Series Thread: Rangers Host The Royals May24-27

[saddles]

The trade deadline countdown continues.

Trade Candidate: Cole Hamels

 

[saddles]

Friday night I will be attending my first Rangers game of the year. I think this might be the latest in the season I have ever went before attending my first game of the year since I started going to Rangers games back in 1974.

 

[saddles]

Why Martin Perez throwing a bullpen session isn't great news for the Rangers pitcher's rehab

The good news for Martin Perez is that he's been cleared to throw a bullpen session Friday. The bad news: He's still not cleared to catch the ball.

Which means he's not close to being ready.

Perez has been on the disabled list for three weeks with inflammation in the nerve near his right (non-pitching) elbow. The nerve, near where he had the tip of his right elbow surgically repaired, became inflamed from catching the ball and trying to field his position. A cycle of anti-inflammatory drugs has helped the situation, but not completely eliminated pain.

"The doctor said it's going to come back and it's going to be good, but it could take a month, it could take two months," Perez said. "I just know I want to get it right and come back to finish the year strong."

In an effort to keep his left arm from atrophying, Perez will throw the bullpen without a glove on Friday. A coach will then catch the throw back from the catcher and hand the ball to Perez.

 

[saddles]

Thoughts on a 12-10 Rangers win

• While Game Winning RBIs are not an official stat anymore, Jared Sandler noted on Twitter that this was Profar’s 8th GWRBI of the season. He has a knack for being in the middle of good things this year.

• I saw a headline after the Rangers lost three of four against the ChiSox, asking what it said about this team that it lost a series to the worst team in baseball (at least, record-wise). To me, it means about as much as the fact that the Rangers just took a series against the second-best team in baseball, record-wise — not much. Its a 162 game season, bad teams will win series, good teams will lose series, and you can’t take too much out of a three or four game series.

• That said, its a lot more fun to see the Rangers winning a series against the Yankees than to see them lose a series against the White Sox.

 

[saddles]

Potential Trade Deadline Packages for MLB's Top 20 Targets

The Rangers are going nowhere fast, so it would be nice of them to trade Adrian Beltre to a team that can give him a shot at his first World Series ring.

Beltre's durability is past its expiration date, and he's pulling in a pricey $18 million salary. But he's still a quality two-way third baseman when he's healthy. To wit, he has a .797 OPS and two defensive runs saved in 29 games this season.

The 39-year-old is basically a better version of what Carlos Beltran was on the 2016 trade market. As such, the Rangers should be able to do better than three marginal prospects if they trade him.

One team that could be willing to meet their demands is the Atlanta Braves. Unless they plan on trusting the position to top prospect Austin Riley—which is possible—an upgrade at third base would elevate their surprising World Series bid.

The Braves have pitching prospects who would fit well in a Texas system that could use some. Max Fried is a top-100 guy (No. 80 on MLB.com) who could plug right into the rotation. A good secondary piece would be Freddy Tarnok, a 19-year-old righty with a live arm and a projectable frame.

The Trade: Braves get 3B Adrian Beltre; Rangers get LHP Max Fried and RHP Freddy Tarnok

 

[saddles]

Potential Trade Deadline Packages for MLB's Top 20 Targets

There are two reasons why there's no time like the present for the Rangers to deal Cole Hamels.

One is that following a 2016 season in which he struggled with injuries and managed just a 4.20 ERA, he's rebuilding his value with a 3.48 ERA through nine starts. The other is that he's earning $22.5 million, to be followed by a $6 million buyout or $20 million club option for 2019.

A team with money to spend and a need for a good lefty in its rotation happens to be one Hamels knows well: the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies have returned to contention despite entering 2018 with just a $95.3 million payroll. That's well below what they're capable of spending, so it makes sense for them to pursue trades that will hit their payroll harder than their farm system.

It's not difficult to imagine them having to throw in just an expendable MLB-ready prospect if they were to agree to take on all of Hamels' remaining money. Since his wounded finger won't slow dampen his speed at all, Triple-A outfielder Roman Quinn could be just the ticket.

The Trade: Phillies get LHP Cole Hamels; Rangers get OF Roman Quinn

 

[saddles]

Potential Trade Deadline Packages for MLB's Top 20 Targets

Contrary to how things appeared in 2017, Bartolo Colon isn't done yet. The soon-to-be 45-year-old has put up a 3.51 ERA over 56.1 innings for the Texas Rangers.

Nobody needs a workhorse of this magnitude more than the New York Mets. Their starting pitchers have pitched only 221.2 innings, the fewest in the National League. They're not going to return to the postseason unless they fix that.

Between Colon's age, extensive track record and (presumably) looming retirement, he's in a similar situation to the one Greg Maddux was in when the San Diego Padres dealt him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008. The price was two players to be named later.

Maddux really wasn't anything more than an innings-eater at the time, however. Colon is surpassing that label thus far in 2018, and he's also making just $1.8 million. He should be worth one prospect rather than two throw-ins.

Chris Flexen would work. The righty is an MLB-ready pitcher the Rangers could plug in right away, and he has the goodsto become a back-end starter or shutdown reliever.

The Trade: Mets get RHP Bartolo Colon; Rangers get RHP Chris Flexen

 

[Nightcrawler]

How many K’s for Odor today? I think Duffy is a lefty. I’m going with 2.

 

[scotsman1948]

Potential Trade Deadline Packages for MLB's Top 20 Targets

The Rangers are going nowhere fast, so it would be nice of them to trade Adrian Beltre to a team that can give him a shot at his first World Series ring.

Beltre's durability is past its expiration date, and he's pulling in a pricey $18 million salary. But he's still a quality two-way third baseman when he's healthy. To wit, he has a .797 OPS and two defensive runs saved in 29 games this season.

The 39-year-old is basically a better version of what Carlos Beltran was on the 2016 trade market. As such, the Rangers should be able to do better than three marginal prospects if they trade him.

One team that could be willing to meet their demands is the Atlanta Braves. Unless they plan on trusting the position to top prospect Austin Riley—which is possible—an upgrade at third base would elevate their surprising World Series bid.

The Braves have pitching prospects who would fit well in a Texas system that could use some. Max Fried is a top-100 guy (No. 80 on MLB.com) who could plug right into the rotation. A good secondary piece would be Freddy Tarnok, a 19-year-old righty with a live arm and a projectable frame.

The Trade: Braves get 3B Adrian Beltre; Rangers get LHP Max Fried and RHP Freddy Tarnok

that would be a good trade for both teams

 

[scotsman1948]

Potential Trade Deadline Packages for MLB's Top 20 Targets

Contrary to how things appeared in 2017, Bartolo Colon isn't done yet. The soon-to-be 45-year-old has put up a 3.51 ERA over 56.1 innings for the Texas Rangers.

Nobody needs a workhorse of this magnitude more than the New York Mets. Their starting pitchers have pitched only 221.2 innings, the fewest in the National League. They're not going to return to the postseason unless they fix that.

Between Colon's age, extensive track record and (presumably) looming retirement, he's in a similar situation to the one Greg Maddux was in when the San Diego Padres dealt him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008. The price was two players to be named later.
Maddux really wasn't anything more than an innings-eater at the time, however. Colon is surpassing that label thus far in 2018, and he's also making just $1.8 million. He should be worth one prospect rather than two throw-ins.

Chris Flexen would work. The righty is an MLB-ready pitcher the Rangers could plug in right away, and he has the goodsto become a back-end starter or shutdown reliever.

The Trade: Mets get RHP Bartolo Colon; Rangers get RHP Chris Flexen

damn another trade I like

 

[scotsman1948]

Potential Trade Deadline Packages for MLB's Top 20 Targets

There are two reasons why there's no time like the present for the Rangers to deal Cole Hamels.

One is that following a 2016 season in which he struggled with injuries and managed just a 4.20 ERA, he's rebuilding his value with a 3.48 ERA through nine starts. The other is that he's earning $22.5 million, to be followed by a $6 million buyout or $20 million club option for 2019.

A team with money to spend and a need for a good lefty in its rotation happens to be one Hamels knows well: the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies have returned to contention despite entering 2018 with just a $95.3 million payroll. That's well below what they're capable of spending, so it makes sense for them to pursue trades that will hit their payroll harder than their farm system.

It's not difficult to imagine them having to throw in just an expendable MLB-ready prospect if they were to agree to take on all of Hamels' remaining money. Since his wounded finger won't slow dampen his speed at all, Triple-A outfielder Roman Quinn could be just the ticket.

The Trade: Phillies get LHP Cole Hamels; Rangers get OF Roman Quinn

nope no way I would do this. I would want pitching in return

 

[saddles]

I think the Colon trade mentioned above is good.

I am not sure about the Beltre return because the one guy is so young. I guess it would depend on how the scouts view him.

I would want more for Hamels.

 

[Nightcrawler]

We probably should’ve done this last year. I mean the whole trading everyone with any value thing. Oh well.

 

[scotsman1948]

I think the Colon trade mentioned above is good.

I am not sure about the Beltre return because the one guy is so young. I guess it would depend on how the scouts view him.

I would want more for Hamels.

Agreed. I would ask for at least 2 pitching prospects even possibly 3. Of course we would have to throw in some cash maybe 10M (5M per year)

 

[Kelleyman]

Bennie and rest....I like the Beltre trade if possible. I think we may have more suitors for Hamels, a playoff starter. Think it may be hard to move Colon unless at a team vying for WC as he is likely not a playoff starter. Love to move some relievers but Diek not helping cause. He may do better next year due to injury recovery

 

[scotsman1948]

I think the Colon trade mentioned above is good.

I am not sure about the Beltre return because the one guy is so young. I guess it would depend on how the scouts view him.

I would want more for Hamels.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45

While the Braves were aggressive early in the 2017 Draft, they took money-saving seniors in rounds 5-10. That was to help them afford their top pick, Kyle Wright and also allowed them to secure Tarnok, a projectable high school right-hander from Florida who got $1.445 million to sign, more than double his pick value in the third round.

Tarnok was a talented two-way prospect likely headed to Tampa for college ball when he became a bit of a pop-up guy on the mound this past spring. His velocity spiked, touching the mid-90s at times throughout his senior season. He complemented that heater with a power curve, showing a good feel for spinning it. There is some feel for a changeup as well.

Tarnok didn't pitch at all until he was a junior, and didn't focus on it until this last spring, so everything is raw and projectable. The Braves know a bit about developing young pitchers and if they can help Tarnok along, he could blow projections out of the water.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Bennie and rest....I like the Beltre trade if possible. I think we may have more suitors for Hamels, a playoff starter. Think it may be hard to move Colon unless at a team vying for WC as he is likely not a playoff starter. Love to move some relievers but Diek not helping cause. He may do better next year due to injury recovery

I agree on Hamels. JD needs to let there be a bidding war.

 

[scotsman1948]

I agree on Hamels. JD needs to let there be a bidding war.

Not opposed to there being a bidding war as long as we get a couple pitching prospects maybe 3. Don't really care from which team

 

[Nightcrawler]

Bennie and rest....I like the Beltre trade if possible. I think we may have more suitors for Hamels, a playoff starter. Think it may be hard to move Colon unless at a team vying for WC as he is likely not a playoff starter. Love to move some relievers but Diek not helping cause. He may do better next year due to injury recovery

I’m hoping they move Barnette.

Always thought he was over rated.

 

[DT LUNA]

nope no way I would do this. I would want pitching in return

More pitching indeed.