2014 Offseason Plans Thread Pt2

[gregrey972]

That signing smells of the Rangers of old...desperate for pitching and patching together a rotation...glad its the Angels doing it now!

 

[donaldson79]

That signing smells of the Rangers of old...desperate for pitching and patching together a rotation...glad its the Angels doing it now!

Disagree. This smells of Lewis, Cotts and Soria to me. Low risk, high reward.

He cost very little if he doesn't make it back. All he's guaranteed is an invitation to ST. If he pans out, great for them. If not, they didn't lose much. But you're right about them being desperate for pitching.

 

[darrylgann]

Sorry about the Bears sir.

I'm shocked and disappointed - not nearly as much as you - with the outcome.

But hey, realistically, your Bears had a fine season and after a little time passes, you'll reflect back on the high lights, which were many.

Agreed. So sorry about Baylor last night, DT! But hey our Mean Green won! I didn't know North Texas was in a bowl game.

 

[DT LUNA]

Disagree. This smells of Lewis, Cotts and Soria to me. Low risk, high reward.

He cost very little if he doesn't make it back. All he's guaranteed is an invitation to ST. If he pans out, great for them. If not, they didn't lose much. But you're right about them being desperate for pitching.

Agree completely. And throw Feliz in and looks even better.

 

[gregrey972]

Yeah that's true, but when the Rangers took a shot with Colby he had been pitching quite well up to that point in Japan. The others were definitely the low risk, high reward types, but relievers...maybe I'm being a spoiled Ranger fan now, but I see these shots in the dark being ok to try with bullpen help, but much less of a good venture for starting pitching. Relievers seem much easier to replace if they don't pan out. I get what you are saying though. Just the fact that Mulder hasn't pitched in 2 years makes this a little different than the player the Rangers have tried lately.

 

[DT LUNA]

Agreed. So sorry about Baylor last night, DT! But hey our Mean Green won! I didn't know North Texas was in a bowl game.

Oh well they did win the big 12.UNT WAS A SURPRISE. Tonight I think Romeo will join me in disappointment.

 

[donaldson79]

Agreed. So sorry about Baylor last night, DT! But hey our Mean Green won! I didn't know North Texas was in a bowl game.

Man, you're Mean Green kicked fanny.

 

[gregrey972]

yes they did. always nice to see a local team doing well!

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Yeah that's true, but when the Rangers took a shot with Colby he had been pitching quite well up to that point in Japan. The others were definitely the low risk, high reward types, but relievers...maybe I'm being a spoiled Ranger fan now, but I see these shots in the dark being ok to try with bullpen help, but much less of a good venture for starting pitching. Relievers seem much easier to replace if they don't pan out. I get what you are saying though. Just the fact that Mulder hasn't pitched in 2 years makes this a little different than the player the Rangers have tried lately.

Actually gregrey you are right in that it is a desperation move. Mulder has not pitched at the MLB level since 2008 and that was only 1.2 innings. In 2007 it was just 11 innings and 2006 up to 93.1 IP.

 

[kdm1218]

Oh well they did win the big 12.UNT WAS A SURPRISE. Tonight I think Romeo will join me in disappointment.

You are likely right on there. OU shouldn't have been in over Oregon.

 

[jta4437]

That signing smells of the Rangers of old...desperate for pitching and patching together a rotation...glad its the Angels doing it now!

For any team, including the Rangers its important to acquire as many rotation pieces as possible, especially if you don't have young guys ready for the majors,

As we've seen, these low cost high reward guys, Ross Wolf is an example, that become important when injuries pop up,

As WMW says you need about 10 rotation quality pitchers going forward, in case of those injuries or ineffectiveness

 

[Windingmywatch]

I wonder if the Rangers had any interest in signing Mark Mulder? We seemed to have enjoyed picking up guys from the injury list and giving them a second chance.

I'm not belly aching about us not getting him, just that JD seems to have always had an interest in this type of guy, and he didn't cost the Angels much ($6 mil if he reaches all of his incentives).

Always had an interest in a guy who is 35 and hasn't pitched in 5 years?

To me it smacks of LAA pretending they are thinking like TEX. Derek Lowe was that kind of signing ... not Mark Mulder. Too much NL time anyway. Last good season was nine years ago!

 

[donaldson79]

For any team, including the Rangers its important to acquire as many rotation pieces as possible, especially if you don't have young guys ready for the majors,

As we've seen, these low cost high reward guys, Ross Wolf is an example, that become important when injuries pop up,

As WMW says you need about 10 rotation quality pitchers going forward, in case of those injuries or ineffectiveness

....I kind of look at him like Bartalo Colon. For 6 years he was either bad or non-existent, and he paid off handsomely for the A's last year. Mulder has been this for longer than the 6, but if he came back and is an adequate #5 SP, at the cost, it's a deal. I think his contract is worth a mil if he washes out. So, nothing ventured or gained.

I'm not disappointed, nor recommending we should have signed him. But JD is the type to pick up that lost diamond.

 

[Justinkm83]

A lot of executives think that Seattle will be the landing spot for Tanaka reuniting him with Iwakuma. They both were at the top of the rotation for the Eagles.


If he ends up there this division just got a lot tougher. That puts 3 (not including Taijuan Walker) very good pitchers in their rotation, and their offense was upgraded.

 

[RevSader]

A lot of executives think that Seattle will be the landing spot for Tanaka reuniting him with Iwakuma. They both were at the top of the rotation for the Eagles.


If he ends up there this division just got a lot tougher. That puts 3 (not including Taijuan Walker) very good pitchers in their rotation, and their offense was upgraded.

If Texas signs him then he will be good and if not then he will suck. /ESPN logic

 

[donaldson79]

A lot of executives think that Seattle will be the landing spot for Tanaka reuniting him with Iwakuma. They both were at the top of the rotation for the Eagles.


If he ends up there this division just got a lot tougher. That puts 3 (not including Taijuan Walker) very good pitchers in their rotation, and their offense was upgraded.

Here's an article regarding who and why on the Tanaka sweepstakes.

Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees need Masahiro Tanaka the most - MLB - ESPN

 

[Justinkm83]

Here's an article regarding who and why on the Tanaka sweepstakes.

Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees need Masahiro Tanaka the most - MLB - ESPN

I'm sure it's great, but I'm not an insider anymore. If you really want to post it just copy the whole article for us.

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

I'm sure it's great, but I'm not an insider anymore. If you really want to post it just copy the whole article for us.

See below...

The free-agent market got a little deeper last week. One of this offseason's unanswered questions was whether Masahiro Tanaka would be able to play in the United States in 2014. This had been by no means certain as Tanaka's team in Japan, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, spent a month publicly waffling over whether they would allow their ace to be posted. With Tanaka officially cleared to sign an MLB contract, the interesting question now is which uniform he ends up wearing.

In a shallow free-agent market, Tanaka is in a position to bring in an impressive amount of cash in return for that new uniform. While every team should at least consider Tanaka and do their homework -- the posting fee, which maxes out at $20 million, is paid only by the team that eventually lands him -- not every team is going to be willing to spend nine figures on any free agent, let alone one who has never played in the U.S.

Estimating the performance of an NPB player isn't easy, given that we have few examples of major league players moving back and forth over the Pacific. Tanaka's bread-and-butter pitch is a nasty split-fingered fastball that should induce ground balls and silly swings in the majors. He also has a fastball that can hit the mid-90s, though without a lot of movement, a solid slider and a curve that probably won't be used too heavily in MLB.

Tanaka had a terrific record in Japan -- 24-0 in 2013 -- but he's also not likely to be as good as Yu Darvish has been. They're not really similar pitchers, though the comparison is inevitable because of their shared Japanese heritage, but Darvish struck out nearly 11 batters per nine innings in his final season in Japan, a number Tanaka hasn't ever touched (7.8 in his 2013 season).

Despite these caveats, ZiPS projects Tanaka as the most valuable pitcher available in free agency this year. ZiPS estimates a mean projection (neutral park/league) of a 3.46 ERA in 190 innings from Tanaka, for an ERA+ of 117 and 3.9 WAR. The 117 ERA+ projected compares favorably to the 124 ERA+ projected for David Price in a neutral park. While Price comes out a little better in the comparison, signing Tanaka has the fringe benefit of not necessitating the Rays stealing some of your best prospects.

So, what are the best homes for Tanaka? I've ranked six potential suitors based on which one gains the most by signing him.

1. Seattle Mariners

Seattle has a history of being a comfortable home for players from Nippon Professional Baseball and the wallet necessary to make the signing. And even more important, the Mariners have a pressing need for another top arm.

How bad was Seattle pitching last season? Despite starting with the No. 1 and No. 7 pitchers in the AL by Baseball Reference's WAR (Hisashi Iwakuma, Felix Hernandez), the team's ERA+ of 86 was the second-worst in the AL, just barely ahead of the Houston Astros. The Robinson Cano signing was huge, but outside of that, the team has only been able to engage in its yearly ritual of accumulating designated-hitter types.

Erasmo Ramirez may be the worst No. 3 starter in baseball, and while Taijuan Walker is a terrific prospect, he's still just 21 years old and has never topped 141 1/3 innings in a season. ZiPS projects Tanaka in Seattle with a 3.24 ERA, for a 118 ERA+ and 3.8 WAR. Depending on whether Ramirez or James Paxton would get the boot from the rotation, Tanaka adds 3 or 4 wins to a team that still needs another 10 or so to frighten Oakland or Texas.

2. New York Yankees

The Yankees are essentially out of options to significantly upgrade the offense any further and with some question marks in the rotation, Tanaka is a logical player to add. It would be even better for the Yankees if they could find out the status of Alex Rodriguez's suspension (and salary) before committing to Tanaka, but either way, adding Tanaka would be a big boost to a rotation that's going to have to give 400 innings on the back end to some combination of David Phelps, Michael Pineda, Adam Warren and the rest of the gang.

Give half of those to Tanaka and the Yankees can feel a lot better about leaving the fifth-starter question unresolved until spring training is underway. While the Yankees infield doesn't project to be all that exciting defensively -- at least on the days Brendan Ryan is not on the field -- Tanaka's ability to keep the ball down make Yankee Stadium's right-field fences a bit less scary.

3. Philadelphia Phillies

Faced with a choice to rebuild or restock, the Ruben Amaro-led Phillies have appeared to go with "neither" this winter, tinkering around the edges by bringing back Carlos Ruiz and signing Marlon Byrd. The team hasn't significantly improved its 2014 outlook (or that of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, etc.) and landing Tanaka is the best chance remaining to improve the team's talent base at this point.

Given that the team is comfortable putting Cuban defector Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez in the rotation despite a long layoff from actual games, it shouldn't be afraid of a pitcher who has excelled in NPB, the second-highest level baseball league in the world.

4. Baltimore Orioles

Masahiro Tanaka won't play for the Baltimore Orioles in 2014. The Orioles didn't even put on a show of trying to land the best free agent remaining, with GM Dan Duquette recently declaring that the Orioles won't be signing Tanaka (and that the team doesn't agree with the posting system).

The Orioles don't do a lot of things that they should and this is another example. Baltimore's rotation is full of inning-eaters, but nobody who frightens another team in a one-game, winner-take-all matchup. The O's are missing a golden opportunity here, going with the "do nothing and hope another player suddenly becomes an MVP candidate like Chris Davis did" plan.

5. Los Angeles Angels

The team still has money. The team still has an aging core with its time running out. The team also still has either Garrett Richards or Joe Blanton in the rotation and Tanaka would serve as an impressive upgrade. The AL West is a tough division and the Angels have too much invested in winning now to not win now.

A Jered Weaver-C.J. Wilson-Tanaka top of the rotation matches up well against most teams in baseball and takes some of the pressure off Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs at the back end. Blanton and Richards are still available as fallback positions, both better suited to being Plan B than Plan A.

6. Chicago Cubs

Don't laugh. Well, too much. The Cubs are still in the rebuilding phase, but Tanaka is young enough (turned 26 last month) that unlike most free agents, he's likely to still be just as good when the Cubs move beyond the bottom-tier of teams in baseball.

The Cubs clearly aren't afraid of spending money and bringing in Tanaka gives the team more freedom to get what they can for Jeff Samardzija via trade. The team may not feel all that close to competing, but the club played non-embarrassing baseball in 2013 until the end of July and has a loaded minor league system. The team is closer to being relevant than many fans think and Tanaka makes that future even better.

 

[donaldson79]

See below...

Thanks for the helping hand. And I'll keep the "Insider" articles in mind when posting for the future.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Surprised that the Dodgers were not in the top 5 with the money they were throwing around and obtaining last off season.