Around the Horn: Monday

What a game last night. A 100 yard pick-six at the end of the first half, Larry Fitzgerald watching himself score on the JumboTron, the holding call in the endzone for a safety after Rothlisberger seemingly navigated his team out of danger, Santonio Holmes letting the game winning pass slip through his hands and then making a remarkable touchdown catch on the very next play to put the Steelers up for good.

And if this was a football blog, I would write more about this. Instead, we have more riveting offseason Rangers talk:

Jim Reeves writes about Nolan Ryan's talk of moving Josh Hamilton to right field, noting that it is probably the right move. Later in the article Ryan discussed his love for David Murphy, and comments that:

"David Murphy you’ve got to keep on your ballclub and you have to get him in the lineup every chance you get," Ryan said. "If you watch him, and he has four at-bats in a night, in three of the four he’ll be 3-2 [in the count].

First off, don't get me wrong. I like Murphy. He's a scrappy, gritty outfielder reminiscent of Rusty Greer. But if what Ryan says were true, wouldn't Murphy's OBP have been higher than .321 last season? He only walked 31 times in 454 plate appearances. Baseball-Reference does not have his 2008 pitches per plate appearance posted yet, but if I had to wager I would imagine the data does not support Ryan's claim. [If you can find his 2008 PPA, post it in the comments section with a link and I will update the post.]

In conclusion, Murphy is gritty (which is perhaps why Ryan has taken such a liking to him), but I sure wish he would grind out a few more walks and OBP points.

Over at Baseball Time in Arlington, Joey Matschulat busts out some defensive data supporting Hamilton's alleged move to right field.

On his blog, TR Sullivan breaks down the Rangers bullpen options. He includes possibilities for each bullpen role as well as a list of free agents that may (or may not be) able to help.