Rangers Rookies Went And Took It

SURPRISE, AZ — Rangers rookie outfielder Wyatt Langford has taken the Rangers 2024 marketing slogan “Went And Took It” to heart this spring.

It appears Langford came into Spring Training with the same “Go And Take It” mentality that this team showed last fall in winning the World Series.

When this camp opened, an Opening Day roster spot was up for grabs for the Rangers 2023 1st round pick (#4 overall).  And five weeks later, the only thing left is for Manager Bruce Bochy to announce that the rookie went and took it.

Langford didn’t just take a roster spot.  He took a starting roster spot. He’s expected to be in the starting lineup next Thursday night against the Cubs, and for countless nights the rest of the season.  

Not only that, Langford will be plugged into the coveted #3 hole in the batting order, sandwiched squarely in between World Series MVP Corey Seager and ALCS MVP Adolis Garcia.

Langford earned this role by batting .388 this spring with a Cactus League-leading 6 home runs and a major league-leading 19 RBIs. This follows a two month minor league stint last summer that saw him hit .360 with 10 homers, 17 doubles, 2 triples and 30 RBIs in 44 games, playing at all four levels of the club’s minor league system from the rookie league to Triple-A.

But more than all the stats, Wyatt Langford has earned the confidence and trust of his teammates, coaches, and entire organization by exhibiting an Evan Carter-like maturity and professionalism that belies his young age.

Just like with the 21-year old Carter last fall, it appears the major league stage will not be too big for Langford, who is actually a year older than Carter.

This season the two rookies will both be in the starting lineup virtually every day, primarily sharing left field and designated hitter duties.  And, they also share similar backgrounds.

Carter is from Elizabethton, Tennessee, a small town in the easternmost part of the state with a population of 14,546. 

Langford’s hometown of Trenton, Florida is even smaller. With a population of 2,015, Trenton is located 30 miles west of Gainesville, where Wyatt starred for the Florida Gators College World Series team last year.

Hard to believe that just five years ago Wyatt Langford was a catcher for the Class 1A Trenton Tigers and Evan Carter was a pitcher for the Class 2A Elizabethton Fighting Cyclones.  But out of a small town work ethic came big league dreams. 

And, next Thursday night in Arlington, in front of a national TV audience and a celebratory home crowd, two Rangers rookies from Small Town USA will be living out their dreams right smack in the middle of the defending World Series Champion’s batting order.

It doesn’t seem possible that two young athletes with such similar backgrounds, who play the same position no less, could both earn Opening Day starring roles on a World Championship team.

There really is only one explanation.  

They went and took it.

“Big Game Nate” Gets Big Game Start

SURPRISE, AZ — He’s earned the nickname “Big Game Nate” for times such as these.  When the World Series Champion Texas Rangers open the new baseball season in front of a celebratory home crowd next week, it will qualify as a big event.

The worst kept secret in Surprise was announced Tuesday as Nathan Eovaldi will be the Rangers Opening Day starter against the Cubs one week from Thursday.  It will be the 4th Opening Day start for Eovaldi, the other three coming for Boston in 2020-22.  And he becomes the 2nd pitcher from Alvin, Texas to start the opener for Texas.  Nolan Ryan was the Rangers Opening Day starter 3 straight years (1990-92).

Eovaldi has been sharp this spring, beginning with his first bullpen session when Manager Bruce Bochy made the comment, “Okay, he’s ready. Now put him on ice.”  Eovaldi is coming off a 12-7 season, but he also went 5-0 in the postseason with a 2.93 ERA.

Lost in all the Wyatt Langford talk this spring has been the work of another recent 1st round draft pick, Justin Foscue, who has a similar resume as Langford.  Foscue is an SEC product (Mississippi State) just like Langford (Florida), taken 14th in the 2020 draft, 10 picks later than Langford’s 4th overall selection last summer.

As a 2nd baseman, Foscue is blocked from the big leagues by Ironman Marcus Semien, but he is showing some versatility this spring and is now hitting .275 after going 2-for-3 Tuesday against the Athletics, including an 8th inning game-tying 2-run double.  Veteran reliever Kirby Yates, a key offseason acquisition, coughed up a 3-run homer to Brent Rooker in the 7-7 tie that drops the Rangers record to 10-12-3.

Dane Dunning will be on the mound for the Rangers against the Reds in Goodyear on Wednesday.  The team has a day off on Thursday, then host the Guardians in Surprise on Friday at 3:00 on TXA 21.  The final Cactus League game is Saturday, which will be Eovaldi’s final tuneup before Opening Day.

Tyron Tires of Hometown Discounts

It’s almost midnight on a frenzied Friday of free agency and if I had a dime for every time I checked X today, I’d have enough coin to keep Tyron Smith a Cowboy.

Instead, on the same day 10-time Pro Bowler Aaron Donald surprisingly started his 5-year 1st ballot Hall of Fame clock, 8-time Pro Bowler Tyron Smith concludes his 12-year Hall of Fame career with the Cowboys.

Reports tonight indicate Tyron is headed to the NY Jets on a 1-year contract that will pay him anywhere between $6.5 million and $20 million based on how many games he plays.

Good for Tyron. He deserves what he can get after eight years of hometown discounts in Dallas. The Cowboys were the beneficiaries of a below market 8-year, $97.6 million contract that Smith signed in 2015. That averages out to $12.2 million per year. In contrast, San Francisco’s Trent Williams has made $128 million the last 8 years ($16 million avg).

The Jets were able to structure the contract this way because Tyron worked for a bargain basement price last year, an absurdly economical $6 million salary. That meant the Jets could craft a deal that pays Tyron a $6.5 million base salary with playing time incentives that stretch to a possibly $20 million if he stays healthy all year.

So, Smith is betting on himself and was smart to pounce on this offer after the left tackle market became more crowded in the last 48 hours with the Titans releasing Andre Dillard and the Cardinals cutting D. J. Humphries.

Smith’s departure caps a day at The Star that saw 28-year old linebacker Leighton Vander Esch flunk his physical due to recurring neck injuries. So, he was unceremoniously released which will save $2.1 million on the salary cap. That was enough for the Cowboys to sign 32-year old free agent linebacker Eric Kendricks, who passed his physical and signed his 1-year, $2.9 million deal which has another $500,000 in incentives.

Kendricks had originally agreed to terms with San Francisco on Wednesday but changed his mind when he was assured by Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, his former coach in Minnesota, that he would be the starting middle linebacker here. Kendricks was being courted by the 49ers to play weak side linebacker while Dre Greenlaw recuperates from Achilles surgery.

As if that wasn’t enough news for one day, as expected the Cowboys also cut WR Michael Gallup, designating it a post-June 1st release which means they will gain $9.5 million in salary cap space in June.

Gallup was one of the most popular people in the building, but wasn’t able to provide the production the Cowboys hoped for after suffering an ACL injury two years ago. Of course, it was just a month after his surgery in March, 2022 that Jerry Jones gave Gallup a 5-year, $57.5 million deal. But Gallup only had 73 catches for 842 yards and 6 TDs the last two seasons. It’s another case of the Cowboys getting smitten with the person then bitten by the production.

So, add wide received and left tackle to the growing list of pressing Cowboys needs this off-season. Fortunately, there’s an abundance of each in the draft. To get a starting quality left tackle, you’ll need to draft him in the 1st round. You can find quality wide receivers on days 2 and 3.

The Cowboys do have the option of kicking 2022 1st round pick Tyler Smith out to left tackle, where he played his rookie season. And, another option would be to sign a veteran free agent tackle at a reasonable price, much like the Chiefs did a year ago when they signed 30-year old Donovan Smith to a 1-year, $3 million deal. He started 12 games at left tackle for the world champs.

Here are the top free agent left tackle possibilities and their expired contract numbers:

Donovan Smith, KC (30) — 136 starts — 1y, $3m

D. J. Humphries, ARI (30) — 98 starts — 3y, $51.7m

Andre Dillard, TEN (28) — 19 starts — 3y, $29m

Trent Brown, NE (30) — 93 starts — 2y, $13m

Charles Leno, WAS (32) — 141 starts — 3y, $37m

Free Agent Scoreboard: Dallas Departures 3, Jerry 0

Through the first day of NFL Free Agency, the Cowboys scoreboard reads: Departures 3, Jerry 0.

RB Tony Pollard: Tennessee — 3 years, $24 million

C Tyler Biadasz: Washington — 3 years, $30 million

DE Dorance Armstrong: Washington — 3 years, $33 million

Jerry Jones said he is “all-in” on making the Cowboys a better football team this year.  But it should come as no surprise that he has elected to sit out the first wave of free agency.

Jerry’s “All-In” On 3-For-1 Free Agent Deals

In the words of Dak Prescott, “Here we go!!!”

NFL Free Agency kicks off Monday at 11 a.m. Dallas time.  That’s when teams can start negotiations with free agent players. 

So, we are about to find out what Jerry Jones means when he says he is “all-in” on making the Cowboys a better football team this year.  

We already have a pretty good idea what Jerry intends to do based on the bread crumbs he sprinkled on the floor of the Cowboys bus when he held his annual Scouting Combine “State of the Cowboys” press briefing in Indianapolis 10 days ago. 

“You could have a free agent,” Jones said, “and that free agent would cost you as much as three other players would cost you. Well, we’re going to be all-in with the three other players.”

To illustrate Jerry’s 3-for-1 all-in philosophy, take the case of 8-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tyron Smith, who is getting a taste of free agency for the first time in his 14-year career.  

Let’s say Tyron gets an offer of $9 million per year from another team.  It sounds like Jerry would rather have 3 players who average $3 million per year.  

Those 3 players could be a 1st round draft pick (24th overall) like Amarius Mims of Georgia, who would carry a salary cap hit of just under $3 million, plus a veteran free agent OT like Donovan Smith, who made $3 million last year in Kansas City, plus a veteran free agent center like Evan Brown, who made $2.25 million last year in Seattle.

There is some logic in Jerry’s definition of all-in — especially in the case of 33-year old Tyron Smith, who has missed 55% (36 of 66) of the games the Cowboys have played the last 4 years.

So, that’s what we can expect from Jerry.  However, it will be intriguing how much money he is willing to spend on a running back.  There is much speculation linking Derrick Henry to Dallas. But that might make too much sense.

Another pressing issue this week is the status of WR Michael Gallup, who has been given permission to seek a trade.  Unless he takes a pay cut, the Cowboys are likely to cut Gallup with a post-June 1st designation which would save $9.5 million on the salary cap this year.  However, that cap money would not become available until June.

We will keep you posted on the comings and goings as they happen this week.  In the meantime, “Here we go!”

Here are the Cowboys 16 Unrestricted Free Agents:

RB Tony Pollard

RB Rico Dowdle

OT Tyron Smith

C Tyler Biadasz

OT Chuma Edoga

TE Sean McKeon

CB Stephon Gilmore

CB Jourdan Lewis

CB C. J. Goodwin

CB Noah Igbinoghine

S Jayron Kearse

DE Dorance Armstrong

DE Dante Fowler

DT Johnathan Hankins

DT Neville Gallimore

LS Trent Sieg

Perfect PESH Erases State Title Demon

30 years after the most devastating loss in school history when 2nd-ranked Plano East lost to eventual state champion Tyler John Tyler 48-44 in 1994, spoiling the greatest football comeback ever …

https://youtu.be/ZHkABO0VwCg?si=WCNYbeoz9eLEMEAE

Finally, Plano East has a State Champion! A 40-0 perfect basketball season!

The first state championship in any sport in school history was executed much like the other 39 wins this season. The Panthers play suffocating team defense and execute nearly flawlessly on offense. The bulk of the team has played together since grade school in Plano, and it showed in a 53-41 win over Round Rock Stony Point in the Class 6A State Championship game at the Alamodome on Saturday night.

Junior D. J. Hall, the only player on the team with a D1 scholarship offer, scored 18 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Jordan Mizell added 8 points and 8 boards, and 6-3 Senior Narit Chotikavanic is a name college coaches need to learn how to spell, and how to contact. He appears to be a heady player with athleticism and an all around game that translates to the next level.

DFW swept state titles in the 4 of the 6 classifications with #1 Lancaster dominating Killeen Ellison, 59-30, for the 5A title as 6-9 Dillon Battie, who will follow in his father Derrick’s footsteps at Temple and also wins state just like his dad did at South Oak Cliff three decades ago. Battie had 17 points and 19 rebounds and, at this rate, just might play 14 years in the NBA like his uncle Tony Battie did.

In Class 4A, Oak Cliff Faith & Family won its 3rd straight state title, 80-66, over Silsbee as Isaac Williams scored 32 points, connecting on all 14 of his field goal attempts.

Lipan won its 2nd straight Class 2A championship, 47-36, over Shelbyville as the coach’s son, Freshman Court Gaylor, scored 23 points, going 5-of-11 from beyond the arc.

The only area team to fall on Saturday was Class 3A Ponder, which had a 48-41 lead with 5 minutes left but was outscored 12-1 down the stretch and lost to Hitchcock, 53-49.

Here’s a recap of State Semifinal games in San Antonio:

6-5 Junior D. J. Hall led a balanced Plano East attack, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the unbeaten, #1 ranked Panthers beat Mansfield Lake Ridge, 61-45, in the Class 6A State Semifinals Friday night at the Alamodome. PESH will try to complete a perfect 40-0 season in the 6A State Championship game Saturday night against 2nd-ranked Round Rock Stony Point (38-1), which features 6-6 Josiah Moseley, the #1 ranked Senior in Texas who signed with Villanova. Stony Point’s only loss of the season came against Plano East, 55-50, in the championship game of the Whataburger Tournament on December 30. The stakes are quite a bit higher in this championship game.

Plano East is one of five DFW teams who will play in state title games on Saturday. In Class 4A, Oak Cliff Faith Family is looking for its 3rd straight state championship while Class 2A Lipan advanced to the finals after surviving an overtime game against New Home, in which a potential game winning buzzer beater was overturned after a video review.

6-9 Senior Dillon Battie scored 13 points Thursday night as #1 ranked Lancaster pulled away in the 4th quarter to defeat #5 Amarillo, 44-31, and advance to the Class 5A State Championship Game to be played Saturday afternoon in San Antonio against #10 Killeen Ellison. Battie, who will follow in his father Derrick Battie’s footsteps and play college basketball at Temple University, now tries to duplicate what his dad did at South Oak Cliff more than 3 decades ago — win a state championship. Dillon Battie’s uncle, Tony Battie, also played at SOC before starring at Texas Tech and playing 14 years in the NBA.

Class 3A Ponder advances to its 1st state title game in 10 years by defeating Holliday, 62-46, Thursday afternoon.

Top-ranked Plano East (38-0) tries to keep its perfect season going on Friday night in the Class 6A State Semifinals against Mansfield Lake Ridge. In Class 4A, #1 ranked Oak Cliff Faith Family plays its semifinal game Friday afternoon against Stafford. The Friday schedule tips off at 8:30am when 2nd-ranked Lipan meets New Home in a Class 2A semifinal.

Boys High School Basketball

STATE FINALS

Class 6A

#1 Plano East (40-0) 53, #2 Round Rock Stony Point (38-2) 41

🏀PESH: D. J. Hall 18 Stony Point: Josiah Moseley (Villanova) 18🏀

Class 5A

#1 Lancaster (30-5) 59, 10 Killeen Ellison (35-6) 30

🏀Lancaster: Dillon Battie 17 points, 19 rebounds🏀

Class 4A

#1 Oak Cliff Faith Family (25-11) 80, #6 Silsbee (29-10) 66

🏀F&F: Isaac Williams 32, Doryan Onwuchekwa 19 points, 14 rebounds🏀

Class 3A

#1 Hitchcock (34-3) 53, #6 Ponder (37-7) 49

🏀Ponder: Max Hutcherson 19🏀

Class 2A

#2 Lipan (36-4) 47, #13 Shelbyville (29-8) 36

🏀Lipan: Court Gaylor 23🏀

Class 1A

#2 Jayton (38-3) 60, #3 Benjamin (24-2) 53

STATE SEMIFINALS

Class 6A

#1 Plano East (39-0) 61, #14 Mansfield Lake Ridge (32-7) 45

🏀PESH: D. J. Hall 15, Jordan Mizell 13, Lake Ridge: Amir McMillian 18🏀

#2 Round Rock Stony Point (38-1) 54, #9 Beaumont United (34-4) 46

🏀Stony Point: Josiah Moseley 19, Uzziah Buntyn 19🏀

Class 5A

#10 Killeen Ellison (35-5) 59, #2 San Antonio Veterans Memorial (40-2) 47

#1 Lancaster (29-5) 44, #5 Amarillo (33-5) 31

🏀Lancaster: Dillon Battie 13, Deontrell Barrett 13🏀

Class 4A

#6 Silsbee (29-9) 75, #3 Canyon Randall (34-4) 68

#1 Oak Cliff Faith Family (24-11) 59, #11 Stafford (25-7) 40

🏀Faith Family: Isaac Williams 19, Jazz Henderson 13🏀

Class 3A

#6 Ponder (37-6) 62, #8 Holliday (34-3) 46

🏀Ponder: Carter Eddy 18, Max Hutcherson 15🏀

#1 Hitchcock (33-3) 57, #3 San Antonio Cole (32-10) 40

Class 2A

#2 Lipan (35-4) 40, #17 New Home (31-8) 39 (OT)

🏀Lipan: Court Gaylor 27🏀

#13 Shelbyville (28-8) 67, Thrall (30-6) 52

Class 1A

#3 Benjamin (24-1) 75, #8 Gordon (21-7) 58

#2 Jayton (37-3) 65, #12 Fayetteville (32-6) 26

Southlake Soccer Sensation Turns Pro

Two years ago, Kennedy Fuller was the leader of the Southlake Carroll “Fab Five Freshmen” who all started for the State Champion Lady Dragon Soccer team.  Fuller scored a hat trick in the state title game, earning MVP honors.

Fast forward 23 months, and on Wednesday in Los Angeles, 16-year old Kennedy Fuller became a professional soccer player, signing a 3-year contract with Angel City FC of the National Women’s Soccer League.

https://youtu.be/WFIhfb1BSGw?si=JUuRMOCd2QuDkvNk

It’s the culmination of a two-year period that has seen Fuller emerge as the #1 ranked young women’s soccer star in the United States.

Fuller was the Captain of the U.S. Youth National Team, scoring 8 goals in a run to the U-17 CONCACAF Tournament Championship last month, winning the Golden Boot Award.

Two years ago, Fuller scored 9 goals as the top player on the U-15 CONCACAF Tournament Championship team, the Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner.

In between, Fuller earned Gatorade National Player of the Year honors as a Sophomore, scoring 55 goals playing alongside her sister, Kamden, on a Southlake Carroll team that fell short of the state tournament.  

The Lady Dragons fell short only because Fuller and teammate Zoe Matthews were unable to play for their high school team in the UIL regional tournament.  That’s because they were representing their country, playing for the U-16 Youth National Team that won the prestigious Mondial Montaigu Tournament in France, in which Fuller earned MVP honors.

By this time a year ago, Kennedy Fuller’s soccer career was racing warp speed ahead.  She committed to play collegiately for 21-time NCAA Champion North Carolina.  She won ECNL All-America honors playing for Dallas-based Solar SC, the #1 soccer club in the nation.  

Having played internationally in places like The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, and the Czech Republic, her days of playing for the Carroll Lady Dragons in places like Keller, Trophy Club, Haslet, Burleson, and Cleburne became numbered.

Kennedy re-classified to the graduating class of 2024, signing with North Carolina a year early, in November.  And, upon signing an NIL deal with Nike last fall, she decided to graduate from Carroll Senior High in just 2 ½ years.

Thus, Kennedy was able to spend the first part of this “semester” leading the U-17 USYNT to the CONCACAF title in Toluca, Mexico. She has also spent time the past year training with professional teams in the NWSL and attended the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia with her family last summer.

All of that in preparation for the decision announced this week.  Kennedy Fuller elects to forego her college career and go straight from 2 ½ years of high school to the pros with Angel City FC, which begins its season next week.

“Graduating in two and a half years, I wouldn’t have even thought about that as a freshman,” Kennedy told me Wednesday from her hotel room in Los Angeles, where she spent the latter part of the day furniture shopping with her dad. 

“God’s timing is always right, and He led me to my decision.  And the support from Southlake and Solar, and my family and friends has been awesome.”

All of this prior to her 17th birthday, which is Saturday.  So, how will she spend it?

“We have a couple of scrimmages, so I’m hoping to score a couple of birthday goals!”

Should be simple enough for this Southlake teenage soccer sensation who has far surpassed every goal she has ever set before.