Scott Feldman

The Toronto Blue Jays announced Monday they have acquired relief pitcher Scott Feldman from the Houston Astros in return for minor league pitcher Guadalupe Chavez. 

Feldman is 5-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 26 games and five starts this season, as the Blue Jays add a versatile arm to their bullpen.  

It’s highly doubtful that any minor league player is going to have the type of impact Mike Trout had on the Los Angeles Angels when he joined the team in late April of last year and went to have one of the best rookie season’s ever (.326 BA, 30 HR, 83 RBI, 129 R, 49 SB). His team went 83-59 the rest of the way.

The Texas Rangers made an unsurprising yet intriguing move by signing free-agent pitcher Roy Oswalt for the rest of the season.

Clearly the addition of Oswalt gives the Rangers the potential to be one of the best rotations in baseball for the rest of the season. 

But what exactly will Oswalt accomplish with the reigning two-time American League Champions?

Here are 10 predictions for Roy Oswalt as a Texas Ranger. 

To add Cliff Lee or not to add Cliff Lee, that is the question surrounding a lot of teams as the trade deadline is just a few weeks away.

For the Texas Rangers, however, the answer to this question has to be a resounding-no.

For one, the team is currently four and a half games up on the defending AL West champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and don't look to be slowing down any time soon.

I know it is still early in the season, but this team is feeling more and more like teams of the past; keeping a record right around .500, and never knowing how to put other teams away. I hope they can get it figured out soon.

Game Recaps

4-20 at Boston Red Sox L, 6-7

Colby Lewis had a decent start going five innings and giving up 3 runs on 5 hits. He had to feel pretty good leaving the game with the score at 6-3, but it turned out not to be enough.

I love baseball.

I love everything about it.  For as long as I can remember, baseball has been the one thing that I have consistently adored. 

I am a big sports fan in general, but nothing gets my blood pumping like a good baseball game.

Today’s Rangers-Blue Jays game was just such a contest.

The beginning of the game was extremely disheartening for Rangers fans. Going in with such high expectations, it was really hard to see Scott Feldman give up two home runs early, and the offense be completely absent.

My last article predicted the final records for the AL West teams. I came up with this:

LA 88-74
Seattle 87-75
Oakland 84-78
Texas 82-80

Obviously, I think it's going to be close.

The next thing I wanted to do was look at the starting rotations of each team, pitcher-by-pitcher, and grade them.

Without further ado, here's my look at Texas.

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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)

After their difficult two week stretch in which the Rangers played four potential playoff teams, it looked as though the team would get a little bit of a break against two middle of the road teams in Houston and San Francisco.

However, with a 2-4 week that included being swept out of San Francisco and with the Angels continuing on their hot streak, the Rangers' lead in the AL West is only a half game.

It’s officially time to fear the Texas Rangers, although it has taken almost the whole decade. There is not a single reason why the Rangers are in first place right now, it’s a combination of everything. That’s the sign of a winning team, and a team to fear.

Pitching is the most important thing in baseball. No fan would disagree with that. Everyone loves to see the long ball, but the long ball doesn’t matter if the other team scores.