Former Cy Young winner set to join Rangers

Cliff Lee signed with Philly, then Texas came up short in their efforts to land Zack Greinke, but it appears they have finally landed a potential ace to at least partially fill their pitching void.

Pending a physical, the Rangers have signed former Cy Young winner Brandon Webb to a 1-year contract worth a reported $3 million, with an additional $5-$7 million in performance incentives. Webb has pitched just 4 innings over the last two seasons due to reoccurring arm troubles that have resulted in him spending 372 on the disabled list.

Webb, 31, won the National League Cy Young award in 2006, when he went 16-8 with a 3.10 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9. He also finished second for the award in both 2007 and 2008.

Webb is a pronounced ground ball/strikeout pitcher, perfect for the Rangers hitter-friendly ballpark. However, the violent arm motion he uses to throw his A+ sinker is one of the reasons for his arm troubles, as it puts an immense amount of strain on his shoulder. While a return to his Cy Young-level is impossible to expect, Texas is, at the very least, banking on Webb being healthy enough to nail down a spot in what is a slightly thin starting rotation.

Rangers Sign Former Aggie Barret Loux

The Rangers have signed pitcher Barret Loux. The former Texas A&M standout was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 6th pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft but went unsigned after failing a team physical. Despite concerns regarding issues of varying degrees with both his shoulder and elbow on his pitching arm, the Rangers believed the former First Team All-Big 12 pitcher was worth the gamble, signing Loux to a $312k bonus.

"Our guys liked him in the Draft last year," general manager Jon Daniels said. "Obviously, there is a reason why his situation played out the way it did. Ultimately, we were comfortable with it.

"There is a risk with every player and every acquisition. We are happy to add another quality arm and a quality person to our organization. We are trying to add as much talent to the organization as possible."

With A&M, Loux went 11-2 with a 2.83 ERA and an opponents batting average of .202 while striking out 136 over 105.0 innings pitches.

The addition of the 6'5" Loux means Texas now has 5 of the first 49 picks from the 2010 Draft under contract.

By not signing Loux, Arizona will recieve the 7th pick in the 2011 Draft as compensation, a two-year old rule which was put into effect in an effort to prevent draft picks from holding out for more money from teams. The MLB Players Association is rumored to be looking into the possibility Arizona deliberately selected Loux despite having full knowledge of his injuries, simply so they could leave him unsigned and gain an additional top selection in the deeper 2011 Draft.

Rangers Win In Extra Innings, Take 2 Of 3 In Arizona

Last night in Arizona, Texas put nine runs up on the board, the first sign of any real offense we've seen from the Rangers for virtually the entire month of June. Despite the offensive explosion, it almost wasn't enough.

Starter Scott Feldman again looked good for Texas, going six innings, allowing three runs on four hits. However, the usually reliable combo of Darren O'Day and Frank Francisco let a 6-3 lead evaporate into a 6-6 tie, thanks to a couple of big homeruns, including a 2-run bomb by D-Backs Third Baseman Mark Reynolds off the Rangers closer.

Ron Washington doesn't seem to be worried about Francisco.

"A good fastball hitter caught a good fastball," Washington said. "He threw him a fastball, and he got it. I thought Frankie's velocity was good and the ball was coming out of his hand good. Frankie is only human. That Reynolds kid has good power."

But in the top of the 12th inning, the much maligned Chris Davis picked up his fourth hit of the night, a big 2-run homer to give Texas the lead.



"[They] threw that first one by me, and I barely got it," Davis said. "I could hear his frustration on the mound. I stepped out and collected myself. Then he threw a changeup over the plate and I just threw my hands at it and hit it well."

Daivd Murphy followed Davis with a solo homerun and it proved to be a huge run, as Arizona fought back for a couple in the bottom of the 12th, coming up one run short.

"It's really nice to get out of here with a win regardless if there is a 'W' by my name or not," Feldman said. "A long plane ride home is better considering it was a battle, but we still pulled through."

Padilla Comes Up Clutch In Win Over Arizona

He may not be the most popular guy in the clubhouse but there's no telling just how far out of 1st place the Rangers would were it not for the guts and toughness of Vicente Padilla.

Last night, Padilla played the role of the stopper, pitching a seven inning gem, ending Texas' 5-game losing streak. Allowing only one run on six hits, Padilla outdueled D-backs ace and NL ERA leader, Dan Haren.

"That's exactly what we needed," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "When you have a team that's slipping a little, you need one of your top pitchers to go out and do what he did tonight. If we get that one through five in our rotation, we'll be in great shape."



"When your team has five straight losses, it's good getting a win like this," Padilla said.

Texas again struggled at the plate. They managed to scrape together two runs early thanks to RBI base hits by Taylor Teagarden and David Murphy, but still left two men stranded at 3rd base with less than 2 outs. Luckily for the Rangers, Arizona was never able to get anything going against Padilla.

"We could just never get the big hit at the right time," D-backs manager A.J. Hinch said. "We did get runners on base, and we were in a position to score runs but we just didn't hit them in. Give credit to [Padilla] for competing at that time and getting a lot of off-barrel contact at the right time. It's unfortunate for us."

Padilla is 3-0 in his last four starts.

"He [Padilla] certainly had a challenge on his hands, and he was up for the challenge," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Every time he has been going out there, he has been getting better. We needed him to match up tonight, and he did."

"Contrary to popular belief, the sky wasn't falling," said third Baseman Michael Young. "We're a confident group. There are stretches when we aren't playing well, but the biggest thing is how you come out of it. We feel we can play well on any night. It was a nice win, we just have to continue to play well."

Texas is now 2-14 this season when scoring two runs or fewer in a game.

Rangers Lose 5th In A Row, Now Tied For First In AL West.

This season is beginning to look like so many other 'promising' seasons of years passed. Texas' hot May has given way to a cold June and, after building a 4 1/2 game lead against the Angels, now find themselves in a tie for the AL West.

Texas has gone stone cold at the plate, flailing wildly and coming up short with runners on. The Rangers are now 15 for their last 90 with runners in scoring position. Needless to say, hitting .167 with RISP isn't going to get it done, especially in Texas where the ballpark forces you to be an offensively-geared unit.

Last night in Arizona, the offensive struggles continued as D-backs starter Max Scherzer tied the Rangers offense up to the tune of two runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts. Texas was 2-for-9 with men in scoring position.



Hitting Coach Rudy Jaramillo thinks the hitters are putting too much pressure on themselves.

"There's too much going on in their minds to execute," said Jaramillo. "I see all these things, but once we learn to relax, we're going to stop swinging at pitches we can't hit. I wouldn't throw us a strike right now either. We need to relax, clear our minds, breathe slow and trust our ability."

Matt Harrison did nothing to help the offense, allowing four runs within the first two innings of the game, putting Texas in the hole early. After all was said and done, Harrison lasted just 3 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs.

"He wasn't very sharp tonight," manager Ron Washington said. "He just didn't have it."

"I'm very frustrated," Harrison said. "A terrible performance. I walked too many guys, I fell behind too many guys and I was missing up in the zone. We needed a good start tonight and I didn't give it to them. Very disappointing."

The comic relief moment of the night came in the 6th inning when catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia overthrew pitcher Jason Jennings when tossing the ball back to the mound in-between pitches. No one on the infield noticed, allowing a runner fron 3rd base to score.

Texas is now 7-12 in June.