436 in 78 at-bats, going deep twice and driving in 22 runs. Interestingly, he also committed 12 errors (five
on days he pitched).
There's objectively less pressure to convert on this pick
since it came in the supplemental first round rather than the first itself, but
the last two times Texas has had supplemental firsts, they've turned out to be
the key picks from those drafts. Last
year, Scheppers keyed the draft class (with first-rounder Matt Purke not
signing). In 2007, two of the club's
three supplemental firsts – Julio Borbon and Tommy Hunter – have paid off
sooner than first-rounders Blake Beavan and Michael Main, predictably so given
their relative stages of development when drafted.
Jackson won't fit into either category – he won't follow
first-rounders who fail to sign and he's not clearly further along
developmentally than the Rangers' top two picks – but there's no reason to
assume the Rangers don't have hopes just as high for the one pitcher they took
on Monday as for the other three players they selected.
(49, pick awarded for loss of Ivan
Rodriguez). MIKE OLT, 3B, Univ. of Connecticut (scout:
Jay Heafner)
number 49 pick in last 25 years: Carlos Beltran [Royals, 1995])
Tremendous raw power and premium defense at third base. Sound familiar?
The Rangers used a second-round pick last year (62nd
overall) on Fresno State third baseman Tommy Mendonca, who profiles in much the
same way that University of Connecticut third baseman Mike Olt does.
Olt comes to the Rangers having just set UConn's all-time home
run record with 44 – eclipsing the 43 that Jason Grabowski, the Rangers'
second-round pick in 1997, hit for the Huskies – but it's his defense that Baseball America
tabbed as third-best in the draft (at any position) and that Director of
Amateur Scouting Kip **** wanted to talk about last night: "We feel like [Olt] is
a premium defender at third base," said ****. "He profiles as a power bat, but his strength
is big-time defense."
Texas has spent early picks on third basemen with some
regularity the last few years, but Johnny Whittleman (second round, 2005) and
Matt West (second round, 2007) and Mendonca have each had their share of
struggles. In a system short on
productive corner bats, Olt will get a chance to establish himself as a reliable
defensive player whose bat will play at third.
Olt played shortstop as a freshman at Connecticut, hitting
.318 with 13 home runs and setting a school record with 61 RBI. He was named the top prospect in the New
England Collegiate League the following summer and then hit .301 (eight homers
and 40 RBI) as a sophomore, missing a third of the season with ankle and wrist
injuries. Healthier in 2010, Olt hit
.318/.401/.659 with 23 home runs and reestablished the school's season RBI mark
with 76.
The 21-year-old has good hands and feet, solid range, and a
strong arm from third. There are holes
in his right-handed swing – he struck out 54 times in 264 at-bats this season –
but the bat speed is there, and scouts believe in his approach at the plate and
coachability. It's been a long time since
third base was so uniformly thin in the big leagues, and in Olt the Rangers see
a player they obviously believe could give them an developmental asset, particularly
if he can make more consistent contact and take advantage of his power
potential while providing lockdown defense at third.
The second round kicks off at 11:00 this morning, with Texas
picking 72nd overall. The club
then picks at 103 in the third round, 136 in the fourth round, and every 30
picks thereafter. Today's proceedings
will conclude with the 30th round, and the 31st through
50th rounds will take place tomorrow.
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The Draft is set to begin.
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If you were the
Diamondbacks and had the first pick in each round of the 2005 draft, you could
have taken these players, limited in hindsight solely to the players who eventually
went in each of the first 20 rounds:
1. Ryan Braun
2. Yunel Escobar
3. Brett Gardner
4. Brian Matusz
5. Michael Kirkman
6. Doug Fister
7. Michael Brantley
8. Austin Jackson
9. Mark Wagner
10. Josh Outman
11. John Lannan
12. Matt Joyce
13. Josh Thole
14. Pedro Alvarez
15. Alex Hinshaw
16. Andrew Bailey
17. James Russell
18. Desmond Jennings
19. Ike Davis
20. Andrew Cashner
For good measure, you could have taken Tommy Hanson in the
22nd round, Tyler Flowers in the 33rd, Chris Davis in the
35th, a skinny college sophomore-eligible pitcher named Tim Lincecum
in the 42nd, and a high school righthander (whom you might have
envisioned as a catcher) named Buster Posey in the 50th and final
We're half an hour from go time, and among the experts there's
almost as little certainty as to what Texas will do at 15 and 22 as there is in
Round 42, when five years ago Cleveland chose Lincecum but didn't sign him, or Round
50, when the Angels used the draft's 1,496th pick on Posey but didn't
lure him from his commitment to Florida State.
OK, maybe that's an exaggeration. But even in the latest mock drafts posted by
seven different respectable outlets, some of which have been published in the last
hour or two, I count 12 different players who have been pegged as going to
Texas at 15 or 22. I can't remember a
crazier, more unpredictable first round, at least outside the war rooms.
Stay tuned for instant news flashes from Scott Lucas tonight,
once the Rangers announce their selections at picks 15, 22, 45, and 49.
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(c) Jamey Newberg
Big Game, Hunter.
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Not long ago, out of
a discussion I had with a couple friends, one of whom is not irrationally dependent
on sports the way I am, came this question: "Would you rather watch an intense,
memorable 5-4 Rangers loss that ended in a way you'll never forget, or miss a
mundane 6-2 Rangers win and hear about it on the news?"
The answer was easy
for me – unquestionably the latter – yet tough for him to comprehend.
Today was a perfect example.
Max's Little League game started at the same time as
Texas-Tampa Bay, and as a result we only caught the last two innings on
TV. So I didn't see much of Tommy Hunter's
9-5-1-1-0-4, and only a fraction of his 117 pitches (76 strikes). And I'm totally fine with that.
Before landing in Texas, Tampa Bay was 21-6 on the road this
season. The Rays had played nine road series,
and lost only one (when they dropped two of three to Oakland a month ago, in a
series that included Dallas Braden's perfect game). They're going to lose this one, too, needing
to take tomorrow's series finale in order to stave off what would be just their
second sweep of the season (having dropped three at home to Boston a week and a
half ago).
Wins like today's – even if you didn't see it – are adrenaline
boosts, games where the offense stepped up and so did the pitching, and where the
starting pitcher saved the bullpen, not an insignificant fact in a day game
after a night game, not to mention in heat that apparently registered at more
than 110 degrees on the playing surface.
Only Chris Ray (in the 7th or 8th and again in the
9th) and Neftali Feliz (in the 9th) even got out of their
seats to get loose (which doesn't count Feliz's grab of Josh Hamilton's 11th
home run, which despite three ensuing hitless at-bats lifted his slug to .537,
which is higher than the .530 he put together in his memorable 2008 season). Hunter shot down any thought of having anyone
come take the ball from him, needing just 10 pitches in the 7th, 10
more in the 8th, and 11 in the 9th (despite an error that
extended the game by one extra hitter) to shut things down.
Tommy Hunter was big today. As was Max Ramirez, whose work behind the plate this
afternoon – if not these five weeks – shouldn't be neglected. Can we start asking whether Ramirez (who is
hitting .262/.360/.429) should be considered any more of a placeholder than
Hunter, whose 2010 big league debut was just tremendous? I understand that Jarrod Saltalamacchia is
probably back soon, and I'm in no mood to let Matt Treanor go, but at this
point it sure seems that Ramirez's right-handed bat would do the bench a lot
more good than having Joaquin Arias around.
It's not as if Arias can do anything defensively that Andres Blanco and
Ramirez can't do better.
That was a masterpiece today. Anytime a pitcher and catcher can execute
like that and give the bullpen a day to kick back and watch, I'm happy – even if
I didn't get the chance to do the same.
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In spite of a really
frustrating sixth and seventh last night on the mound, the line score shows
only a one for Tampa Bay in each of those two innings, and another night of big
production out of the maligned bottom third (seven hits, including a home run, 2
for 2 with runners in scoring position, one walk, one strikeout, and Max
Ramirez with the club's highest pitches per at-bat number for the night) helped
push Texas to a solid win against a very good team, getting this series and
homestand off to a good start.
I've seen most of
Josh Hamilton's at-bats this year, and I can't believe this is true:
His slash line of
.300/.348/.529 is remarkably close to his line of .304/.371/.530 in his
storybook 2008 season, a year in which he finished seventh in the MVP vote.
And not terribly inferior
to Vladimir Guerrero's .333/.364/.557.
It sure doesn't seem
like it.
Somehow, even though Texas piled up 13 hits and two walks
and two hit batsmen, Tampa Bay needed only 116 pitches to complete eight
innings. (The Rangers threw 178 pitches
over nine.)
Ian Kinsler saw nine pitches in four plate appearances.
Someone asked me during Wednesday night's in-game chat
session who my favorite Rangers player was growing up. If I were a kid right now, there's no
question who it would be, and even as a 41-year-old, I think I might be accepting
that Elvis Andrus is, over all these years, my favorite Rangers player
ever. And he's going to get better.
The Rangers will likely option reliever Pedro Strop to
Oklahoma City before today's game, clearing a roster spot for righthander Tommy
Hunter to make today's start.
Texas activated righthander Warner Madrigal from the 60-day
disabled list and optioned him to Oklahoma City. The club's 40-man roster is once again full.
The Rangers also activated righthander Brandon McCarthy from
the disabled list (stress fracture, shoulder) and will work him out of the
RedHawks bullpen as well.
The Rangers traded AAA reliever Jailen Peguero to Houston
for future considerations to thin the RedHawks bullpen herd.
Frisco lefthander Martin Perez was placed on the disabled
list with a cracked fingernail.
Cleveland designated righthander Jamey Wright for assignment,
and the Mets did the same with Gary Matthews Jr., whose departure from Texas three
and a half years ago for the five-year, $50 million Angels contract he's still
living off of awarded the Rangers two compensatory draft picks that they turned
into Blake Beavan and Julio Borbon.
As far as this year's draft is concerned, here's a couple more
updated projections on what Texas will do Monday night with its picks at number
15 and number 22:
Callis, Baseball America (June 4):
Asher Wojchiechowski (RHP, The Citadel) and Bryce Brentz (OF, Middle Tennessee
State) (previous
mocks: June 3 [fellow BA experts John Manuel and Conor Glassey]: Stetson Allie
(RHP, St. Edward [Oh.] HS) and Nick Castellanos (3B, Archbishop McCarthy [Fla.]
HS); May 28: Brentz and Justin O'Conner (C, Cowan [In.] HS); May 14: Brentz and
Ball State second baseman Kolbrin Vitek)
Law, ESPN (June 4): Delino DeShields Jr. (CF, Woodward Academy [Ga.] HS)
and Brandon Workman (RHP, University of Texas) (previous mocks: May 31: Kellin
Deglan (C, Langley (British Columbia) HS) and Kaleb Cowart (3B/RHP, Cook County
[Ga.] HS); May 24: Workman and Deglan)
Here's the thing. Several
super-respectable writers who do their homework have, in the last two or three weeks,
pegged (alphabetically) Allie, Brentz, Castellanos, Cowart, Deglan, DeShields, University
of Miami catcher Yasmani Grandal, O'Conner, Vitek, Florida high school
righthander Karsten Whitson, Wojchiechowski, and Workman as their projected
picks in the Rangers' two first-round slots.
The reason the projections are all over the place is twofold:
(1) the Rangers are historically discreet about their draft intentions; and (2)
the first half of the first round seems to be unusually hard to peg this year,
throwing mocks into disarray. The
Rangers certainly have the 12 players mentioned above whiteboarded in order in their
1000 Ballpark Way war room, but when everything past the top overall pick is still
unclear days before the draft, it's fairly crazy to expect writers to have a
good bead on what will happen at 15 and 22.
Not all of those 12 players will be around when Texas picks
at number 15, but some will, and the Rangers will be prepared to take whichever
one is highest on their board. Four
years ago, they knew Clayton Kershaw wouldn't be around when their pick at
number 12 came up, but there were several other pitchers they knew would still be
on the board.
I wrote this hours before that 2006 draft:
Baseball America's Jim Callis predicts this morning that
[Tim] Lincecum, the small fireballer who many project as a dominating closer
but who some insist will be able to start in the big leagues, will be the Texas
pick. MLB's Jonathan Mayo speculates
that it will be [Kyle] Drabek, who is the most talented pitcher in the draft by
most accounts — and yet every story about him this spring hasn't gotten to
paragraph two without mention of his makeup issues. CNN/SI's Bryan Smith thinks the Rangers will
end up with [Max] Scherzer, whose stock has dropped, possibly because of
shoulder concerns.
Lincecum went 10th. Scherzer went 11th. Drabek was still on the board (and would be until
the 18th pick) when Texas chose Kasey Kiker at 12.
You can bet that Texas would be thrilled to end up with any
number of the names that include Allie, Brentz, Castellanos, Cowart, Deglan, DeShields,
Grandal (who now appears to be locked in at number four to Kansas City), O'Conner,
Vitek, Whitson, Wojchiechowski, and Workman, and that the club probably has
other names ranked higher who will be available at 12. The baseball draft is more difficult to
project than the NFL or NBA versions, both because of a much larger pool and because
drafted players don't go straight to the big leagues and thus are typically drafted
less on perceived need than in football or basketball, and so it's not unusual for
mock drafts from expert observers to differ greatly from one another, and for
any one writer's projections to change routinely leading up to Draft Day.
Jim Callis's legendary
2005 mock draft was dead on for the first 18 picks before Texas chose John
Mayberry Jr. (rather than Callis's pick, ASU outfielder Travis Buck) at number 19. Callis didn't have Mayberry going in his
first 48 picks (covering the first round and supplemental first). Callis is very good.
When you see a guy like Callis changing his Rangers
projection the way he has the past few weeks – Brentz and Vitek on May 14,
Brentz and O'Conner on May 28, and Wojchiechowski and Brentz yesterday – you know
there are lots of moving targets in this draft, at least outside the war rooms,
that probably aren't done shifting around.
But in the meantime, there's Hunter-James Shields today and Rich
Harden-Matt Garza tomorrow, two afternoon games pitting teams trying to protect
one- and two-game division leads against each other. That's the bigger story, and the draft, as it
should be, will just have to wait.
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Help in sight?
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Lefties killing us
And then Vlad gets some shut-eye
(Glad Rays light from left)
When you send your 4-5-6 hitters up against a bad team's number
two reliever, down one run, it shouldn't feel hopeless. But with White Sox southpaw Matt Thornton on
the mound and injuries to Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz resulting in Texas having
Josh Hamilton (now .234/.300/.344 against lefthanders), David Murphy
(.238/.256/.310), and Justin Smoak (.056/.146/.139) in those slots, and the
bench without a legitimate right-handed-hitting threat, what followed
(four-pitch strikeout, five-pitch strikeout, four-pitch groundout) seemed almost
(Texas is reportedly among the teams that have contacted
Boston recently about Mike Lowell, who has asked to be traded – and who was nearly
sent to the Rangers for Max Ramirez in December.)
Tampa Bay is set to send righthanders Wade Davis, James
Shields, and Matt Garza to the hill for this weekend's series in Arlington, and
the Rays go with only one lefty in the pen (the mediocre Randy Choate). That's good.
But this lineup, just league-average even with Guerrero's and Cruz's
production, is a lot easier to gameplan without those two. Guerrero is supposed to be good to go
sometime this series. Hope he's seeing
the ball well.
After these three with Tampa Bay, Seattle comes to town,
sending southpaw Cliff Lee to the mound Monday night. Sometime in the first inning, as Lee faces the
top of the Rangers' order, or minutes thereafter, Texas will be on the clock
for the first of its four first- and supplemental first-round picks in this
year's amateur draft. On Monday we
ran down a bunch of mock drafts projecting what the Rangers will do with the 15th
and 22nd picks, and since then there have been a few updated guesses:
Goldstein, Baseball Prospectus (June 3): Asher Wojchiechowski (RHP, The
Citadel) and Justin O'Conner (C, Cowan [In.] HS)
America (June 3: not really a mock but instead the musings of various BA draft
experts as to what they would do if in charge of the picks): Stetson Allie
(RHP, St. Edward [Oh.] HS) (pick made by editor John Manuel) and Nick
Castellanos (3B, Archbishop McCarthy [Fla.] HS) (pick made by assistant editor Conor
Glassey) (previous
mocks: May 28/executive editor Jim Callis: Bryce Brentz (OF, Middle Tennessee
State) and O'Conner; May 14/Callis: Brentz and Ball State second baseman
Kolbrin Vitek)
Law, ESPN (May 31): Kellin Deglan (C, Langley (British Columbia) HS) and Kaleb
Cowart (3B/RHP, Cook County [Ga.] HS) (previous mock, May 24: Brandon Workman
(RHP, University of Texas) and Deglan)
Mayo, MLB.com (June 2): Workman and O'Conner (previous mock, May
26: Cowart (mock stopped at number 20))
Heyman, Sports Illustrated (June 2): Yasmani Grandal (C, University of
Miami) and Vitek
Jon Daniels said yesterday that most of the players Texas
likes at the unprotected number 15 pick, based strictly on talent, are not
signability risks. He also said that the
Rangers are not limited to slot by MLB while the bankruptcy proceedings are
pending. The club is bound instead by
its draft budget, which contains flexibility to go over slot.
For Scott Lucas's sake, I hope Texas doesn't pop Wojchiechowski
and Illinois high school righthander Mike Foltynewicz Monday night.
According to initial reports, Derek Holland doesn't have
thoracic outlet syndrome.
The Rangers' 9-5 win in Chicago on Wednesday was the club's
first road win without a save all year. Only
twice have they won a road game by as much as a four-run margin. Crazy.
Updating an incredible stat that T.R. Sullivan ran out there
earlier this week: number nine hitters are hitting .312 off Rangers pitching
this season. No other spot in the lineup
is hitting over .289 against Texas.
According to MLB
Fangraphs, the best slider in baseball right now (in terms of "pitch value")
belongs not to Carlos Marmol or Francisco Liriano or Clayton Kershaw, but to
Rangers righthander Colby Lewis.
There were rumors that the Rays considered designating
catcher Dioner Navarro for assignment once Kelly Shoppach was activated
yesterday, but instead the club placed shortstop Jason Bartlett on the disabled
ESPN's Buster Olney speculates that once Arizona catcher
Miguel Montero returns to action, the Diamondbacks could shop Chris Snyder,
with Texas a possible match (a sentiment shared by Baseball Prospectus's John
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports suggests Cleveland's Russell
Branyan would be a better trade fit for Texas than Chicago's Paul Konerko,
should the club seek a stopgap first baseman.
Maybe, but I'd prefer a right-handed hitter.
Oakland designated righthander Edwar Ramirez for
assignment. The San Angelo Colts of the independent
United League signed righthander Ezequiel Astacio. The Chico Outlaws of the independent Golden
Baseball League signed lefthander Matt Perisho.
The New Jersey Jackals of the independent Can-Am League traded infielder
Enrique Cruz to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic
R.A. Dickey has a 2.84 ERA in three Mets starts. Kameron Loe has two scoreless appearances out
of the Milwaukee bullpen. Casey Daigle
has two scoreless appearances out of the Houston bullpen.
And Joaquin Benoit is up to 12 scoreless appearances out of
the Rays pen. Eleven dominant innings:
two hits, two walks, 15 strikeouts.
We'll probably see Benoit in a critical eighth-inning spot at
some point this weekend.
I hope it's with Vladimir Guerrero at the plate.
To join the free Newberg Report mailing list so you can get e-mail
deliveries of every edition of the newsletter, daily minor league game recaps,
and frequent Newberg Report News Flashes, go to www.newbergreport.com
and click the "Mailing List" link on the top menu bar.
(c) Jamey Newberg


text:
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Akron lineup got a little more Cleveland flavor this week. Strongsville and Kent State grad Anthony Gallas' promotion Wednesday from Class A Carolina gives the Class AA RubberDucks two Greater Cleveland products, the other being catcher Alex Lavisky from St. Edward.
Gallas, 26, spent most of the last 4½ seasons in the various levels of rookie ball and Class A. Now, he's less than hour's drive from where he grew up, but where he hasn't spent a summer for nearly eight years.
"It's great to be back in Ohio and great to be back home,'' he said. "I'm excited for the opportunity and thankful. I've been gone for so long, playing pro ball and summer ball in college.''
Gallas went 1-for-5 in his Akron debut Wednesday. The RubberDucks' lineup also featured Indians first baseman Nick Swisher on a rehab assignment.
"That was cool,'' he said. "You get to see these guys around spring training and you start to realize you can play with everyone. Before, in college, the big leagues seemed so far away and you don't know how your ability matches up. You realize you have the ability, but you have to do it on a more consistent basis like they do in the big leagues. That's the difference.
"It will work out. I just have to trust myself. ''
Gallas' parents moved to California a few years ago, but his extended family and friends filled up his pass list for Thursday's and Friday's home games. On Thursday, they saw him belt a triple and a solo home run on a 2-for-4 night.
At Carolina, Gallas was named a Carolina League All-Star.
Lavisky hot: Lavisky has been on a tear of late after a May slump. He hit .370 (10-for-28, 3 doubles) in his first seven games this month while sharing time behind the plate with Tony Wolters, who last year converted from middle infield to catcher. Lavisky's batting average through Thursday was .306.
Naquin's rise: Tyler Naquin continues to put up huge numbers in every facet of the game. He has nine assists in center field, two fewer than he had last season. He has just one error. Naquin played right field at Texas A&M.
He is 14-for-17 stealing bases.
His bat is smoking. He had a 15-game hitting streak through Thursday and raised his batting average to .327 with 10 doubles, five triples and four home runs, including an inside-the-park homer June 6 at Harrisburg. He has 59 strikeouts, 23 walks and has grounded into four double plays.
The left-handed hitter has a .244 average against lefties with 23 strikeouts in 96 plate appearances.
Naquin, 23, was a first-round draft pick (15th overall) in 2012.
Lowery's comeback: Catcher/first baseman Jake Lowery's double Wednesday was his first hit since being activated June 5 from the disabled list, where he had been since getting hit by a pitch April 18. He followed up with two hits Thursday, including another double.
Ron-Rod's upswing: Third baseman/shortstop Ronny Rodriguez has fully recovered from his awful April (.130 batting average/.331 OPS). Those numbers were .269/.775 in May, and .313/.646 through nine games in June.
For complete Akron RubberDucks stats, click here.
To read the Indians Class AAA Columbus Clippers Insider, click here.
To read the Indians Advanced Class A Carolina Mudcats insider, click here.
To read the Indians Class A Lake County Captain Insider, click here.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on the evening of January 17, 1950, a group of armed, masked men emerged from 165 Prince Street in Boston, Massachusetts, dragging bags containing $1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183.83 in checks, money orders, and other securities," the FBI writes in its account of the crime on its website.
"These men had just committed the "crime of the century," the "perfect crime," the "fabulous Brink's robbery."
A newsman wears a rubber mask similar to that worn by seven bandits who robbed Brink's armored car firm in Boston of $1,500,000, Jan. 18, 1950. The reporter points to name plate on first of six locked doors opened by the gunmen. Mask was one of several purchased in joke shops by newsmen and police to see if they resembled description given by Brink's employees.
"At 7:27 p.m. as the robbers sped from the scene, a Brink's employee telephoned the Boston Police Department. Minutes later, police arrived at the Brink's building, and special agents of the FBI quickly joined in the investigation."
Patrolman Thomas O'Brien (left fore ground) talks with Charles S. Grell (center) and Herman G. Pfaff (right), two of the five employees of Brink's Inc., who were tied up and gagged by bandits who fled with more that a million dollars from open vault (right, rear) in Boston, Massachusetts,, Jan. 17, 1950. Police said the robbers reached the second floor of the garage by opening six locked doors, "probably with a passkey."
All of the robbers wore Navy-type peacoats, gloves, and chauffeur's caps.
Each robber's face was completely concealed behind a Halloween-type mask.
"The robbers did little talking. They moved with a studied precision which suggested that the crime had been carefully planned and rehearsed in the preceding months," the FBI wrote.
All five employees had been forced at gunpoint to lie face down on the floor. Their hands were tied behind their backs and adhesive tape was placed over their mouths.
"As the loot was being placed in bags and stacked between the second and third doors leading to the Prince Street entrance, a buzzer sounded. The person ringing the buzzer was a garage attendant. Two of the gang members moved toward the door to capture him; but, seeing the garage attendant walk away apparently unaware that the robbery was being committed, they did not pursue him."
In addition to the general descriptions received from the Brink's employees, the investigators obtained several pieces of physical evidence. There were the rope and adhesive tape used to bind and gag the employees and a chauffeur's cap which one of the robbers had left at the crime scene.
Since Brink's was located in a heavily populated tenement section, many hours were consumed in interviews to locate persons in the neighborhood who might possess information of possible value.
Installing a new lock on a door at Brink's after the robbery.
Police officers investigating the case share a joke during a break.
Police, reconstructing the holdup, said the robbers reached the vault on the second floor of the garage by opening six locked door, "probably with a passkey."
The FBI learned that a 1949 green Ford stake-body truck with a canvas top had been parked near the Prince Street door of Brink's at approximately the time of the robbery. On March 4, 1950, pieces of an identical truck were found at a dump in Stoughton, Massachusetts. An acetylene torch had been used to cut up the truck, and it appeared that a sledge hammer also had been used to smash many of the heavy parts, such as the motor.
Two of the prime suspects whose nerve and gun-handling experience suited them for the Brink's robbery were Joseph James O'Keefe (pictured above) and Stanley Albert Gusciora.
After years of failed attempts, the FBI finally got O'Keefe to admit his role in the robbery on January 6, 1956.
O'Keefe later claimed that he had never seen his portion of the loot after he had given it to another member of the Brinks gang for safekeeping.
According to O'Keefe, Joseph "Big Joe" McGinnis was the originator of the heist. The other members arrested for the Brinks Robbery were Atonia "Fat" Pino, Vincent Costa, Michael Vincent "Vinnie" Geagan, Adolph "Jazz" Maffie and Henry Baker.
U.S. Attorney Anthony Julian tells newsmen in Boston, Jan. 12, 1956 of the arrest of six men charged with participating in the Brinks robbery. The arrests were made just five days before the statute of limitations was to run out.
One of the packages of currency from the Brink's loot found in the wall of an office on Tremont Street in Boston in June, 1956.
James J. Strafford, an FBI agent who was the second witness to testify in Brinks trial in Boston on August 31, 1956.
State police carrying riot guns leave State Prison at Walpole, Mass., where they escorted eight men convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the Brink's robbery. The prisoners were convicted after a trial that consumed nine weeks and an estimated five million dollars in investigation and court cost, and were driven to Walpole from Boston in a closely guarded van by state police.
Several movies have been made based on The Great Brinks Robbery, including Six Bridges to Cross in 1955.
Darren McGavin starred in "Brinks: The Great Robbery" in 1976.
The Brink's Job was made in 1978
And "The Town" in 2010, was loosely based on The Great Brink's Robbery
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text:
Q:When did your business start?
A: July of 2002. We are located at 500 1st Avenue South, just south of the city square.
Q: What is Access Audio's niche?
A: Access Audio is the region's largest remote-start dealer. The shop offers all types of 12-volt electronics for autos, boats, RVs, golf carts and more. While Access Audio is nationally-known for its remote start development and installation, the team offers custom home audio, as well.
Q:What honors has Access Audio received?
A: Access Audio has been named one of the top mobile electronics retailers in the United States by Moblie Electronics Magazine.
Q:How many full-time employees do you have?
A: Access Audio has three full-time employees.
Q:What do you like about being located in downtown Fort Dodge?
A: Downtown has its own identity, and the area has really been growing in the last few years. We believe Access Audio is going to continue to grow rapidly in the near future. It's an exciting time to be downtown.


text:
EPMon 0.99.08
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text:
Hungry? No tree at your house? Done with cookies and pie? Head on down to Stopsky's Deli, at 3015 S.E. 78th Street, next to Island Books.
The deli will be open Christmas Eve and will serve brunch from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Day.
© Sound Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Our Titles | Work With Us


text:
On Tuesday, we gave you tips on how to avoid road rage and what to do if you experience it on area roads.
We also gave you a list of "symptoms" that constitute as aggressive driving.
Many of the actions or behaviors are common to everyday driving, but if two or more are associated with an accident, the crash may be ruled as a result of aggressive driving which means hefty fines.
Now, we're asking you to tell us what behaviors you see on area roads and what road rage "sins" you may be guilty of. Take the polls below and tell us what you've seen and perhaps done.


text:
Thursdays with Amanda: Rejections Don't Determine Your Worth as a Writer
Amanda Luedeke is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. Every Thursday, she posts about growing your author platform. You can follow her on Twitter @amandaluedeke or join her Facebook group to stay current with her wheelings and dealings as an agent. Her book on author marketing, The Extroverted Writer, releases March 15.
I usually post marketing and platform-building stuff, but today I'm gonna get all warm and fuzzy on you. Because, well…I think it's high time for a pep talk.
As an agent, I see lots and lots and LOTS of rejection on behalf of my authors. There are days when the rejections just seem to roll in, and the very relationships that I'd been counting on coming through for me don't. So then I have to go to the author, explain the rejection, and try to help them through it.
And here's what I've noticed…too many times, authors look to editors and big publishing houses to validate their ability as writers.
So when the rejections come in, it's so common for authors to begin doubting and questioning and "oh, if I can just fix that one thing…tweak that one chapter…" I've seen this happen over and over, and you know what? I'M SICK OF IT.
When you're on my side of the desk, the picture is much bigger. Yes, there are lots of rejections…sometimes for good reason. But there are also AMAZING books that never get picked up. Blame it on timing, budget constraints, weird personal preferences, or a bad day at the office, but it's true. There are great novels and book ideas that don't receive offers. They don't see that one "yes" that makes all of the rejections fizzle into nothingness. So for me to say that a string of rejections from editors means that there's something wrong with my author or their writing or their ability would be to say there's something "wrong" with all of the athletes out there who never make it to the Olympics, or there's something "off" with the church and local musicians who never get picked up by record companies.
There's nothing wrong with rejection. While sometimes it can help pinpoint trouble spots in a manuscript, most of the time it's just one person's opinion based on editorial needs, preferences, and the kind of meeting they just got out of.
I wrote a novel (hooray!), and it's currently being shopped to a few houses. I almost expected myself to be nervous and fidgety and paranoid. You know, refreshing my inbox every two seconds even though I know the process takes much longer than a few weeks.
But surprisingly, I'm not like that. I'm cool. I'm relaxed. And I can ONLY attribute that to the fact that after seeing waves of rejections…after seeing GREAT and talented authors get told "no," I know that my worth is not found in an editor's opinion of my book. Sure, I'll be thrilled if they have good things to say about it, and any critiques they have I'll be sure to take in stride, but I worked damn hard on that thing. It went through five drafts, had a dozen test readers, and even faced a complete rewrite of the first half.
And not everyone is going to love it. They may not even like it. That's okay, because I did my best with it and at the end of the day I know I'm a good writer.
So it's just a matter of whether it's my time for the spotlight.
How do you face rejection? How do you filter through feedback? I want to know!


text:
Today's focus: "Ms. G"
Household members: 4
Children: 2
Special circumstances: Both parents work. Mr. G is an outdoor laborer and Ms. G works in retail. With the onset of winter, the family depends on the mother's limited income. One of their children is a special needs child and all income they have goes to basic living expenses.
Her holiday hopes: To be able to give a memorable holiday to her family.
Clothing needs: Pant size 34-30, shirt size men's medium, shoe size men's 11.
Toys list: Dylan, a hand-held game.
The Empty Stocking Fund is a joint effort of the Salvation Army and the Portales News-Tribune. Recipients receive gifts and clothes for their children and baskets of food with green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes and a meat voucher from a local grocery store. Larger families will receive donated turkeys instead of the voucher. The food baskets will also go to seniors on fixed incomes.
Who's helped: Around 500 families who've asked the Salvation Army to help make Christmas special.
Donations: Can be dropped off at the PNT, 101 E. First, or mailed to the PNT, P.O. Box 88. Envelopes should be clearly marked "Empty Stocking Fund." Contributions will be forwarded to the Salvation Army office, 317 E. Second St., in Clovis, or gifts may be purchased for specific children by choosing an Angel tag off trees located at North Plains Mall and Wal-Mart in Clovis.
If you would like to help "Ms. G," call Capt. Tammy Ray at the Salvation Army at 762-3801.


text:
The legal community is mourning a man whose career as a Baltimore City District Court judge spanned decades.
If you've ever fought a traffic ticket in Baltimore, you may already know his face: Judge H. Gary Bass passed away Tuesday afternoon after complications from a heart attack.
The 70-year-old was supposed to be honored that night at a retirement dinner in downtown Baltimore.
Bass was born and raised in Baltimore, and he was profiled by Baltimore Magazine as the best judge in the city.
Services will be held Sunday at 11 a.m. at Sol Levinson and Brothers on Reisterstown Road.


text:
Display On Homepage: Display on Home Page
Comment Snippet: <p> See, I have trouble getting excited about this. Dr. Oz has such a history of inconsistency and flip-flopping. While he's great at reaching the public en mass, I still don't see his current endorsement (or lack of negativity toward) meat all that promising. Because, who knows: next week, he could very easily decide meat is the problem AGAIN.</p>


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Thuggery, Hype, and Reason–The Marcellus Shale in Three Acts
The demonization of Pennsylvania's biggest industrial phenomenon in the last 50 years continues. This time, it's not just hyperventilating environmentalists getting into the act, it's gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato (D):
First the thuggery…
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato says he'd pressure natural gas drilling companies to hire Pennsylvania residents by threatening to withhold state drilling permits.
Onorato says he'd be justified to use permits as leverage, arguing, "I think all governors apply pressure on every industry. The whole idea of being governor is you try to bring jobs and improve the economy of your state. We have a golden opportunity here, with the Marcellus Shale find. But we get one chance to get it right."
The problem is, Onorato's idea isn't legal. "It's not what we do," says Governor Rendell. "And you might be able to do that, but you'd probably have to change some regulations or get some legislation."
OK–when Ed Rendell suggests to you that something is illegal, that should be your signal to back away slowly and not make any sudden moves.
Actually, this is a real shame. I like Onorato and have even had some personal dealings with him where I thought he was both fair and open-minded. This kind of thing is, frankly, beneath him, and is exactly the kind of sleazy crap that everybody's sick of.
Now on to the hype. The P-G never disappoints. From Saturday's letters to the editor, we get this gem:
The Marcellus Shale drilling plans of the carpetbagger natural gas interests are going to create disasters for many Pennsylvania communities.
Our most precious water supplies are being totally put at risk. Pennsylvania politicians sit idly by, doing nothing to stop this attack upon our commonwealth.
It is not a matter if such disasters occur, but when and how many times.
The promise of economic benefit to Pennsylvanians is only a pipe dream to mollify those who think such financial gain would justify the ecological risks.
Come on, people, wake up! Get our state politicos to get with it and put a complete halt to this; otherwise thousands of Pennsylvanians will have to deal with poisoned water supplies.
This is the Silent Spring of the 2010 decade !
For the love of Pete man, calm down. Zoloft. Seriously. Like 50 mg is all you need. It's heaven in a little pill.
What amazes me is the accusations of "carpetbagging" that are thrown at natural gas drillers. First of all, has anyone actually looked to see how many jobs are out there because of natural gas drilling? A quick search on indeed.com lists about four pages of natural-gas related jobs in Pennsylvania posted by one company in the last 30 days. And has anyone ever stopped to think about Pennsylvania's long history of oil and gas drilling? Perhaps if we hadn't driven all those jobs away to places like Texas, we would still have people living in Pennsylvania who know how to drill.
And finally, reason. Also from Saturday's P-G:
The Environmental Protection Agency recently held a meeting at Southpointe in Washington County to receive public testimony on the possible negative effects of hydraulic fracturing on fresh water. I spoke and was received with a chorus of boos from the crowd because I presented a factually based argument in support of hydraulic fracturing.
Based on my own research, more than 48,000 wells have been hydraulically fractured to date in Pennsylvania. Other studies have estimated that more than 1 million wells have been fracked throughout the United States since 1960. Yet not one case of fresh water pollution by hydraulic fracturing has been documented. This is a large enough database to conclude that it is highly unlikely that any future contamination will occur.
Physics also dictates that fractures created at depth do not reach the water table, which has been verified in lab and field tests. Upward growth of induced fractures cannot reach above about 2,000 feet in depth — approximately 1,500 feet below the deepest fresh water. Below 2,000 feet, fractures in the Appalachian Basin for geological reasons are propagated vertically in a general northeast-southwest direction. Above 2,000 feet, the basin's geological characteristics stop fractures by forcing them to move horizontally.
It is physically impossible to force a vertical fracture upward from the Marcellus Shale to shallow fresh water layers. And no matter how hard anti-Marcellus zealots try to connect hydraulic fracturing to the contamination of fresh water, they won't be able to do so unless they repeal the laws of physics.
The writer is a petroleum geologist
Holy crap! These are actual facts based on real science articulated by someone who has a background in the subject! Sanity–so refreshing ™.
As an aside, I've met Greg Wrightstone, and he is a terrific guy. He heads up an organization called the Pennsylvania Coalition for Responsible Government. Check it out.


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IT Department Saves Big Bucks
Cost cutting in information technology looms over many corporate IT groups now, in these tough economic times. We're here to help.
Today CIO.com begins a 5-part series profiling tactical projects that you can execute in a few weeks to a few months, reaping rewards almost immediately.
CEOs expect the economy to grow at a skimpy 1.3 percent this year, according to a survey of 110 chief executives conducted by the Business Roundtable. That's the slowest growth rate predicted by CEOs since the post-9/11 and post-bubble year of 2002.
More ominous: Of those gloomy CEOs, 31 percent expect unemployment to increase in the next six months, up from 22 percent who thought so at the beginning of the year. When the boss thinks fewer people will be working, fewer people will be working.
You have to be smart to keep your job. One way to display your smarts is to seek and destroy all money-sucking technology waste at your company.
In our first installment, learn how Lafarge, a $2.1 billion manufacturer of concrete, gypsum and other construction materials, saved seven figures by dealing more deftly with vendors AT&T and Hewlett-Packard.
Tomorrow, read how Gap, the clothing retailer, automated end-user access permissions, to speed up a tedious administrative process and save up to $1 million worth of the IT department's time. And by the way, the project also helps Gap better comply with PCI and Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, which streamlines audits and avoids fines.
Each day this week, we'll look at other money-saving ideas you can steal, including a green IT project at Washington Mutual, an attack on cell phone bills at Title Resource Group and an asset management effort at the U.S. Department of Defense. Stay tuned. You might just make yourself layoff-proof.
Part 1: Smart Contract Talks Help an IT Department Save Big
No one wants to overpay vendors, but Lafarge North America was.
Patrick Kys, VP of IT and CIO of Lafarge North America, thought he wasn't getting the respect -- that is, the pricing leverage -- he should get from the company's major suppliers, such as AT&T, HP and Microsoft.
Lafarge North America is a private company, owned by Lafarge Group SA in France, that makes concrete, gypsum and other construction materials. With $2.1 billion in sales, the Herndon, Va.-based company isn't small potatoes.
But Kys and other senior managers didn't know what level of discounting they could get and therefore weren't sure they were as bold in negotiating as they could have been, Kys says. It's hard for individual technology managers to get reliable information about what others are paying, he says, even from each other. Vendor contracts often stipulate that customers can't discuss pricing. Maneuvering with vendors around the negotiating table takes practice.
To gain perspective, Lafarge North America last year hired NPI Financial, a spend management consulting firm in Atlanta. Within several weeks, NPI had reviewed the company's contract with AT&T. NPI then reviewed other Lafarge North America IT contracts and concluded that it was overpaying several vendors. Right away, the company set to work to get better deals.
NPI advises many clients and negotiates for some, collecting benchmarks on vendor pricing across industries while keeping individual client data confidential. Kys says he got the inside knowledge he couldn't get elsewhere.
NPI representatives guided Lafarge negotiators, and sometimes stepped in to negotiate, in contract talks with AT&T, getting the vendor to "do better" on pricing, says Sepehr Kousha, IT controller at Lafarge North America. For a negotiation with Hewlett-Packard, NPI provided benchmarking, she says. "That's very effective."
"We took their arguments off the table," Kys adds.
Lafarge is a big HP shop, using HP desktops, laptops, servers, printers, storage-area networking products and various utility software. When it was time to renew maintenance and service agreements with HP, NPI spent two weeks assessing Lafarge North America's current contracts against similar terms, conditions and pricing offered by third-party providers and against what HP was offering other customers, Kousha says.
"This helped us to not only improve our current-year prices but to also negotiate a multiyear deal, whereby our prices are not locked for the next 24 months," she says. Those negotiations took about six months. That's not unusual, as software pricing is not only costly but complex.
In a new networking and data telecommunications deal with AT&T, Lafarge gained "seven-figure savings," Kousha says. She declined to provide specifics.
Kys adds that that savings was 20 percent more than he had anticipated. He credits NPI with getting that margin. NPI is paid a retainer, with some incentive-based fees as a bonus.
Telecom negotiations are usually intense, Kousha adds, but better informed, Lafarge staff persevered. "They try and wear you down and won't come to a final price quickly. They try to make you give up," she says. "We decided tactically to hang in there."
Kys advises other IT leaders to add a controller or financial manager to the technology department. Most IT managers negotiate with vendors "sporadically [and] don't have all the tactics to win." Kousha reports to Kys, with a dotted-line reporting relationship to the corporate finance chief.
Next up for Kousha and Kys are contracts for storage equipment and Cisco's Smartnet technical support.
Tomorrow: In Part 2 of the our series on IT cost cutting, learn how Gap, the clothing retailer, automates end-user access permissions, to speed up a tedious administrative process and save up to $1 million worth of the IT department's time.


text:
It was a so-so week in my Yahoo.com league even though my team produced two top-5 finishes, a second by Spencer Levin and a tie for fifth by Brian Gay in the Mayakoba Golf Classic. That left me right where I started — in seventh place, a whopping 175 points out of first place.
Not bad considering I didn't shuffle my lineup until after the third round started since I was living it up in fabulous Las Vegas — which is why I didn't write this column last week. Vegas is where the memorable part of the week comes into play.
I didn't come home with more money than I took west — it wasn't even close — but I hit still managed to hit the jackpot.
On Tuesday, I drove out to scenic Red Rock Canyon and popped the question to the lovely Debra Sue Lawrence, who now is officially my bride-to-be. (I told people I took her out to the desert to ask because if she said no I was going to leave her dead body out there. I was only kidding, of course! Although I might have made her walk back to Bally's if the answer wasn't the one I was looking for.)
So, Sandstone Quarry at Red Rock Canyon will now forever be known as Mount BrenDeb.
Now, let's get to this week's picks in the Honda Classic, where the field is pretty weak as many of the world's top players are preparing for a six-week stretch that includes the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Masters.
Here's my lineup this week:
A Pool: Matt Kuchar and Lee Westwood. Kuchar is coming off a career year, reached the final four of the Mach Play last week and is my Masters pick since I put $10 on him at 15-1 in Vegas. Westwood is making his PGA Tour debut in a full-field event and might be ready to win after losing his spot atop the World Rankings.
B Pool: Ian Poulter, J.J. Henry, Levin and Vijay Singh. Poulter is one of the world's best players and although he had a poor showing in the Match Play, he was sixth in the season-opening Tournament of Champions — his only other PGA Tour event this year. Henry was 19th or better in his last three events, including a tie for ninth in the Northern Trust Open two weeks ago. Levin was second last week after finishing fourth at Pebble Beach and 12th in L.A. Singh, despite being two years away from the Champions Tour, has been among the top three in two of his last three events.
C Pool: Rory McIlroy and Jimmy "Dyn-O-Mite!" Walker. McIlroy is not only my mom's favorite golfer — he's from Northern Ireland and she was born in Belfast — he should be ready to go since this is his first full-field PGA Tour event of the season. Walker has three top 10s this season and in his last two events was ninth at Pebble Beach and fourth at the Northern Trust. He's ready for some "Good Times." (Get it? "Good Times" the TV show? Oh, never mind!)
As always, if you don't trust my picks, you can check the PGA Tour website's expert picks and sleeper picks as well as Yahoo's expert's picks.
Defending champion Camilo Villegas is in the field but I'd pass on him.
Six weeks until Augusta.


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Alabama consumers have a second chance at a federal rebate program meant to spur appliance sales, because more than 40 percent of the money is left over from the initial round in the spring.
That's when the state rolled out a program that gave people money back when they bought energy-efficient models of five kinds of appliances.
Alabama's $4.2 million pot of money, part of $300 million set aside in last year's federal stimulus program, is meant to encourage energy efficiency and pump up the economy. Appliances must carry the federal Energy Star rating.
Beginning April 19, the state allowed people to reserve it on a first-come, first-served basis, before they bought appliances.
Alabama residents can reserve rebates online at alrebates.com or call 877-856-6645.
Room air conditioners: $25 Freezers: $50 Dishwashers: $75 Clothes washers: $100 Large refrigerators: $150
That sparked something of a rebate reservation gold rush, where the state ran through its money in about three weeks.
But it turns out 43 percent of money was never redeemed. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, which is administering the program, said Thursday that the state still has $1.8 million in rebate funds, and encouraged consumers to hit the stores again.
Anyone who has bought a qualifying appliance since April 19 is eligible, though they are limited to one rebate per appliance type and two rebates overall per household. The money is paid in the form of a preloaded Visa debit card.
So far, refrigerators have been the most popular item in Alabama's program, with 7,649 rebates issued. By contrast, only 340 rebates have been issued for room air conditioners.
Alabama is not the only state with money left over. Mississippi, which required its residents to buy an appliance before they could reserve a rebate, relaunched its program Wednesday with 14 percent of its original total remaining.


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Oregon coach Chip Kelly announced Thursday that four walk-ons have been awarded scholarships.
Center Max Forer, receiver Justin Hoffman and defensive backs Brian Butterfield and Chad Peppars received the reward at the beginning of fall camp in what Kelly called "a meritocracy.''
"If we've got scholarships available and I've got guys who have worked their tails off and have done everything I've asked them to do, both on and off the field, then they deserve it,'' Kelly said. "And those four guys are exactly what we're looking for.''
All but Hoffman are seniors, so it will have very little impact on recruiting.
In Thursday's practice, Peppars made one of the plays of the day defensively, stepping in front of Hoffman to pick off a pass from Daryle Hawkins.
Hoffman played with the first unit on Thursday, with starter D.J. Davis missing practice to attend a class. Hoffman has been steadily working his way up the depth chart and stood out among receivers in the spring with his sure hands.
"He was a kid that no one really knew about,'' Kelly said of Hoffman, a sophomore from Eugene's Churchill High School. "He's worked his tail off to get into position where he's going to play a lot for us at receiver.''
Kelly said he extended the same scholarship offers to defensive back Pono Kam, defensive end Mike DiVincenzo and kicker Morgan Flint last season.