Mitch Moreland comes to Surprise hungry.
(Photo credit: caller.com)

Here’s the beautiful thing about Moreland’s makeup. He’s hungry. Maybe even literally so since he has dropped 15 pounds. By all accounts it’s his job and by his account, moving out of Young and Napoli’s shadow is not a problem. Ron Washington has removed any perceived pressure by telling him to “relax and have some fun”. Washington adds that he doesn’t have to live up to anyone else’s standards but his own. Those are probably some pretty high standards since he worked hard in the off-season and removed the platoon demons from his back by working with his own left-handed pitcher.

Moreland was actually quite a surprise to most fans when he showed up. He leap-frogged Chris Davis and the much heralded Justin Smoak which also allowed the Rangers to make the Cliff Lee deal with the Mariners. A healthy everyday Moreland gives us a much needed left-handed bat in our lineup.  He’s not a defensive liability either.  He’ll get rest by being spelled by Lance Berkman. All of this is part of “The Plan”.

I know in the Moneyball days a lot of the old ways are gone. The whole “when you know, you know” idea has been minimized. Hey fantasy guys…can you say sleeper? With everything I have seen from Moreland and his ability to fight through an injury and passed two other first baseman, I’m feeling pretty good about Mitch this season.  We are putting some stock in our system this season. Mitch Moreland is exhibit A.

Various sources have reported that the Texas Rangers have acquired 36-year-old setup man Koji Uehara from the Baltimore Orioles for first/third baseman Chris Davis and right-handed pitcher Tommy Hunter. The Rangers have provided the O’s two very young players in their mid-twenties with tons of potential for a much older setup man.

While Uehara has had a fantastic season posting an incredible 1.72 ERA over 47 innings with 62 strikeouts. However, the Rangers weren’t in the need of a setup man – they needed a closer. Uehara does have experience as a closer, though, having recorded 13 saves last year even though he was on the disabled list for two months. (more…)

Adam Lind sent a double into deep right scoring Eric Thames. The next run didn’t come until the third inning but this time from the Rangers. Josh Hamilton sent a triple into deep right center scoring Ian Kinsler. Davis had an RBI single (scoring David Murphy) to bring the score up to a 2-1 lead for Texas in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Nelson Cruz hits into the gap of centerfield in the bottom of the fifth scoring Josh Hamilton adding an RBI to Cruz’s long list of Josh Hamilton scores giving Cruz another RBI. In the top of the sixth, Toronto gets in a solo home run by J.P. Arencibia bringing the score to 3-2. Thames hit a triple to deep right field scoring Yunel Escobar tying the game 3-3. Jose Bautista gets in a hit off Harrison bringing in a run scored by Thames creating a 4-3 lead over the Rangers. (more…)