Rangers Notes: Hamilton Wins A.L. MVP Award

Josh Hamilton had the highest batting average in the major leagues this year (.359) while hitting 29 home runs with 100 runs batted in.

Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton was named the 2010 American League Most Valuable Player on Tuesday by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, becoming just the fifth player in franchise history to win the award.

After outfielder Jeff Burroughs was named MVP in 1974, the Rangers did not have another winner until outfielder Juan Gonzalez took home the award in ’96 and ’98. Catcher Ivan Rodriguez followed with an MVP in 1999 and shortstop Alex Rodriguez won the award in 2003.

Hamilton received 22 of 28 first-place votes from the BBWAA and 358 points overall, beating out Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera (262) and Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano (229).

“I have to give thanks to all my teammates for helping me as much as I helped them,” he said after winning the award. “For me, it was the most fun I’ve ever had with a group of guys playing for that one common purpose, that goal [the World Series], and it’s hard to find that at the professional level.”

At age 29, Hamilton led both leagues this year with a .359 batting average to go along with 29 home runs and 100 RBIs, and he paced the American League in slugging percentage (.633), on-base plus slugging (1.044) and hitting with runners in scoring position (.369).

Bosley Named New Hitting Coach

The Rangers announced Tuesday that Thad Bosley has been hired as the team’s new hitting coach, a job that became vacant last week when Clint Hurdle accepted the Pittsburgh Pirates managerial offer.

Bosley, 54, worked closely with Rangers manager Ron Washington while the two were members of the Oakland coaching staff from 1999 to 2003, and a year ago he was considered a front-runner to be named hitting coach before the job was offered to Hurdle.

Texas will be working with its third different hitting coach in as many seasons following the 2008 departure of Rudy Jaramillo, who had held the job for 15 years. Under Hurdle in 2010, the Rangers led both leagues with a .276 batting average.

Bosley finished his playing career with Texas, putting together a .264 average across 201 games in 1989 and ’90, and he is the first former Ranger to become the team’s hitting coach.

Team Offers Arbitration to Lee, Francisco

Also Tuesday, the club announced that it has offered salary arbitration for next season to left-hander Cliff Lee and right-hander Frank Francisco, both of whom are ranked as ‘Type A’ free agents.

The Rangers did not, however, offer arbitration to designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero or catcher Bengie Molina, who are also ‘Type A’ free agents. Nor did the team offer salary arbitration to infielders Jorge Cantu and Cristian Guzman or catcher Matt Treanor, who are all unranked free agents.

Rangers Notes: Texas Sweeps Detroit in Two-Game Set

Vladimir Guerrero (right) is greeted by Ian Kinsler after hitting a solo home run in the second inning of Wednesday's 11-7 win over the Detroit Tigers.

Texas extended its winning streak to seven games with a pair of victories over the Tigers this week and wrapped up a brief 5-0 homestand in Arlington.

Wednesday’s win pushed the Rangers’ lead in the American League West to a season-high 10 games over the second-place Athletics.

Right-hander Dustin Nippert threw 4 and 1/3 scoreless innings Tuesday in relief of starter Derek Holland to earn his first win since June 30 at Los Angeles. Nippert, who missed a month and a half after being hit in the head by an Austin Jackson line drive July 19 in Detroit, has not allowed a run in four appearances since returning from the disabled list.

With his leadoff home run in the second inning Wednesday, designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero pulled even with former Texas outfielder Juan Gonzalez on the all-time list at 434 career round-trippers. Guerrero is 18-for-42 with eight RBIs during his current 10-game hitting streak, which has raised his season batting average from .293 to .305.

Right-handed reliever Frank Francisco received an MRI Tuesday which showed that the strained muscle in his right side is healing, though it may be a few more days before he begins a throwing program. Francisco, who has been on the DL since August 28, could start throwing next week and hopes to return in time for any postseason games.

Outfielder Josh Hamilton took swings against live pitching this week for the first time since he suffered a bruised left rib cage September 4 while making a catch against the wall in Minnesota. Though Hamilton remains listed as day-to-day, he is still unsure as to when he may return to the lineup. “I’ve been trying everything with this thing,” he told MLB.com. “It still hurts, but it’s tolerable.”

Following a day off Thursday, the Rangers will embark on their final road trip of the regular season with three games in both Seattle and Anaheim and a four-game set in Oakland. The team will then return home to face the Mariners for three games and the Angels for four at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Young Poised to Make Gains in Rangers’ Record Books

Michael Young is on pace to finish 2010 as the Rangers' career leader in hits, doubles and at-bats.

Entering his 10th full season as a member of the Rangers infield, third baseman Michael Young is set to become the club’s all-time leader in a handful of offensive categories this year.

Young currently has 1,662 hits in a Texas uniform, good for third behind Rafael Palmeiro (1,692) and Ivan Rodriguez (1,747). He needs 86 more hits to pass Rodriguez for the most in team history.

With 5,501 career at-bats as a Ranger, Young again sits behind the long-standing duo of Rodriguez (5,754) and Palmeiro (5,830), though he needs just 330 to move into first place.

In addition, Young needs two more triples to leapfrog past Ruben Sierra (44) for the club’s all-time lead.

The six-time All-Star has racked up 311 career doubles as a Ranger, and he can move ahead of Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez for second in team history behind Rodriguez (352) with 11 two-baggers this season.

Also, Young needs 178 plate appearances and 60 runs scored to move into second place on the club’s all-time leaderboard behind Palmeiro in both categories (6,767 and 958, respectively).