Texas Rangers (Est. 1972)

[Argonaut]

INTRODUCTION

Hello, and welcome to my dynasty thread. I'm taking over the Texas Rangers from their beginning in 1972. The initial players are holdovers from the Washington Senators, but I feel this is the real start of the franchise. The Rangers have been my favourite team since I played Ken Griffey Jr. Presents on the SNES growing up. Juan Gonzalez was a beast in that game, and due to no MLBPA license all of the players had cool cowboy names like W. Earp and B. Hickok.

The main goals of this save will be to:

1. Exceed the historical success of the real Texas Rangers. One World Series title should do that. Once I have that, the goal becomes to be a real long-term dynasty.

2. Put as many Texas Rangers into the Hall of Fame as possible. In real life only Nolan Ryan and Pudge are wearing a Rangers cap. And Ryan's choice of the Rangers is a bit dubious. So I'll improve on this.



RELEVANT SETTINGS

1. 3-Year Recalc with Current Year Double-Weighted. I tried the Development Engine only in a test run, but it was too random for my taste. I'll try not to exploit the AI, but Texas starts off pretty weak so I'll have a bit of challenge.

2. Historical Rookies Import to their Teams. This will save time on drafting and add more historical flavour. Will try to build around a core of Rangers.

3. League Evolution On. The MLB will expand as relevant, and rules and strategy will update as the years pass by.

INITIAL PRIORITIES

1. Try to trade for Fergie Jenkins and Nolan Ryan. Getting them early will both help my team and ensure they have a Rangers cap in the Hall.

2. Also try to trade for Buddy Bell and Al Oliver. These guys are outside shots at the Hall, but they were also good historical Rangers I want.

For initial prospects I only have Bill Madlock who has a chance at the Hall. But given that I'd only play him as 1B/DH and that he didn't play much as a Ranger, I'll probably need him for my trade packages.

Any advice or comments or questions welcome!

[Argonaut]

1972 RECAP

Record: 60-102, 6th in AL West

Well, the Rangers inaugural season in Texas was awful. We stumbled out to a 60-102 record, good enough for dead last in the MLB. The good news is that we've made some strides to be competitive in the long-term.

Notable Ins: Fergie Jenkins (SP), Buddy Bell (3B), Mark Belanger (SS), Paul Blair (CF)
Notable Outs: Bill Gogolewski (SP), Frank Howard (LF), Toby Harrah (SS)
Rookie Class: Mike Hargrove (1B), Jim Sundberg (C), Len Barker (SP)

Toby Harrah and Buddy Bell swapped places in real history, but I engineered the move earlier. It's part of a move to have a strong defensive lineup with Belanger and Blair. I gave up quite a bit to get Fergie Jenkins, but he immediately becomes the best Ranger and a likely candidate for my first Hall of Fame cap.

Best Performers
Fergie Jenkins (SP): 5.5 WAR
Jeff Burroughs (RF): 4.5 WAR
Elliot Maddox (CF): 3.6 WAR
Dick Bosman (SP): 3.1 WAR

World Series
Baltimore Orioles defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3

MLB Awards
AL MVP: Bobby Grich (SS), BAL
NL MVP: Hank Aaron (RF), ATL
AL Cy Young: Vida Blue (SP), OAK
NL Cy Young: Tom Seaver (SP), NYM

Hall of Fame Inductees
Whitey Ford (SP), NYY
Robin Roberts (SP), PHI
Sandy Koufax (SP), LAD
Yogi Berra (C), NYY

Next step is to try to pry Nolan Ryan away from the Angels...

[Argonaut]

So I've done some pondering on this, and I'm thinking the 1970s version of my Rangers are going to skew to the run-prevention side. I've got Ferguson Jenkins and am aiming to get Nolan Ryan, so those 2 guys are my focus on getting Rangers in the Hall of Fame for now. A good defense should help them. Even if the Hall favours FIP, the lower ERAs will keep starting pitchers in the game longer and generating more value.

And OOTP is saying that the old Arlington Stadium is a pitcher's park, so that skews the decision even more. I don't know if those stadium factors will stay similar until 1993 when we move to the newer park (a hitter's park), but we'll see.

1973 update will come tomorrow. I'll put together a better lineup this year and win a lot more than 60 games for sure.

[Argonaut]

1973 ALL-STAR BREAK

So with California out of contention at the All-Star break, and Texas surprisingly in 1st place by 1 game over Oakland, I went all out and traded for Nolan Ryan. The Angels actually got quite a haul, including Bill Madlock who will be a perennial batting title candidate, my starting RF in Elliot Maddox, and Bill Hands (SP) who has 3.0 WAR at the break. And also Jonathan Astroth who has the potential to be a franchise catcher. See this thread on Astroth for an interesting story: https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boa...d.php?t=305605

The trade might even weaken me in the short-term, but Nolan Ryan will no doubt become a Rangers legend and Hall of Famer. I'll have to find another outfielder and DH if I want to compete for the playoffs this year. In other news, I turned off personality and morale as I found I paid attention to it too much for a historical sim, and the values were randomized anyway I think.. which was annoying. It gave me an unfair advantage over the AI as I like to have teams full of "green" personalities.

[Argonaut]

1973 ALCS

The Rangers are going to the World Series! In only our second season, no less. We ended up winning the AL West Division by 2 games over Oakland, and then the Red Sox took us to the full 5 games in the ALCS.

It was a crazy series, with lots of back-and-forth. Nolan Ryan started twice, and had a ridiculous 1.17 ERA to go along with 18 strikeouts. Funny though, he actually lost the first game due to no run support.

The definitive moment came in the top of the ninth in Game 5. Our closer Steve Foucault and setup man Al Hrabosky combined to load the bases for Boston. The score is 6-3, so giving up anything would put us in a huge hole. I was sweating it. With 2 outs, Hrabosky strikes out Fred Lynn and the game is over!

On to face interstate rival Houston Astros in the World Series, in both teams' first shot at the title. You couldn't script it any better.

[Argonaut]

1973 WORLD SERIES

Well, that was disappointing. The Astros defeat the Rangers 4-1 in the World Series, and the first baseball championship in Texas goes to Houston. Nothing could be worse!

I hadn't quite finished the team the way I wanted, but somehow Texas had the best record in MLB with 98 wins, and we made our way to the finals. Throughout the series, Houston did "feel" like the better team and my hitting especially isn't quite good enough yet. Not enough slugging to drive runs in.

Steve Foucault totally blew a save in the deciding 5th game too. You can see by the game graph we had it locked-up in the top of the ninth. But then disaster.

Oakland is shaping up to be my biggest rival in the AL West, but Houston is definitely my biggest overall rival by virtue of being in-state and beating us in our first World Series. New goal: do better than Houston in this save.

1973 Recap coming in the next post.

[Argonaut]

1973 RECAP

Record: 98-64, 1st in AL West

A fantastic second year, although we came up short in the World Series. Along with Nolan Ryan I signed a couple of finesse pitchers in Peterson and Merritt, and I will try to focus on these types for my 3-5 slots as they fit well in a pitcher's park.

Mike Hargrove was great as a rookie starting a year earlier than history and actually won the AL Rookie of the Year. Nolan Ryan and Fergie Jenkins finished 2nd and 3rd in the Cy voting, and we got a few Gold Gloves (C, SS, CF) and one Silver Slugger (3B). And the Manager of the Year went to... me!

Notable Ins: Nolan Ryan (SP), Fritz Peterson (SP), Jim Merritt (SP), Felix Millan (2B)
Notable Outs: Bill Madlock (DH), Elliot Maddox (RF), Jonathan Astroth (C)
Rookie Class: Jim Umbarger (SP)

Best Performers
Nolan Ryan (SP): 6.8 WAR
Fergie Jenkins (SP): 6.1 WAR
Buddy Bell (3B): 5.8 WAR
Mark Belanger (SS): 4.7 WAR
Paul Blair (CF): 4.5 WAR
Felix Millan (2B): 4.2 WAR
Mike Hargrove (1B): 4.1 WAR

World Series
Houston Astros defeat Texas Rangers 4-1

MLB Awards
AL MVP: Rod Carew (2B), MIN
NL MVP: Don Money (2B), PHI
AL Cy Young: Bert Blyleven (SP), MIN
NL Cy Young: Don Wilson (SP), HOU
AL Rookie of the Year: Mike Hargrove (1B), TEX

Hall of Fame Inductees
Mickey Mantle (CF), NYY
Early Wynn (SP), CLE
Eddie Mathews (3B), ML1
Duke Snider (CF), LAD

Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame Watch
Locks: Fergie Jenkins, Nolan Ryan
Even Odds: Buddy Bell
Longshots: Mike Hargrove, Jeff Burroughs

[Argonaut]

1973-74 OFF-SEASON

I've noticed in my post-World-Series-blues that one of the biggest issues facing Texas right now is our financial situation. Despite making the big dance, we're up tight against the budget with no room to maneuver. So I've tried to kill two birds with one stone...

Big trade! The details are below. If you haven't noticed, I'm placing an emphasis on acquiring players who actually played for the Rangers. So we're picking up 35 years-young Gaylord Perry. We lose Millan, who was making too much money, Grubb who is a great bat, and Hrabosky who is a quality reliever. But we've freed up some cash.

The bonus with Perry is that he boosted fan popularity, which will help with ticket sales and therefore future finances. And he's also a great pitcher who will last another decade. Our rotation is scary good, but I'll have some holes to fill.

[Argonaut]

1974 MID-SEASON

The Texas Rangers have followed up their 1973 World Series appearance with a disappointing season. I'm not at home right now so I can't check details, so I'm just going by memory. I simmed to July 1st and am sitting with a losing record, at around 10 games back of the A's for the division lead. We're getting screwed by luck, with an astounding -8 expected wins by pythag record already.

In additional moves before the season started, I picked up an aging Lou Brock to bat DH, and a young Frank White to man 2B. Brock has been the best offensive Ranger by value, hitting for average and stealing a lot of bases (an owner goal). Frank White hasn't developed enough yet, so he's been bad at the plate. His great 2B defense hasn't made up for that.

In all, I think I've overdosed on defense. We're 1st in pretty much every defensive and pitching category, but middling at best in creating offense. To go along with 3 ace pitchers, the Rangers' C, 2B, SS, and CF are all defense-first players. The bottom of the lineup is kind of a black hole offensively. We're not getting timely runs, which I'm sure has contributed to the -8 pythag record. The bad news is that fans are starting to lose interest, and our ticket sales are suffering.

The interesting thing is that it's hard to get out of this in a historical sim -- with no scouting system, the AI is really helped in its player evaluations. And a full-on rebuild is a bit hard because I'm pegged to the Rangers draft picks. Which weren't that great? The only real bonafide superstar coming my way is Pudge, and that's not for a long time.

Anyway I'm quite embracing the challenge. Maybe I should just ride it out and see what happens? Would love any suggestions from readers.

[ayaghmour2]

I'd say it's really hard to full out rebuild in a sim like this. As a Blue Jay fan, I tend to do the same thing you do with getting Blue Jay prospects and sometimes you get years with a bunch of scrubs. It's easier to just weather the storm and try to always get better. Worst case, trade expiring Free Agents (can't remember if you have Free Agency turned on) and pick up any sort of young guys you can. There's no benefit of losing games with no draft, and it's a lot more fun when you win games lol.

[Argonaut]

Originally Posted by ayaghmour2

I'd say it's really hard to full out rebuild in a sim like this. As a Blue Jay fan, I tend to do the same thing you do with getting Blue Jay prospects and sometimes you get years with a bunch of scrubs. It's easier to just weather the storm and try to always get better. Worst case, trade expiring Free Agents (can't remember if you have Free Agency turned on) and pick up any sort of young guys you can. There's no benefit of losing games with no draft, and it's a lot more fun when you win games lol.

Thanks for your comment. I also have a soft spot for the Blue Jays being from Canada, and growing up and (vaguely) remembering the back-to-back World Series wins. All the kids loved Alomar. Funny that the Rangers and Jays had a rivalry a few years back.

Free agency isn't really a thing, and I assume it won't be until 1976 when it came about in history. So it's coming soon. What happens now is players just get automatically arbitrated with new 1-year contracts every year. Costs rise a lot if they have good seasons.

I tried to plan for the future by locking-in players like Nolan Ryan to multi-year contracts to save big on inflation in the future. But players don't seem to accept anything other than 1-year deals right now.

The historical financial management seems to be harder than current day MLB, the latter of which is a sweet deal for the owners and easy to run a young moneyball team. I don't mind the historical setup because it adds some nice challenge.

You're right that there's no benefit to losing games, and that my focus is on winning. That's a positive thing. Every offseason I not only try to make my team better, but end up making it worse intentionally in a few of my trades just to save on salary costs. As a fledgling franchise in Texas, the Rangers aren't a popular team and don't bring in a lot of money yet. So I have to not only work within a budget, but also try to win games to bring more fan support.

All in all it's an interesting challenge and I'm enjoying it.

[Argonaut]

1974 ALL-STAR BREAK

I like to do my trading at the All-Star break before the deadline, and I did do a couple of deals in July 1974. We're 20 GB from the Athletics, so it's a lost season. So my moves were on the rebuilding side, but we don't have to wait too long for the payoff.

The big outs were my former Orioles defensive duo in Paul Blair (CF) and Mark Belanger (SS).

I brought in like-for-like replacements in Mickey Rivers (CF) from the Angels, and Rick Burleson (SS) from the Red Sox. In both cases I sacrifice a little defense for some future offense, and get a little younger.

The AI is not too dumb, especially with scouting off and Hard trading difficulty. So it also got some decent bench players and prospects from me. But the Red Sox were in "win now" mode so I took the opportunity to pick up the young Burleson.

I'm happy that Mickey Rivers played CF for Texas so I'll get another actual Ranger on my roster. Burleson didn't play for the Rangers historically, but he was the best fit in my screening for contact-hitting defensive shortstops.

Most of the time I have write posts I'm not at home, so I can't post screenshots or exact details. But I'll do so for the 1974 recap. Nothing much left to play for except a winning record, and maybe some hardware for my ace pitching trio.

[Argonaut]

1974 RECAP

Record: 81-81, 4th in AL West

An unlucky year as the Rangers go .500 despite a +58 run differential, good enough for a -6 pythag record. Our division rival Athletics went on to the World Series, only to get swept by the Dodgers. It was a good year for LAD as the title winners also had the only player elected to the Hall of Fame, Don Drysdale.

Our elite pitching trio of Ryan, Jenkins, and Perry was as good as expected, combining for a scintillating 22.2 WAR. If only the rest of the team was average we would have done well. Only Lou Brock, our DH in his mid-thirties performed: he was among the league leaders in batting average, picked up the Silver Slugger Award, and grabbed an amazing 130 stolen bases. I'm sure at this point in time that's the modern day record, with higher numbers only coming in the wacky 19th Century.

Belanger and Blair were shipped out as previously mentioned, but ended up winning the Gold Glove Awards for their whole season. But most importantly, Nolan Ryan won the Cy Young Award! Given that he never won one historically, I'm happy with that. He's still got a long career ahead.

Notable Ins: Gaylord Perry (SP), Lou Brock (DH), Frank White (2B), Rick Burleson (SS), Mickey Rivers (2B)
Notable Outs: Mark Belanger (SS), Paul Blair (CF)
Rookie Class: Bump Wills (2B)

Best Performers
Nolan Ryan (SP): 7.8 WAR
Fergie Jenkins (SP): 7.8 WAR
Gaylord Perry (SP): 6.6 WAR
Lou Brock (DH): 4.0 WAR
Mike Hargrove (1B): 3.0 WAR

World Series
Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Oakland Athletics 4-0

MLB Awards
AL MVP: Rod Carew (2B), MIN
NL MVP: Joe Morgan (2B), CIN
AL Cy Young: Nolan Ryan (SP), TEX
NL Cy Young: Tom Seaver (SP), NYM

Hall of Fame Inductees
Don Drysdale (SP), LAD

Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame Watch
Locks: Fergie Jenkins, Nolan Ryan, Gaylord Perry*
Even Odds: Buddy Bell
Longshots: Mike Hargrove, Jeff Burroughs

*: Lock for Hall of Fame but could go in a different cap

[Argonaut]

1975 SPRING TRAINING

The Texas Rangers are looking for a bounce-back year after disappointing in 1974.

With the benefit of hindsight, I know the big news is that free agency is coming next offseason. For that reason, I've worked on locking down my star players to long-term contracts. I originally thought this wasn't possible, but after offering Nolan Ryan a 10-year $3 million guaranteed contract, he accepted. I offered the same $300k/p.a. for fewer years to Fergie Jenkins and Gaylord Perry which they accepted. Perhaps it was fewer dollars for Perry, can't remember.

These deals are player-friendly now, but they will be owner-friendly in a few years. There's also the risk of a career-ending injury, even with recalc on. So I may be gaming the system a little bit, but there's still some risk, and my finances will be bad for the next couple of years, so all-in-all I think it's a reasonable move. Trying to get Buddy Bell locked-down too, but I don't have the money he's looking for now. Even though he had a bad 1974.

My biggest target right now is Jon Matlack, who's yet another elite pitcher that suited up for the Rangers. Having 4 elite pitchers would put even the 90s Atlanta Braves to shame, but I want to make it happen! The Mets aren't accepting huge offers now, but maybe I can catch them at the All-Star Break if they aren't contending. Also trying to get Al Oliver to the team and even Toby Harrah back, but haven't been able to make a move.

Bump Wills came in as a rookie and he's ready to start at 2B right away. He had a couple years in the minors in real life, but I'm going to put him on the Rangers early. Despite the early start he doesn't have a shot at the Hall of Fame, given that he had a relatively short career and I have recalc/retire history on. That's OK, not everyone can make the Hall and it's nice to have some quality role-players stick around for a while. I'll look to move Frank White as soon as a good deal pops up... his bat just isn't good enough right now.

Also, going by the ratings changes for 1975, it looks like my RF Jay Johnstone is due for a huge year. He wasn't a Ranger historically, so any great performance I'll try to leverage into a deal for someone... maybe Matlack or Oliver.

[Argonaut]

1975 ALL-STAR BREAK

The Texas Rangers have turned it around this year, and currently sit 1 GB of the Oakland Athletics at the All-Star Break. What a rivalry this is turning out to be! And we'll be in the same division for all of our history too.

Pitching has been great again, and batting has been much better this year, thanks in part to some of my moves. Mickey Rivers and Bump Wills are hitting much better than their defensive counterparts did last year.

The biggest contributor at the plate so far has been Mike Hargrove, who got the most All-Star votes in the AL. He already has a career-high WAR at the break, and is on pace for 7+ WAR on the year. If he keeps this production up he might even have a shot at the Hall of Fame. He already won Rookie of the Year, and if he wins some more hardware and manages to compile ~60 WAR that would be good for his cause. I'll likely move him into my "Even Odds" category at the end of the year.

I haven't been able to make any deals at the All-Star Break. The Mets aren't budging on Matlack, and the Pirates are being unreasonable on Al Oliver. At this point the Rangers are pretty strong, so I don't see the need to bring in any players that didn't play for Texas historically. We'll have to stand pat and see if we can catch the Athletics.

[Argonaut]

1975 END OF REGULAR SEASON

Heartbreak for the Texas Rangers as we finish 5 GB of the Oakland Athletics for the AL West division, and therefore miss out on a chance in the playoffs. Lady luck kills us again, as pythag says we should have had 105 wins and the division title.

As you can see from the attached screenshots, Texas had the best runs allowed, best batting average, and second best runs scored totals in the entire MLB. Oakland had a few more runs, and hit a lot more homers. Perhaps those homers were the difference, as they clustered their runs in bunches enough to win more games.

Maybe I do need to bring in more sluggers, as we are obviously good in batting average but our lack of power means our team wOBA is actually only 6th in the AL. Walks and dingers is boring though, and I'd rather live by contact and baserunning... the latter of which we were also 1st in the league in. I think I'll keep it going and hopefully our luck will turn around.

Next post will be the 1975 recap, where we'll find out who won the World Series and if our team picked up any individual awards.

[Argonaut]

1975 RECAP

Record: 97-65, 2nd in AL West

I've said most of what I wanted to say about this year in the last post. Our rival Athletics went on to win the World Series, leaving Rangers fans to wonder what could have been. Mike Hargrove tailed off his torrid pace in the second half of the season, but Jay Johnstone was on fire to lead our team with 6.4 WAR. I expected his breakout season and will be looking to deal him while he's hot. Hargrove (.338) and Johnstone (.332) were #2 and #3 in AL batting average, while Johnstone (.884) was #2 in OPS. Lou Brock easily led the league with 100+ stolen bases.

Our pitching wasn't quite as good, with our Big 3 averaging "only" 5.4 WAR between them. Part of that I'm sure was my playing more bat-friendly players, which was definitely worth it in the balance. Nolan Ryan was injured for a bit too. I picked up Sparky Lyle at the deadline to be my closer, and he was a historical Ranger which I obviously look for.

In award news, our friend Bump Wills won Rookie of the Year! Definitely a good idea to call him up his first year available. Hopefully he can give us several good seasons in his short career. I also had Hargrove (1B), Johnstone (RF), and Brock (DH) win Silver Slugger. Johnstone also picked up a Gold Glove in RF to cap off his big year.

Notable Ins: Sparky Lyle (RP)
Notable Outs: Fritz Peterson (SP)
Rookie Class: Billy Sample (2B), Danny Darwin (SP)

Best Performers

Jay Johnstone (RF): 6.4 WAR
Fergie Jenkins (SP): 5.9 WAR
Gaylord Perry (SP): 5.7 WAR
Mike Hargrove (1B): 5.7 WAR
Nolan Ryan (SP): 4.6 WAR
Mickey Rivers (CF): 3.7 WAR
Bump Wills (2B): 3.5 WAR
Buddy Bell (3B): 3.0 WAR

World Series
Oakland Athletics defeat Philadelphia Phillies 4-1

MLB Awards
AL MVP: Bobby Grich (SS), BAL
NL MVP: Mike Schmidt (3B), PHI
AL Cy Young: Vida Blue (SP), OAK
NL Cy Young: Don Sutton (SP), LAD
AL Rookie of the Year: Bump Wills (2B), TEX

Hall of Fame Inductees
N/A

Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame Watch
Locks: Fergie Jenkins, Nolan Ryan, Gaylord Perry*
Even Odds: Buddy Bell, Mike Hargrove
Longshots: Jeff Burroughs, Mickey Rivers

*: Lock for Hall of Fame but could go in a different cap

[Argonaut]

1976 SPRING TRAINING

Big moves in the offseason for the Rangers, as the market for players has gotten shaken-up in 1976 from a new financial system which includes free agency. The great news is that we finally got the top two guys on our shortlist!

Trade Summary

To Pirates: Jay Johnstone (RF), Lou Brock (DH), and three prospects -- Jim Burton (RP), Joseph Stewart (CF), and Rick Waits (SP)
To Rangers: Al Oliver (LF) and $100,000 cash

To Padres: Frank White (2B)
To Rangers: Mike Caldwell (SP)

To Mets: Mike Caldwell (SP), Billy Sample (LF), Marty Perez (IF)
To Rangers: Jon Matlack (SP)

To Angels: Larry Gura (SP)
To Rangers: Bill Madlock (DH)

I sold Jay Johnstone while he's hot in order to get Al Oliver, a good historical Ranger. The Pirates made out pretty well here, as although Oliver has maybe a little more upside than Johnstone in the future, they also pick up Lou Brock who has a couple good years left, and Rick Waits who can be a decent back-end rotation guy. I'll slot Oliver in at LF hopefully for the rest of his career. He has a chance at the Hall of Fame, and I got him 2 years earlier than Texas did in real life so it's a tossup between if he'll choose a P or T cap (knock on wood).

With Bump Wills slotted in as the starting 2B, I sent Frank White to the Padres for Mike Caldwell -- a finesse pitcher that I liked the look of. To my surprise, the Mets were interested in him as part of a package for Jon Matlack, who I've been trying to get for years. So I flipped Caldwell. I also sent Billy Sample, a prospect with some excellent ratings but who will be blocked by Al Oliver in LF.

Matlack becomes our 4th ace pitcher, which is ridiculous but awesome. He's one of those guys that FanGraphs likes better than BBRef, as his FIP is often better than his ERA. He's done super well in my universe so he has a shot at the Hall. Again, I brought him in 2 years before the Rangers did so he has a chance at wearing the Texas cap if he gets in.

The last trade is the only one I feel where I straight-up fleeced the AI, but it does make sense from their perspective. The Angels are in a huge financial hole, so they were happy to deal Bill Madlock and his large contract to us for Larry Gura, who can be a mid-rotation SP and is on a cheap deal right now. It's nice to bring Madlock back to the Rangers where he was drafted, and if has has a great career for us he just may be the first DH to make the Hall of Fame.

Our solid record last year and bringing in popular players has increased our financial outlook and fan interest by a lot. That's part of the reason why we're able to bring in some of these expensive players.

After these moves we have an incredibly strong roster that I believe has a big window in the late 70s and early 80s to win titles. Our prospect pool is barren, but I expect a lot of these starting guys to have long careers for Texas. I'll probably let a lot of them retire as Rangers, which will add some challenge to the dynasty as I'm not doing the prudent thing and recycling my assets.

Hmm... we brought in Matlack and Madlock. If they watch Matlock in the clubhouse together, the universe might just explode.

[Argonaut]

1976 ALL-STAR BREAK

It's going well for the Texas Rangers at the All-Star Break, as we sit in 1st place above the rival Athletics in the AL West. Although we have the best record in MLB, we are currently on a league-worst 4 game losing streak. We came up short in 2 consecutive doubleheaders against the Brewers, who sit in last place in all of MLB. Go figure.. that's baseball, right?

Texas is sending 6 players to the All-Star game:

Jon Matlack, SP: 12-4, 2.71 ERA, 2.7 WAR
Gaylord Perry, SP: 13-2, 2.31 ERA, 4.2 WAR
Nolan Ryan, SP: 13-3, 2.40 ERA, 3.3 WAR
Bill Madlock, DH: .303/.355/.409, 122 wRC+, 1.5 WAR
Rick Burleson, SS: .308/.360/.387, 119 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
Al Oliver, LF: .301/.358/.448, 136 wRC+, 3.8 WAR

Looking at some of the other players in the league, Rod Carew is batting .384 and has already accumulated 5.0 WAR. The guy is just a monster in my universe, probably even better than he was historically.

Speaking of the Twins, they have Bert Blyleven on the trading block. He pitched a couple of good years for the Rangers historically, and is a future Hall of Famer.. so of course I'm interested. But another ace pitcher? Is that even allowed? I'll see what they're asking, just for fun.

As far as my own ace pitchers go, as noted above 3 of them made the All-Star Game. Fergie Jenkins is missing out, as he's having a down year. I suspect part of this is because Arlington has gone from being a pitcher's park to a hitter's park this year according to OOTP. I don't like how these factors change for no real reason. It should be based on how the park is constructed and the climate and therefore be relatively steady. Anyway, given Fergie focuses on Control over Stuff and Movement, my wager is the new park effects are a net negative for him.

Hope we can hold off Oakland down the stretch.

[Argonaut]

1976 ROSTER EXPANSION

The bad news is that the Rangers had a horrible run after the All-Star Break. Nothing went right. We now sit 3 GB of.. you guessed it.. the Oakland Athletics.

It's frustrating because the divisions are so imbalanced in my universe. If we were in the AL East, we would be 7 games ahead of the Orioles for 1st place. Even the Kansas City Royals, who are in 4th place in the West, would be leading the AL East right now. But it's also adding a compelling challenge which I like.

At the trade deadline, I made a minor bullpen upgrade but otherwise stood pat. The bullpen doesn't seem to matter in the 70s anyway. We'll see if we can put together a September to remember and get back to the playoffs.

But there is one piece of good news, Nolan Ryan tossed a no-hitter... his second for the Rangers!