That's not a bad thing.  At the beginning of the year I would have been VERY happy with .500 ball.  And that's what we can probably expect from this team.  Why?  Aside from the clock ticking, there is the impossibility of catching the Yanks, Red Sox, AND Minnesota (maybe one, but not all three).  To do that, the team needs to put together a 7 or 8 game win streak, and we simply can't manage that this year.  The reasons?

1. Injuries.  They have killed us.  Murphy's absence has completely killed this lineup.  The chemistry and energy is gone.  Bradley hasn't played in two weeks.  Blalock must owe some voodoo priest money the way he keeps getting ailments and injuries.  Milwook is going to be using a walker soon.  Boggs is slightly hurt, Hamilton looks like SOMETHING is wrong (maybe he's just worn out - Ive seen him get struck out a couple of times without ever lifting the bat from his shoulder).  Young has eleven broken fingers.  We can't even complain about the McCarthy/Danks trade because McCarthy isn't playing yet.  Benoit just got back, and who knows if he is ready.  CJ is going to opt for the surgery and be out for the year.  I'm surprised we have 10 players each night to fill the lineup and the mound.  By next week our pitchers will have to start batting; we won't have anyone left for DH.  Even Nelson Cruz is hurt, just when he would have been called up.

2. Walks.  The walks this club gives up are the offense's worst nightmare, and very demoralizing.  Plus they lead to...

3. Sloppy Fielding. The longer the fielders have to watch guys rounding the bases without hitting the ball, the harder it is for them to be focused.  Even Michael Young has missed a couple of times covering second on steal attempts because he lost his focus.  Walks, wild pitches, HBP...even the stupid balks that have been called on Padilla.  A lot of this is a function of youth, as our pitchers are learning on the job. 

4. Situational Hitting. Our early-season habit of stranding runners over and over again has returned, and that is making it VERY hard for me to enjoy games.  The Mussina game was a perfect example.  We had runners in scoring position something like 5 innings in a row and none of them made it home.

5. Baserunning.  Like early in the year, our baserunning is AWFUL all of a sudden.  The other day we had Byrd on 2nd with nobody out, and a grounder to the picher later we had two outs.  Awful; Byrd got caught off second, then Boggs tried to MAKE it to second while they tagged Byrd out.  Way to kill a rally, guys.

I don't mind losing.  I just can't stand losing because we aren't playing good baseball.  Pitcher gets shelled?  Okay.  Batters have bad luck, or are in slumps?  Fine.  But advance runners, get your bunts down, field the routine plays, pay attention, watch the base coaches, don't get picked off..and go down trying, not just standing there.

Look, in many ways half of this team is AAA, and that's fine.  We're getting a lot more out of the Rangers this year as we had a right to expect, DESPITE everything I've listed.  But tighten up guys...stop messing around.  This is your JOB.  Go out there and do your best, and win or lose, I'll be happy.

Now...PLAY BALL!