I think Rangers fans that read him (& Scott Lucas's minor league reports) are lucky to have them.

What are any criticisms of his work?

Is there a Newberg for any other team in MLB?

The Padres are my NL team. I read a blog or two and they do not come close to JN's quality.

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What are any criticisms of his work?

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Any Rangers news is better than no Rangers news, but Jamey's reports pale in comparison to what they were 5-6 years ago before he was given "access" to the franchise.

You used to get an update every day (or every few days) packed full of relevant information as well as a story here and there. Now it's daily emails (sometimes more) any only about 15% of them contain any actual information.

He's an optimist, but he used to be critical when necessary. Nowadays every single move JD makes is going to be spun to be a wise one... he's like the anti-Galloway.

Again, any Rangers news is better than no Rangers news -- but the guys at LoneStarBall do a much better job of giving daily Rangers updates that toe the line between optimistic and critical.

He's also been throwing in more personal anecdotes or stories about his son's baseball/soccer/football/etc. team and how that relates in some way to something the Rangers are going through (adversity, fan reaction, etc.). Sometimes it feels like you have to read 1000 words about his family before getting to 100 words about the Rangers. I would say that this belongs on a personal blog, but in reality, that's what the Newberg Report is (or has morphed into), which is probably normal for anybody as they get older and their families grow.

As mhayden said, it's gone downhill over the past few years, but some news is better than no news. It's also easy enough to see where a report is going pretty early on, so I find myself bailing out much more than I used to. It is nice to get the email alert with an alert to a trade/move/etc. for those times I can't F5 all day on Baseball Other.

And sadly the personal anecdotes used to be what i liked about his writing - it wasn't all just #'s based... But he went from a small comparison of his son's baseball team to it being 90% of the report.... though I think he has admitted as such that he views the Newberg Report as something he writes so that his son can read it when he's older.

I've never been a fan of Newberg. He is like the Taylor Swift or the Justin Bieber of the Rangers. I think what you are hearing is, he has become more like a sunshine pumper who needs to write the stories he knows will continue to get him access to more relevant stories.

Lucas I am a HUGE fan. He puts out great stuff, IMO and covers the Ranger's minor league system well.

As a Padres' fan, you ought to follow him closely since it seems many of the Rangers end up in Padres-Land.

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Any Rangers news is better than no Rangers news, but Jamey's reports pale in comparison to what they were 5-6 years ago before he was given "access" to the franchise.

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Not just 5-6 years ago, but 15-16 years ago. I subscribed to the rangers@tamu.edu listserv way back in 1998. He used to send his minor league reports to the listserv back then and it was quite an insightful email back then when minor league coverage was much more scant. Typically, the emails had a roundup of that day's minor league games, as well as his thoughts as to how certain prospects were faring. Additionally, it helped spur conversation among the listserv subscribers and felt part of a larger Texas Rangers fan community.

Over time, the reports tended to get longer and longer, and I would read them less then less (who has time to devote 10-15 minutes every morning at work to a single non-work related email?). Eventually, the Newberg Report forum started to take shape and the listserv traffic went into decline. It was also about this time that more and more personal antidotes made there way into the daily report. I still remember the offseason report the year the Longhorns won the MNC. Most of the Rangers update ended up being about Longhorn football, topped off with the recommendation that the City of Dallas have a downtown parade for the Longhorn football team.

Anyway, with most of the traffic and discussion having moved to his website and message board, eventually he quit sending the report to the Rangers listserv. I'm sure many people subscribed to his new mailing list, but I never did. I just found myself not spending time reading his updates anymore. I believe the listserv was officially shut down a few years ago. His minor league reports were great for many years, but they no longer serve a purpose for me (though I still follow him on Twitter). It was great observing many of the discussions on the old Rangers listserv and my only regret is never having attended a listserv night at the Ballpark.

Agreed, but the marked difference between 5-6 years ago and now is that under the JD regime he started gaining a lot more access to the club. Previously his reports may have been long-winded, but they'd also be critical when necessary.

After he got his access, a lot of his reports started reading like a Rangers front office release. If things went wrong "nobody could have seen it coming", but if things went right it was a "genius move".

Newberg is a lawyer who is a baseball fan. His CV doesn't include time working in baseball- he really is just a fan that chooses to write down his thoughts.

Is he a smart guy? Sure. Does he put time into his work? Sure, but he's never proved to be some kind of groundbreaking baseball mind. Don't get me wrong, its nice to have someone putting their thoughts in writing, but its nothing more than one fan's opinions of his team. I'll read it occasionally but its never been a must read and he's never wrote anything that blew my mind.

Having insider access is nice and it gives a little insight into the roster moves and stuff that almost any other fan would not have.

Newberg occasionally gets paid by the team to write for their website and program , and Newberg wants to keep his insider access,. There isn't any shame in that, but you have to keep that in mind when reading his stuff.

A guy who writes an independent blog is the easiest guy to kick off the Rangers press corps- easier than a guy at the DFW newspapers or radio stations- and Newberg's writings reflect that reality.

Did you read his earlier stuff though?

In 2007-2010 there wasn't a better writer/blogger for the Rangers. His reports outdid the newspaper beat guys. He was giving in-depth stuff that nobody else even touched.... He was the guy that broke the trade news/signings.

A combination of blogging gaining popularity, twitter, the team gaining massive popularity, and access to the club has turned his report into just a whole lot of words.

Yes. I read it more back then than I do now. His analysis of the game and team was 'bleh' back then and it is 'bleh' now. He definitely included a lot less rabble in his posts back then.

Its nice to have a guy who devotes the time to keep up a blog and I still read it from time to time, but, he's not the mind of a coach or front office guy stuck with the career of a blogger, so to speak.

Apparently he drinks alot of coffee

I groaned, but then I star'd it.

I could do without all of the stuff about his kid's select baseball team. I get it, he's a proud dad. Good for him, start another blog that parents might want to read. I don't want to see that in my Rangers email, just like I don't care how his fantasy league team (if he has one) is performing.