Rangers call up Mike Olt

[Pauly]

You read that right...Texas called up uber-prospect Mike Olt in the we hours last nite. Now how are they gonna play him? Is this the end of Michael Young?

[joncarlos]

Can they play him at 1B?

[B-Fly]

Can they play him at 1B?

Young can certainly play 1B, although he may bitch about it.

[Hornsby]

Young can certainly play 1B, although he may bitch about it.

Young IS currently playing 21st, and playing quite badly. Olt CAN play 1st, but has only 9 games there in the minors. There is nowhere for him to play, since Soto was also just acquired, shifting Napoli to more 1st base...and then there's this:

There's something going on with Josh Hamilton, although nobody apparently wants to say what it is -- or at least manager Ron Washington doesn't think it's his place.

On Saturday Hamilton made some vague comments about the source of his recent struggles on the field, but wouldn't give any details.

Wednesday, Washington had to dance around it, saying he wouldn't be able to address whatever issues Hamilton is going through. Washington did note that said since Hamilton brought it up, it's obviously an elephant in the room.

"The issues is something that I think Josh would definitely have to be the one to expose," Washington said according to ESPNDallas.com. "It's certainly not physical. It has nothing to do with injuries. Josh is the one that made the statement that got all the inquiries going, and I think Josh is the one that has to put a rest to the inquiries, not Ron Washington. I can just tell you one thing: It is not because he's hurt."

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/19706582/ron-washington-says-josh-hamiltons-problems-arent-physical

[cavebird]

What position is 21st?

[SlideRule]

Batboy?

Also re: Hamilton, is this odd and cryptic quote:

"“When the time is right, I’ll be honest with you, you’ll be right in the loop. I’ve been shown a lot of things over the past week. There’s disobedience and there’s obedience to God. I’ve been being disobedient. It may be a small thing to you, but it’s a big thing to him. There’s consequences. It’s like a father and a kid. There are disciplines. You guys can chew on that and think about it.”"

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/01/theres-something-troubling-going-on-with-josh-hamilton/

[Flyman]

DH him for a while? He certainly couldn't do any worse than Young and his .641 OPS, right?

[joncarlos]

Yeah, I guess Napoli to 1B, Olt to DH and MY to the bench would work.

[B-Fly]

So in a 6-team AL Only league, would you grab Olt over M.Young and/or L.Cain?

[SlideRule]

Not sure I would, unless you can just grab him and not have to drop one of those guys yet.

I would also try to find 4 more owners.

[B-Fly]

Not sure I would, unless you can just grab him and not have to drop one of those guys yet.

I would also try to find 4 more owners.

LOL. An office colleague tried to find 10 participants for a new Yahoo league, but only roped in six, and at least two of them would appear to have no idea what they're doing. I currently have a 17-point lead on 2nd place, but it's always more fun to keep working to maximize my score. I'm almost un-catchable at this point in AVG, OBP, R and RBI, but I could still win or lose points in HR and SB.

[joncarlos]

LOL. An office colleague tried to find 10 participants for a new Yahoo league, but only roped in six, and at least two of them would appear to have no idea what they're doing. I currently have a 17-point lead on 2nd place, but it's always more fun to keep working to maximize my score. I'm almost un-catchable at this point in AVG, OBP, R and RBI, but I could still win or lose points in HR and SB.

Well, I think .240 with 10 bombs is a realistic projection. I probably would take him over MY if all you need is HR/SB.

[Flyman]

Will there be a place for this kid next year, or does smart money say he starts at AAA? He seems, at the moment, to project as a low-average 25-28 HR guy next year if he is a fulltime player. I'm guessing he'd have to play mostly 1B/DH if he does play in Arlington with a few games at 3B to spell Beltre.

[Porcello]

Will there be a place for this kid next year, or does smart money say he starts at AAA? He seems, at the moment, to project as a low-average 25-28 HR guy next year if he is a fulltime player. I'm guessing he'd have to play mostly 1B/DH if he does play in Arlington with a few games at 3B to spell Beltre.

If he earns a job over the next 3 months there will be one for him. If not he's probably on the outside looking in at spring training. My best guess is Soto gets lefties catching (and if there's a lot of righties in a row - gives Napoli a day off), Napoli gets righties catching and lefties at 1B, Moreland gets 1B vs. righties, Beltre and Olt split 3B and DH while Young gives a day off/week to Napoli, Beltre, Olt, and Moreland if there's a lot of righties in a row. It's too bad none of these guys play left field, that'd fix the lefty half of the Murphy platoon and get someone a few more AB's.

[Long John]

I thought I read somewhere that Olt was playing a bit of OF in the minors to improve his chances of sticking in the Majors.