Rangers

The truly painful thing about the Rangers is that they take their mediocre to average talent and still manage to underperform.

The Rangers hitters have an OPS (on base percentage + slugging percentage) of .735 --right at the AL average. But, with runners in scoring position, they've managed a pathetic .644, which is second-worst ahead only of the Yankees.

And then there's the fielding. They lead the AL in errors with 14. So, over all, they have an average to slightly above average offense that suddenly goes stone cold with runners in scoring position. And they are routinely flubbing playable balls. The Rangers lead the world in unearned runs (well, except for the Phillies).

The pitching has actually been decent. Jennings has been awful, but Millwood, Padilla, and Gabbard have been good. And the bullpen (except for Kazuo "careful how you say it!" Fukumori) has been decent -- especially by Rangers standards. Maybe we need to hire a psychologist for the position players.

This recent stretch of 5 straight losses feels so much like last season where the team seemed to invent a new way to lose every day. One day, the hitters, and the relievers would be good, but the starter would suddenly have his worst game in 10 years. And the next day, the starter would go 7 strong innings, only to have the offense get totally shut down by a below average pitcher. I can't count the number of times I've heard Eric Nadel say, "Well, this guy has really struggled this year, but he really seems to be throwing well today." The Rangers consistently bring the best out of their opponents. I understand the team is rebuilding (as always), but at some point, they need to lay a solid foundation. Our talented minor leaguers shouldn't look up a the big league club and see a circus.

I keep hearing that the Rangers are pressing -- that they're trying too hard. Since the players are evidently not capable of getting out of this funk by themselves, the manager needs to do something. I think Ron Washington is trying. He called a team meeting the other day. But, if this keeps on for much longer, you gotta start wondering if he's in over his head. The Rangers need one hell of a good manager to exorcise all of their demons... I'm beginning to seriously doubt Ron Washington is up to the task.