Josh Hamilton

Lock this guy up. Just do it. He's on the brink of "Pierredom." Make that "Crawfordom." And you can get him cheap! Julio Borbon  is set to bat leadoff for the Texas Rangers, and he will be a big reason why the Rangers will take the AL West in 2010.

The Texas Rangers came into the series hosting the Angels at the end of a terrible June.  For the month, Texas had a losing record, the worst hitting, and worst on-base percentage.  And worst of all they had lost their lead over the Angels.

Down 1.5 games to the Angels, and the Mariners only 2.5 behind Texas, the Rangers needed a big showing against the defending AL West champ Angels and defending AL champ Rays.

Monday: L, 2-5 (40-35)

There are many professional baseball players with stories, and they know life is about more than just baseball.

If I had to pick one story that made me nauseous by the end of the 2008 season, it would be Josh Hamilton's journey from "hell" to the big leagues. 

So what?  He put down the crack pipe, found Jesus, and started playing a game again.

Did Tim Raines, or any of the other 12 coke heads, get standing ovations when they came back from the infamous 1985 Pittsburgh drug trials?

Tim Raines did lines of coke off of his glove while playing the outfield.  He slid into bases on his non-vial side to make sure it wouldn't break.

The Texas Rangers are 30-19, leading the Angels in the AL West by 5.5 games after play on Saturday. The Rangers’ quick start can be attributed to their potent offense, which ranks fifth in the Majors, scoring 5.44 runs per game.

Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, and Nelson Cruz have led the way for Texas, combining to hit .303 through the first two months of the season.

Josh Hamilton, however, hasn’t been quite as productive, posting a miserable .234 batting clip while battling through a groin injury.

The general consensus is that the American League West is the weakest division in baseball. I would have to agree with this. 

Not only does the division have just four teams, but it is also lacking a powerhouse team that most other divisions possess.

In a lot of ways, this is a good thing. Namely, it gives average teams like the Mariners a chance to compete. It's rare for anyone to walk away with the division in dominating fashion, with the exception of the 2008 Angels.

Leading the AL West over the Angels by 1.5 games and still unbeaten against the Mariners this year, the Rangers went into last night's game looking to continue their winning ways.

Texas sent Brandon McCarthy to the mound as he looked to redeem himself after getting blown-up in his last start in Oakland.  Brandon also had a personal battle, he has yet to pitch seven complete innings in a Rangers uniform. 

Wednesday night against the Mariners he was able accomplish both goals.

This is a big week for the Rangers, make no mistake about that.  Texas comes into the week leading the AL West, but the Angels are only a half-game back and the Mariners 1.5 games back.  To help out the Rangers got Josh Hamilton back off the DL, and Michael Young returned to the lineup for the first time since last Friday (back spasm).

This is actually the beginning of my new series where I will run down the top players at the position they play at. Starting with outfielders which is a very tough position to play.

Anyways I will run down the overall best outfielders in the American League. So without further ado, here is my list of the Top 15 Present Day Outfielders.

These are all present day and are based on what kind of player they are today.

About one month is in the books for the 2009 Texas Rangers season. Before jumping into grading each hitter for their first month performance, lets look at the team's overall rank for key stats in the American League 

Current place in the Standings: 16-13, 1st in the AL West

Home Runs: 50, 1st in AL

Runs: 166, 3rd in AL

Batting Avg: .282, 4th in AL

Stolen Bases: 23, 4th in AL

On-base Pct: .334, 10th in AL