A few self-evident truths

Lettuce

What the hell does "self-evident" mean anyway?

I think we learned some thing about our Texas Rangers this weekend. Yes, it's a small post-All-Star-break sample, but I think it means something.

1. This team has to fight every night for the win. None will come easy because they have too many holes to fill.

2. The pitching may not be the problem. Nobody was great, but Vicente Padilla and Scooter Feldman fought and lost very winnable games.

3. The bullpen may not need fixing. They pitched to the tune of 13 innings, five hits, one run, five walks and 11 strikeouts over the weekend.

4. The offense is offensive.

5. Derek Holland needs to be in the starting rotation, barring injury, for the rest of the season.

6. This team still has fight in it.

That's the paradox of the walk-off homer. Sunday night's theatrics in the bottom of the 12th sort of overshadow the previous two nights when Rangers fans were begging for a hit and never got it.

Again, the more of Holland's and Tommy Hunter's games they can win, the closer they'll get to the division.

Notes:
1. Change in offensive philosophy? Jarrod Saltalamacchia laid down a couple of bunts and Elvis Andrus plated the tying run Sunday with a deep sac fly.

2. When was the last time the Rangers had two guys with 20+ steals? Ian Kinsler's got 19 and Elvis has 17.

3. How off kilter is the offense? Josh Hamilton was the only guy with more than a hit Friday. Saturday it was Nellie Cruz. Sunday it was Kinsler, Marlon Byrd and Dave Murphy. They're hitting, just on alternating days.

4. Doug Mathis has quietly put together 18 nice innings. He's mostly successful because of allowing barely any baserunners (1.07 WHIP, .194 BAA).

5. How ballsy good was C.J. Wilson's two innings?

6. Padilla simply needs to be better or this team's sunk.

7. How many bookend homers are there in MLB history? Answer: Three since 1969.

Do the Rangers need Roy Halladay?

Ol' Roy

The big news story on the Texas Rangers website states that the team has thrown their hat into the Roy Halladay proceedings.

The ace wants a trade. The Blue Jays are willing to oblige, even willing to send him to an AL East rival.

The real kicker is that Halladay has a full no-trade clause and going to a non-contender is out and going a young, overachieving team like the Rangers is very unlikely.

That leaves you a limited handful of teams that he'd consider. Take out the teams that can't afford him. Then take out the teams that don't have the prospects to get him.

That leaves you the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.

Nonetheless, I like the the Rangers are in on Halladay. He is most interesting and I'd kill to have him in the red, white and blue.

Unfortunately, there are other issues at play. Is the price worth the pay-off that still may or may not result in a playoff appearance?

I would say no.

From all indications, the Blue Jays would want at least five prospects for Halladay, at least two of those of the upper-echelon variety. Then they'd want a handful of mid-level prospects.

You're talking Neftali Feliz, Justin Smoak, Derek Holland, Chris Davis, Taylor Teagarden, Joaquin Arias, Elvis Andrus, Tommy Hunter, Blake Beavan, Mitch Moreland, Engel Beltre, Mike Bianucci, Wilfredo Boscan, Wilmer Font, Marcus Lemon, Willie Moscoso, Omar Poveda and others.

All of those names were mentioned by Rangers guru Jamey Newberg. You're talking Smoak, either Holland or Feliz, plus three others.

Is that worth it? I'd say not.

I do believe the Rangers are in prime position to grab some quality starting pitching by trading some prospects. I think Lemon, Davis, Hunter, Arias, Moreland, Teagarden, Beltre, Moscoso, Font and others are really sweet prospects that could get you something.

I also believe that the Rangers near 10 games over .500 and 1.5 back of the California Angels because of the resurrection of the farm system. Look at the homegrown guys that are winning for the Rangers: Holland, Hunter, Teagarden, Scott Feldman, Julio Borbon, Chris Davis, Hank Blalock, Ian Kinsler. Then look at the guys that were brought in as kids: Nellie Cruz, Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, David Murphy, Mike Young.

It was a few investments in the future, postponing any success for the present, that made this franchise what it is today. The Rangers need to stay the course.

Furthermore, it behooves the Rangers to take another route toward getting Major League help. Halladay best helps teams on the very precipice of a World Series, like the Red Sox, Cardinals or Phillies. The Rangers are overachieving right now. With some luck and some smart moves, the Rangers are in that position in two or three years. Halladay's presence is not ideal now.

Also, Halladay is 32 and he's a free agent in after 2010 and then he's probably gone. Why not invest your prospects in Josh Johnson, Jonathan Sanchez, Matt Cain, Chris Volstad and other starting pitchers in their early 20s, who are not only cheap, but good and guys you can build around?

It's not that the Rangers couldn't use Halladay. He'd be great. Every team, however, could use Halladay. The Nationals could use him. But they don't need him.

The Rangers should be holding the cards, not any other team or player.

The BaD Radio curse lives on

It's OK Ian, higher powers are at play

The eventual and proverbial bottom dropping out of the Texas Rangers 2009 campaign may have very little to do with plate philosophy, injuries, ability to throw strikes, defense or one's swing.

The Rangers may be unintentionally dabbling with otherworldly powers that may doom their season.

The BaD Radio curse is striking. Maybe.

As noted in a previous post, the uncanny nature of guests and friends of the Bob and Dan radio presentation middays on The Ticket failing on some level is spooky.

Mel Hall's in prison. Bobby Knight's playing in softball games. Mike Bacsik is producing for Norm Hitzges (a fate rivalled only by Sisyphus). Brad Wilkerson's out of the league. Drew Bledsoe's water skiing in Washington. And we never took into account Brenden Morrow tearing up his knee last season and essentially missing the season.

Not all of their fates are bad. Bill Geurin just helped Pittsburgh win the Stanley Cup. But that may only further prove that some eerie, ill-boding force is afoot.

Because we all know who has a weekly BaD Radio show this season: Ian Kinsler.

The effects are varied. Kinsler at one point was probably the Rangers best hitter. Today, he still leads the team in RBI, runs and stolen bases.

On April 26, he ended the day batting .356. Today, he's hitting .250. Clearly, his on-base percentage and slugging are down.

If you asked anyone, they would say Kinsler is in a relatively massive slump. That same person would also note that Kinsler's success (and health) are important keys for the Rangers the rest of the season.

Why can't BaD Radio book the California Angels every once in a while?

Turning the keys in a mid-season kinda way

Sort of a big deal

Before the season, I highlighted several "keys" to the season for the Texas Rangers in order for them to improve.

No, I did not define "improve" because getting close to 90 wins would've been considered improvement even if they did finish 10 games behind the California Angels. Sitting at 48 wins and just 1.5 games back of a team you've beat seven of nine times, things have changes as have expectations.

With the All-Star break here and me having to spend time combing NBA Summer League box scores to waste time, I wondered how many of my "keys" made a difference for the Rangers, if at all.

Fundamentals
It's sad that the Rangers had to actually consider improving the pure fundamentals of baseball. They're paid millions and millions of dollars each to lay down bunts and hit cut-off men and somehow the bulk of Rangers fandom thought, "Hey, if they can just cut down on the dumb mistakes, this team can win 90 games ... we think." For the most part, the mistakes are improved upon. Once, the Rangers were predicted to have the worst defense in the league. They're still not great, but not nearly the worst. They've improved mightily at first base, catcher, third base, shortstop and second base. Jarrod Saltalamacchia's improvement is most remarkable. Young's thrived at third. Ian Kinsler's got six total errors. And Elvis Andrus ... well, we know what he's about. Still, I'd like to see this team move a runner over or execute a good bunt every once in a while.

Bats
Boy, I'm kind of impressed with my evaluation of the Rangers offense. I did not think the offense would be this big of an issue to the point they were losing groups of games because of it. I foresaw struggles for Chris Davis. I thought Nellie Cruz would break out a little. However, I did not imagine Elvis Andrus or Marlon Byrd being this good, Ian Kinsler being this bad, Josh Hamilton being this hurt. Still, there's something off about this line-up and it isn't getting better.

Good Pitching
"Why not Maddux? Why not 2009?" Why not indeed! Mike Maddux and Nolan Ryan have done more with the Rangers pitching than a billion pitching coaches, managers and actual pitchers have done in 25 years. The difference is remarkable. However, never did I require the Rangers to have perfect or even great pitching. It just had to be better. ERAs didn't need to be under 2.00. If everyone on the rotation just got a little better, it would have made a big difference. And it has. Vicente Padilla's ERA is down 20 tenths of a point (but his innings are up, homers down). Kevin Millwood's ERA is down more than a whole run. Jason Jennings' ERA is down five runs. Tommy Hunter's has dropped 16 runs. C.J. Wilson's is down three runs. Jason Grilli, Frank Francisco, Doug Mathis and Darren O'Day all have sub-2.30 ERAs. Scooter Feldman's ERA has dropped almost two runs. It doesn't have to be perfect, just better.

A Good Start
The Rangers had a 10-11 April (including a sweep of the Indians and several series wins) then went 20-8 in May. Needless to say, it staved off playoff elimination until at least August and saved Ron Washington's job.

Brandon McCarthy
I thought B-Mac deserved other recognition outside of pitching. I thought McCarthy was so vitally important towards the success of the Rangers. That if they could just get 150 innings, 12 wins and a 4.00 ERA, they would have done good and probably, maybe, compete in the division. McCarthy, again, has been a disappointment. All was relatively well when he went down with a stress fracture in June. I mean relatively well. He did have a 4.92 ERA and just 64 innings, but he was 5-2, keeping them in games and not allowing a lot of hits (just 66 total). He wasn't great, but he was good enough. He was winning games. At the end of the season, they don't invite the team with the best statistical players to the playoffs. They invite the teams with the most wins.

Keys to the rest of this season:

Ian Kinsler And Josh Hamilton Have To Wake Up
Clearly.

Vicente Padilla Must Be Better
At times, he's great. But at an 80 percent rate he's been so-so and so-so Padilla gets rocked.

Line-Up Needs To Produce Runs, Discontinue Praying For Homers
Bunts, sac flies, going opposite field. These are the things that turn a 2-1 loss into a 3-2 win.

Rangers Must Win As Many Rookie Starts As Possible
The more games started by Derek Holland, Tommy Hunter, Doug Mathis, Neftali Feliz or any other young kid that makes a start that the Rangers win, the better. If those kids can keep it together, this team might be on its way.

The Rangers Must Pare Down The Outfield
Sans Chris Davis, this might get simpler. Doing something about Andruw Jones, Marlon Byrd or even Nellie Cruz (hell, if teams want to give up pitching, Cruz is on the market in my book) in order to get the very best bats in the line-up.

The NHL needs some business training

Who'd want to see this guy anyway?

I have always felt that second-tier sports (hockey, NASCAR, golf) should quit trying to become a top-tier sport and, instead, focus on becoming the very best second-tier sport.

Soccer, for example, tries so hard to become a rival to baseball or football when they're not nearly as popular (on a professional scale) as car racing or hockey.

Reaching the upper-echelon is pretty impossible. But there's little wrong with becoming the best at what you really are in the United States.

With that said, the NHL is super retarded for basically trying to make their sport as unpopular as possible.

The NHL is ironic in that they focus so much on becoming a top three American sport, but they have such a purist/loyalist cadre of fans and league officials that want to keep it for Canadians and people from Minnesota and Michigan.

The NHL schedules were released yesterday and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals are not playing in Dallas.

When we say "Penguins" and "Capitals," we're referring to Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, the two uber-studs of the NHL. Part Lebron, part Gretzky, part Ted Williams. The NHL goes as those two go.

Unfortunately, those two are going to places like Montreal, Toronto, Long Island, Florida and Carolina 100 percent more than they're going to one of the biggest media markets in the nation, Dallas.

The NHL has had this scheduling glitch for a while and I thought it was fixed, as evidenced by the many visits by Florida, Boston, Islanders and Toronto this season.

But not Crosby or Ovechkin.

It's said in business that putting your best product in front of as many people as possible is overrated.

Not all our exes live in Texas

John Danks: Breaking Rangers hearts one quality start at a time

It's impossible to ignore the former Texas Rangers around the league.

Some left for big money. Some were traded. Some were seemingly given away. Others never found their way in Arlington and yet blossomed elsewhere.

Here's all the coulda-wouldas.

Mark Teixeira
New York Yankees
How do you put value on excellence? Is Mark Teixeira overpaid? Maybe, especially if you're going to consider teachers, janitors and ditch diggers. However, it's impossible to ignore the output: 21 homers, 23 doubles, 63 RBI. Yes, the average is low (.275) and he dipped into his patented early-season slump (so familiar for Rangers fans), but he's probably still the most consistent guy in the Yankees line-up.

Francisco Cordero
Nick Masset
Danny Herrera
Cincinnati Reds
Could you imagine Herrera and Masset in the Rangers bullpen with Frank Francisco, C.J. Wilson, Darren O'Day and Jason Jennings? The trio have combined for 107 innings, 85 hits, 27 runs, 42 walks and 87 strikeouts. The highest ERA is with the shortest player -- Herrera -- at 2.78. Of course, Masset was involved in the John Danks-Brandon McCarthy trade, Cordero was in the Nellie Cruz-Carlos Lee trade and Herrera was involved in the Josh Hamilton trade with ...

Edinson Volquez
Cincinnati Reds
Has just started nine games all year due to elbow tendinitis. And he wasn't that good to begin with collecting 32 walks in 49 innings.

John Danks
Chicago White Sox
Still, this trade is biting the Rangers in the ass probably more than any other screwy trade GM Jon Daniels has made. Danks followed up a lackluster April and May with a brilliant June lowering his ERA to 3.91, winning three of his final five starts. And Brandon McCarthy is hurt again.

John Mayberry Jr.
Philadelphia Phillies
No matter what, JMJ was probably never going to break into the Rangers outfield and probably neither will Greg Golson, the guy the Rangers traded JMJ to Philly for. He has nine Major League hits and four of them are homers. He's hitting .184 in extremely limited action.

Jamey Wright
Kansas City Royals
Basically doing for the Royals what he did for the Rangers last season except with a lower ERA, WHIP and BAA. Kinda thought the Rangers should gone after him, but Jason Jennings is kinda erasing his memory.

Tug Hulett
Kansas City Royals
Seemed like a nice Quadruple A guy as a Ranger. Has one hit in 14 at-bats this season. Looks like one in Kansas City, too (.283 with 16 doubles in Triple A Omaha).

Chris Young
San Diego Padres
Has started just 14 games due to injury. Even still, he was awful with a 5.21 ERA, 40 walks and 12 homers allowed (he had allowed just 13 all of last season).

Kason Gabbard
Boston Red Sox
His minor league line: 0-3 - 19.64 ERA - 7.1 IP - 14 hits - 14 walks - 6 K - 3.82 WHIP. As Ranger or BoSox, he has never been the same since Richie Sexson charged the mound last season.

Armando Galaragga
Detroit Tigers
Probably the second biggest boner by Daniels. Not near as good as last season. He's got a 5.09 ERA and has allowed an astounding 17 home runs. Still, I'd rather have him than Jason Jennings last season.

Gerald Laird
Detroit Tigers
His average is about 35 points down from last year. Probably is who he is: Good defender, .250 hitter, at best.

20,000 Summer Leagues under the sea

Mickael Gelabale wants to be on your basketball team

I was actually one day away from being in Las Vegas when the NBA Summer League kicked off July 10.

I love the Summer League because nothing in American sports gets more overhyped and has become such a huge deal like the Summer League.

Nonetheless, it's a genius move by the NBA in not so much helping youngsters get their foot in the proverbial door, but to also start building up that hype for Blake Griffin and the other 100 or so guys drafted this June.

The Dallas Mavericks of the Summer League is officially 1-2 so far with a win against Phoenix and losses at Milwaukee and Houston. But the final score could mean less than in any other pre-season part of major sports in this country. Unlike pre-season baseball or football, the Summer League has looser rules. Basically, they're wanting guys to play streetball for 40 minutes and put up insane dunks and 40 points a game.

Here's a look at the development of some of the Mavericks players, all but two you may have heard of:

Rowdy Roddy Beaubois
Before injuring something or another, the Frenchman enjoyed a 34-point effort against Houston and 16 against Phoenix. In the 34-point game, he hit seven three pointers and dished out eight assists. Honestly, I don't care where the guy is come training camp, he has to start the season on the bench getting 10 minutes a night, for better or for worse. The Mavs can't send another draft pick to Europe.

Shan Foster
Speaking of ... Foster, Dallas' 2008 second rounder, has one DNP and one 1-7 night. He did mix in a nice 13-point night going 5-7 from the field. Again, sink or swim, the Mavs might want to find out about these guys. Set them on bench if need be.

Herbert Hill
A name that sparked a memory going back to the 2007 draft. As I remember, he was rumored to be a guy on the Mavs' big board during that draft before Utah got him with the 55th pick. He's 6-10 and led the Big East in scoring while at Providence. Very interesting guy.

Luke Jackson
I remember him more from Oregon with those fun Duck teams teamed with Luke Ridnour. Unforatunately, he hasn't transitioned well to the NBA. Or at all. Is averaging 10 points a game this summer.

Mickaël Gelabale
Had gotten nice minutes as a Seattle Supersonic. I remember him slightly (mostly for the hair), but clearly he didn't have a lot going for him. Would not be shocked to see him as a 12th man.

All-Starred

Hall-of-Famer to be, Mariano Rivera with the ungolden Arch

There is no doubt in my mind that the MLB All-Star extravaganza is the best (or at least my favorite) sporting exhibition in modern times.

If I could trade every other exhibition in every sport for the MLB All-Star game, I would.

There is no greater celebration of a sports around. Nobody cares about the Pro Bowl or NHL All-Star game. The NBA All-Star game is fine, but it's more about scoring than the all-around game.

If you watched last night's 4-3 American League victory, you realize that this dumb, mid-season exhibition means more to those guys than the NBA game means to them. The MLB All-Star game isn't batting practice. Roy Halladay, Jon Papelbon, Trevor Hoffman, Joe Nathan, CoCo Cordero, Heath Bell and every other pitcher that took the mound last night was just as intent, if not more, to getting those batters out as those batters were intent in hitting the ball.

A 4-3 MLB All-Star game is like a 95-93 game in the NBA All-Star game, which would never happen because it's about the offense, not defense.

Plus, you have a sport that's tipping its cap to its current crop of great players and to the guys that came before, which is still my favorite part. I just sat watching and waiting for Bob Gibson to rip off the red blazer, go to the mound and pitch three perfect frames for the National League.

I realize that home-field advantage in the World Series seems so distant and unrelated to 99 percent of the players playing, but you can't tell me that every dude out there (except for David Wright's errant throw in the first inning ... thanks for trying, David!) wasn't giving it their best in trying to win.

Notes:
1. Brian McCann's beard is so ridiculously awesome.

2. What a good at-bat from Adam Jones before he hit the game-winning sac fly. That was as big-league and professional from such a young kid as you'll get in an exhibition.

3. It was odd seeing Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay struggle.

4. Ryan Franklin's beard is just ridiculous.

5. Do you think St. Louis Cardinals fans were happy about Dan Haren and Jason Marquis coming back as All-Stars?

6. Matt Cain is awesome, but he looks like a giant hillbilly.

7. It's shocking the National League garnered five total hits.

8. Although it was important, Carl Crawford's MVP catch wasn't that impressive. I think he'd even tell you that.

9. Dudes I'd have on my team anyday, any price: Joe Mauer, Curtis Granderson, Hunter Pence, Jason Bay and Justin Upton. Those dudes look like players.

10. I am particularly partial to Pence. If those guys genuinely love playing that game, Pence shows it more than any of them.

11. Sadly, no Texas Ranger heroics, although that was a nice grab by Mike Young on Albert Pujols.

12. Did you count the ex-Rangers? I counted four: Carlos Pena, Mark Teixeira, Adrian Gonzalez and CoCo. It's still shocking the legacy at first base the Rangers have had.

13. I think the Rangers should go ahead and sign Mariano Rivera's two sons.

14. Not that he needed it, but I think Barack Obama won the re-election last night. Has there been a more likable president?

More catching up: Ben and Skin out

Still catching up on the many high jinks that took place while on vacation.

Ben and Skin and 105.3 The Fan have divorced.

Not very surprised in that their show was largely unlistenable because it went 100 mph. Any references were either too obscure or bordering on dick and fart jokes ... opposed to actually playing fart drops like The Ticket.

Kinda wondering what The Fan's really thinking. Not that it was a bad move, but it looks like they wanted to make The Ticket Lite, then went to a sports talk format (see: calls from listeners) and the two really don't mix. Now, I guess they're going straight sports talk and hoping all works out.

I also think it's interesting that they're basically hiring print journalists at this point. Maybe that's the problem.

'Buy a bottle of suds for you and everyone'

Jenny Lewis "See Fernando" from Team G on Vimeo.

The incredibly sexy Jenny Lewis with an incredibly good music video for a pretty rad song.

Derby

Second place is the first loser

Nellie Cruz narrowly lost the MLB All-Star Game Home Run Derby last night.

This world will be better when Texas Rangers are not participating in that swing-killer.

By the way, Mike Young's now a starter.

Waiting for Gortat

Kareem ... uh, no ... Gortat

That low, disconcerting rumble you hear is everyone overreacting to the Orlando Magic matching the Dallas Mavericks' offer for Marcin Gortat.

It is a kick in the nuts. I mean, no one thought the Magic would shell out five years, $34 million for a guy that had one good game last year, but then that would make the Mavs crazy, too.

Also, it comes on the heels of the Magic stealing "Brandon Brass" (nice copy editing Dallas Morning News!) away.

Don't get me wrong, this puts the Mavs in kind of a lurch in that they have to keep Erick Dampier now and they'll have to search the trash heap for a back-up. Then again, wasn't Gortat a member of the trash heap before he impressed everyone with his eight minutes a game in the playoffs?

If Orlando wants to overpay Gortat, then let them. That's why some teams are bad a lot of the time. Except for this last season, that's what Orlando was and without Dwight Howard, they still would be.

This isn't Bill Russell or Bill Walton here. Gortat's biggest asset was that he was young with a lot of upside. That's about it. He's has unproven as Ryan Hollins or any other spare post guy you can find out there (frankly, I see nothing wrong with Chris Wilcox).

Considering the Mavs just traded Jerry Stackhouse's corpse for Shawn Marion, I would think fans and media would be mildly surprised at best at the Gortat development.

This city is aching to find another Steve Nash (a white guy with little cred to make it big) that it's sickening.

Texas Ranger Needs: Reliever

Heath Bell in the Padre throwbacks

The MLB trade deadline is July 31 and it finds the Texas Rangers in an odd spot.

Yesterday, I opined about the trade possibilities of Hank Blalock. The Rangers may be the only contender who could trade MLB talent and yet buy parts to compete for the division and/or wild card.

One position of relative need is bullpen help. It's sounds odd, but it's true. Considering the seasons of C.J. Wilson, Frank Francisco, Darren O'Day, Jason Grilli and Jason Jennings, you'd think the Rangers would be ... wait for it ... set up in the reliever department.

However, all is not well. Francisco's health is a liability. Wilson hasn't always been the most reliable dude in the room. O'Day and Grilli seem like week-to-week propositions. Eddie Guardado looks a mess. Jennings missed all of last season due to injury.

Plus, the Rangers don't need to break the bank to get quality help and they could get guys that'll help them the next two years. Quality, young guys.

Here's what I'm talking about:

Cla Meredith
The San Diego Padres are in the doldrums and could sell soon and often to start the rebuilding process. Meredith is a young righty (26), who peaked in part-time duty in 2006 with an insane 1.07 ERA in 50+ innings. Since his numbers have dwindled (4.29 this season), but mind would too if I were a Padre. Plus, he's a cheap $431K this season.

Heath Bell
Having a phenomenal season with 23 saves and a 1.69 ERA and no homers allowed in 37 innings. Frankly, he's been one of the best relievers in the game the last three years. At $1.3 million he's extremely affordable and under control through 2011. With Bell, Francisco and Wilson, you're not going to get beat in the eighth and ninth innings. But he'll be pricey.

Takashi Saito
Was rumored to be coming for Hank Blalock yearlier this season before Josh Hamilton went down. Is having a reasonable comeback year at 3.52 ERA and about a strikeout per inning. He's cheap at $1.5 million this year and an option for 2010. He is 39 and was injured last season.

Juan Cruz
Has a 4.08 ERA for the Kansas City Royals, who got Cruz, 30, on the cheap after he lingered on the free agent market over the winter. Despite high walk numbers, opponents are hitting .201 against him. He was super good for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season. He's due $2.25 million this year, $3.25 million next and a $4 million option for 2011.

George Sherrill
The Balitmore Orioles closer is 32 and holds a 2.41 ERA during a $2.5 million, one-year deal. He's a lefty and that might not help the Rangers with Derek Holland, Wilson and Guardado in tow.

Matt Capps
A 25-year-old closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who's getting the shit hit out of him this season with a 6.21 ERA and a .313 BAA. I wouldn't want the guy to close for me, but he was really good the last two seasons. A set-up role could do him some good.

There's calculated break-ups and then there's this

No more fun with this for Tony Romo

Are we to believe it is pure coincidence that Dallas Cowboys heartthrob quarterback Tony Romo and his singing sassy girlfriend Jessica Simpson broke up (or the news thereof) on the absolute slowest sports news day of the year? 

MLB is hosting its Home Run Derby. NBA and NHL on the midst of a free agency stalemate. The NFL ain't clicking. British Open ain't here yet nor is there big tennis or NASCAR. 

Yes, nothing's going on and the story breaks that the pair aren't together breaks. 

Coincidence? I think not. 

I don't know the reason they would break this today. As Jerry Jones has said, the only bad publicity is no publicity. Maybe it was happenstance. Maybe not. Maybe they wanted all the sports headlines and for People and TMZ to talk about them to set up some grand reunion or somesuch. I don't know, and frankly I don't care. 

Is not being with Simpson gonna help Romo hit open receivers, read defenses and not fumble? 

Whatever. Details are that Romo broke up with Simpson the night before Simpson's 29th Barbie-themed birthday bash. The party, sadly, was cancelled. That's kinda sorry of the guy. 

Other Internet rumors note that Romo cheated on Simpson with Crystal Kasper. Shouldn't more Dallas athletes steer clear of chicks named Crystal? 

Not surprisingly, Kasper is hot. 

No Simpson. No TO. No excuses. 

Starry eyed

Karlis Skrastins: He'll punch your mother and kiss your sister

Between the Texas Rangers rolling, the Dallas Mavericks dealing and the Dallas Cowboys defrosting, there's been little focus on the Dallas Stars despite free agency and the draft coming around.

I'm not even going to comment on the draft. I don't know who these kids are and we're lucky to see them in the big leagues in five years, so why waste our brain power thinking about Scott Glennie.

Let's talk about today. Let's talk about this season.

The Stars did re-sign Mark Fistric to a three-year deal. I like Fistric. I think he has something. Still extremely young (23) and could be a nice player. They also threw one year and $1.5 million at Jere Lehtinen.

The biggest move, however, came with the acquiring of goaltender Alex Auld. He's only 28 and should serve as a more-than-capable back-up for Marty Turco and someone you can probably roll with long term should injury come into play. What I can't figure out is why he's been with six NHL teams already. Is he that awful? Or not worth the trouble.

Further strengthening their blue line, the Stars inked defenseman Jeff Woywitka to a two-year deal worth about $1.3 million and Karlis Skrastins to a two-year, $2.75 million deal. Woywitka is only 25, so joins the other youngsters on the blue line for Dallas with not much more experience than Fistric, Matty Niskanen and Trevor Daley.

Skrastins represents to me what Joe Nieuwendyk is trying to do to this club: Toughen it up. Skrastins is 34 and played 80 games for the Florida Panthers last season. Along the way, he was ninth in the league in blocked shots, something you always saw those 1990s Stars doing while they were winning.

Finally, the Stars also inked center Warren Peters to a one-year deal. He's 26, further getting this team younger and younger.

In sad news, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed winger Chris Conner. All 5-2 of Conner will be playing in the East this season. This is only weird because Conner was the Stars' best prospect for years and once he played they realized he didn't have much since he was three foot tall.

The booty: Two defensemen, a goalie, a winger and center.

The cost: About $8.5 million and a draft pick. That's dollar store shopping for you.

Who wants Hank Blalock?

Hammer time

Two weeks ago, I questioned the trade value of Hank Blalock only because he was playing so sparsely and then hitting so poorly.

Because that's what Blalock's about these days: hitting.

Maybe he was always about hitting but for a while you could depend on pretty good glove work at third base. Now, he's relegated to DH and first base duty. Honestly, he should be a pretty good first baseman because of his experience manning the hot corner. There's also the question of whether Blalock could in fact play third base and maybe the Rangers are protecting his health by storing him away at first base. But whatever.

I consider the Rangers partial sellers and Blalock a good trade chip, especially with his current stroke going on. The Hammer is a free agent after the season and is on the books for $6 million this season. By July 31, he should be only due half of that and, even so, he's off the books at the end of the season.

Teams that might need the Hammer:

New York Mets
The Mets have the least homers (50) in the league and the third lowest slugging (.387). They're 6.5 games out of first place in the NL East and who knows if they're going to go for it, wait for injured guys to return or pack it in for next season. They do have former Ranger third baseman Fernando Tatis manning first base, which probably ain't ideal for the Metropolitans.

San Francisco Giants
The Giants are in the same boat as the Mets: the fourth lowest slugging (.392) and the third lowest homers (62). How they differ is that the Giants have 49 wins and are in control the wild card spot at the moment. Plus, the Giants are notoriously looking for the middle-of-the-line-up bat and have the pitching to get that bat. Hell, the Rangers might do a package deal for the Giants to get a couple of bats.


St. Louis Cardinals
Offensively, the Cards are a middle-of-the-pack team. What they need more than anything is a big bat to fill out the middle of the line-up to help protect Albert Pujols. I don't know if the Cards are the best swapping mates because they might have other places to service if they want to make a move. Plus, I don't know where they stick Blalock with Pujols in at first and Blalock's ability to man third being in question.


Detroit Tigers
The Tigers and Rangers have been good trade partners as of late. If Magglio Ordonez is on the outs as they suggest, the Tigers could use a DH or a lefty bat. Like the Cards, the Tigers might have bigger fish to fry.


Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees
I consider the Red Sox and Yankees in on every deal. I mean, I watched the Yankees-Angels game Saturday and they're talking about how the Yankees might be interested in trading for a starting pitcher. The Red Sox are allegedly in on Roy Halladay. Like they need him. I think Blalock fits a tad better in Boston. A lefty bat could be useful and a guy that can play first (nothing against Aaron Bates). Blalock's a loaner so he's not going to get in anyone's way. The Yankees went out and got Eric Hinske. They've got lefties up their ying-yang and already employ Blalock's former buddy Mark Teixeira.

Walking wounded

High five

Losing three of four in Seattle was probably not the way the Texas Rangers wanted to end the first half of the 2009 campaign.

Then again, finishing 48-39 was probably the exact way they wanted to start the season. Picking nits after losing three by a total of seven runs as the offense continues to sputter here and there is not the solution.

The biggest question I have is why we're freaking out about the fifth starter. Dustin Nippert started yesterday. What's the deal here? Why is Derek Holland not starting? Yeah, he's been roughed up, but he's a rookie for crying out loud. Give me Holland over Nippert any day of the week.

With that said, I think Nippert could be extremely useful, if healthy, in the bullpen because he's a big righty with a good out pitch. But let's suspend this belief that Holland isn't the answer and Nippert or anyone else is.

Notes:

1. Hank Blalock is absolutely crushing the ball since Chris Davis' trip to Oklahoma City and the Hammer playing everyday. He had 11 hits on the road trip. I wonder, considering Davis' struggles, if the Rangers are apt to trade Blalock.

2. I'll be glad to not see Franklin Gutierrez ever again.

3. C.J. Wilson will be glad not to see Seattle ever again.

4. Marlon Byrd's single-season mark for doubles was 28. He hit No. 28 for this season Saturday night. He's on a clear pace to crush about every hitting mark he has.

5. Jason Grilli has allowed no runs and three hits in his last 9.1 innings. As a Ranger, Grilli's ERA is 1.46.