2014 Offseason Plans Thread Pt2

[Bmurph]

Tidbit of info:
Chirinos homered for the third consecutive game as Magallanes defeated Caribes de Anzoategui, 11-2, to win the Venezuela winter-league title. Magallanes closed out the best-of-7 championship series in five games.

Chirinos had four homers in 14 at-bats in the last three games of the series.

Chrinos team advanced to the Carribean WS. So did Beltre's but he hit just 194.

Someone check Cheerios for PED's

 

[TheRangerDude]

I'm loving all these scoop up Cruz on a one year deal posts… I sure hope it happens but I'm pretty confident he doesn't want to DH… be an awesome force of a lineup if we can add him though.

 

[TheRangerDude]

I was looking around at current players autographs on ebay.. just to see what everyones goes for. Yu's seems to be the most ridiculous… In many cases his cost even more than Miggy's and Verlanders.

 

[TheRangerDude]

The Blue Jays almost finalized trades that would've seen them acquire Ian Kinsler from the Rangers and Brett Anderson from the Athletics earlier this winter, but both deals ended up as "near-misses," Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reports.
Kinsler, of course, was part of the offseason's biggest blockbuster to date, when he was traded to the Tigers in exchange for Prince Fielder and $30MM. Before that deal occurred, however, the Jays' proposed swap for the second baseman fell through due to Kinsler's partial no-trade clause that allowed him to block deals to up to 10 teams. It's unknown what the Jays would have given up for Kinsler, though I would guess it would've been on a much lesser scale than Fielder; it wouldn't have made much sense for Toronto create another hole in the lineup by dealing the likes of Jose Bautista or Edwin Encarnacion.

Wow, I am thankful that fell through… I like Prince way more than Encarnacion or Bautista. That not to say I don't like them but Fielder is just a better hitter.

 

[Bmurph]

I'm loving all these scoop up Cruz on a one year deal posts… I sure hope it happens but I'm pretty confident he doesn't want to DH… be an awesome force of a lineup if we can add him though.

Cruz adds lots of power to the lineup, and wouldn't have to be a DH only guy. While there are a lot of folks that think he's a terrible outfielder thats just not true. He could be in the lineup daily as the DH or he could offer some rest a couple days a week in the outfield for guys like Rios or Choo as a 4th outfield guy. While he wouldn't have an everyday position in the outfield he could see enough time out there. Won't cost us a draft pick like Morales would and he was having a great year last year before the suspension. I haven't soured on him like some and I think he is worth a 1 year deal or a deal w an option year or something

 

[TheRangerDude]

Cruz adds lots of power to the lineup, and wouldn't have to be a DH only guy. While there are a lot of folks that think he's a terrible outfielder thats just not true. He could be in the lineup daily as the DH or he could offer some rest a couple days a week in the outfield for guys like Rios or Choo as a 4th outfield guy. While he wouldn't have an everyday position in the outfield he could see enough time out there. Won't cost us a draft pick like Morales would and he was having a great year last year before the suspension. I haven't soured on him like some and I think he is worth a 1 year deal or a deal w an option year or something

I agree 100%. He isn't the best defensive OF but he is still pretty average with well above average arm. I think he is going to make some teams sorry this season too. I think he is going to have a great season for whatever team he goes to. I mean like you said he was having a great season when the magnifying glass was on him the most last season and the season he used steroids was statistically one of, if not his worst.

Either way, I wish him luck wherever he goes, but it sure would be awesome if JD could find a way to get us at least one more year of Cruz in a Ranger uniform.

 

[Bmurph]

I was looking around at current players autographs on ebay.. just to see what everyones goes for. Yu's seems to be the most ridiculous… In many cases his cost even more than Miggy's and Verlanders.

It really kind of depends on what folks are selling as far as what is signed and so forth. A bat signed by YU will likely fetch a bunch of money. Signed balls go for the least as they are the most autographed items usually. It also depends on what the player has done as far as signings in the past and how much memorabilia is out there with their name on it, i.e. Adrian Beltre doesn't really do many autograph signings per say that are set up by an independent memorabilia source. Therefore items signed by AB have more value as there are less of them in circulation than say a player that receives monies to sign their name to a ton of things to generate dollars for themselves or are generous enough to do lots of charity type signings

 

[jta4437]

I'm loving all these scoop up Cruz on a one year deal posts… I sure hope it happens but I'm pretty confident he doesn't want to DH… be an awesome force of a lineup if we can add him though.

Problem is, a lot of the teams still interested want him as a DH as well, and he costs them a draft pick as well

At some point, he has to realize that nobody really gives a crap that he wants to play the OF

Cruz is not terrible defensively but he's certainly not good either, I'd rank him overall as below average range wise but with a strong arm

I'd rank him as fourth among Choo, Martin & Rios for sure

 

[jta4437]

Cruz adds lots of power to the lineup, and wouldn't have to be a DH only guy. While there are a lot of folks that think he's a terrible outfielder thats just not true. He could be in the lineup daily as the DH or he could offer some rest a couple days a week in the outfield for guys like Rios or Choo as a 4th outfield guy. While he wouldn't have an everyday position in the outfield he could see enough time out there. Won't cost us a draft pick like Morales would and he was having a great year last year before the suspension. I haven't soured on him like some and I think he is worth a 1 year deal or a deal w an option year or something

I agree that he would probably get a number of games in the OF spelling Choo especially

 

[Bmurph]

Problem is, a lot of the teams still interested want him as a DH as well, and he costs them a draft pick as well

At some point, he has to realize that nobody really gives a crap that he wants to play the OF

Cruz is not terrible defensively but he's certainly not good either, I'd rank him overall as below average range wise but with a strong arm

I'd rank him as fourth among Choo, Martin & Rios for sure

Agree he is 4th among those outfield options defensively

 

[Bmurph]

I agree that he would probably get a number of games in the OF spelling Choo especially

Against LHP most likely but then the question is who takes the leadoff spot w Choo out of the lineup, Elvis maybe?

 

[jta4437]

Against LHP most likely but then the question is who takes the leadoff spot w Choo out of the lineup, Elvis maybe?

Choo would just DH, Choo isn't out of the lineup unless he's actually hurt

 

[Bmurph]

Choo would just DH, Choo isn't out of the lineup unless he's actually hurt

Good point and as you bring it up there will be opportunities, as there will certainly be injuries that occur to the OF which allows Cruz more PT there

 

[donaldson79]

http://click.news.ahbelo-news.com/?qs=a7127aaa1f8eb6caa107749721dafb191752a04e7f860f1928c84e263adf58bc

And I think jta makes a very compelling statement re: Cruz/4th OF/not as bad as some make him out to be.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

http://click.news.ahbelo-news.com/?qs=a7127aaa1f8eb6caa107749721dafb191752a04e7f860f1928c84e263adf58bc

And I think jta makes a very compelling statement re: Cruz/4th OF/not as bad as some make him out to be.

Cruz is not good going straight back to the wall. But side to side he is fine in fact he made some game saving plays last year in RF. And his arm is a canon. And he came through at some very opportune times with his bat last year and in the 2011 playoffs.

 

[jta4437]

Cruz is not good going straight back to the wall. But side to side he is fine in fact he made some game saving plays last year in RF. And his arm is a canon. And he came through at some very opportune times with his bat last year and in the 2011 playoffs.

Just b/c he makes it look like a difficult play doesn't mean it had to be

Same argument with Hamilton being a "good" CFer b/c he always made diving plays on what should have been routine plays

 

[gregrey972]

It doesn't take a great fielder at The Ballpark in RF at least. At least not one that has issues going straight back on a ball. The RF position is played so deep that MOST balls over his head are in the seats anyway. Now Cruz in LF could be a different story...haha

 

[TheRangerDude]

Problem is, a lot of the teams still interested want him as a DH as well, and he costs them a draft pick as well

At some point, he has to realize that nobody really gives a crap that he wants to play the OF

Cruz is not terrible defensively but he's certainly not good either, I'd rank him overall as below average range wise but with a strong arm

I'd rank him as fourth among Choo, Martin & Rios for sure

I say him and Choo are pretty close but would give the slight advantage to Choo as far as defense. Cruz's arm is way better though.

You are right about other teams being interested in him as DH and the draft pick thing hurting him but I think for the right price, other teams would even be interested in him in the OF. I think main issue is really the PED thing and teams seeing that as a risk. Like you said he is going to have to warm up to the idea of proving himself this season and then maybe he can get a little closer to the contract he is looking for next season.

 

[TheRangerDude]

Just b/c he makes it look like a difficult play doesn't mean it had to be

Same argument with Hamilton being a "good" CFer b/c he always made diving plays on what should have been routine plays

Hamilton was a good CF at one point but he his defense has defiantly wore down over time. I think always is a stretch, sometimes he really did make great plays to his credit. Same goes for Cruz, he has made his share of great plays too but there have also been times where he made bad reads and made it look like a better play than it really was. I think think that happens to everyone though, just some a little more than others.

 

[DT LUNA]

Just b/c he makes it look like a difficult play doesn't mean it had to be

Same argument with Hamilton being a "good" CFer b/c he always made diving plays on what should have been routine plays

Good point JTA. I can't prove it but I wonder if some of his injuries could be a result of unnecessary diving plays. Crashing into the wall was also a little questionable at times. I've noticed Trout also tends to over do.