You are probably still wondering how the Texas Rangers were able to pull off two trades in the past two weeks when the entire organization is bankrupt. Even with the financial conundrum that Texas is in, the Rangers were able to acquire C Bengie Molina and new ace Cliff Lee. How will the Rangers pay for this when the bankruptcy court hearing for the team will be on August 4th?
Well, the Rangers were able to pull off the Molina trade because the Rangers sent reliever Chris Ray and minor-league pitcher Chris Main to the San Francisco Giants. The contracts worked out evenly because Main was a first round pick in 2007. He still is under the huge contract that he received three years ago.
With the Cliff Lee trade, the Rangers had to break out their calculators for that one. The Rangers paid a hefty price by trading 1B Justin Smoak, P Blake Beavan, P Josh Lueke, and 2B Matt Lawson. Smoak and Beavan have been the Rangers top draft picks in 2008 and 2009. Since the Rangers were strapped for cash, Seattle gave them $2.25 million to offset some of the financial burden.
With both of these trades being made, it appears that Texas possibly could be in the driver’s seat in the American League. The Rangers are currently 4 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. However, the Rangers must not rest on their laurels after being swept in four games right before the All-Star break by the worst team in baseball, the Baltimore Orioles. Even Lee’s debut was horrible against Baltimore last Sunday night by giving up six runs in a 6-1 loss. Instead of looking ahead to the playoffs, the team needs to focus on the present because their next eleven games are against the Red Sox, Tigers, and the Angels.
Other Baseball News
Over the past week, the Milwaukee Brewers did not make national news by sweeping the Pirates in four games over the past weekend. On Monday, Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo stated, “If the game is in Arizona, I will boycott it.” Gallardo was referring to next year’s All-Star Game which is scheduled to be at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ. Many people and communities have continued to protest and to boycott Arizona over the SB1070 bill which would exploit Latino immigrants for capital gains throughout the state.
Also on Monday during the Home Run Derby, the nation witnessed Brewers RF Corey Hart flame out. In the first round, Hart hit 13 home runs to put him in the lead. Unfortunately, in the second round, he hit absolutely none. This event could be a sad sign for Hart because the power production of players goes considerably down after competing in the Home Run Derby.
The next couple of weeks will also be interesting for Milwaukee because there are many trade rumors claiming that 1B Prince Fielder will be traded. As for now, Brewers organization have said that they will not trade Fielder at this time. However, if the Brewers start off slowly, then those rumors will begin to rumble before the end of the month.
As I mentioned earlier, the Pittsburgh Pirates were swept by the Brewers this past weekend. The Pirates are now only one game better than the worst team in Major League Baseball, the Baltimore Orioles. It looks like both teams will fight to be the worst until the end of the baseball season. What is really hurting Pittsburgh right now is that they are 2-25 in their last 27 road games. They are 5 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros in last place. If they can figure out how to win on the road again, then they can possibly finish in fifth place in the NL Central.
