2014 Offseason Plans Thread

[Tacobenboy]

Did y'all see Balfour pull his usual "I'm a bad man" act today?

I said this before, and feel compelled to repeat here: You know when he's the toughest? When there's someone between him and the guy he's trying to get tough with. And it's the truth. He showed his cowardliness again today. He made sure there was a buffer zone, 30 feet deep, before he really showed what a bad-ass he is. What a punk.

Effing hate that dude man. I can root for just about anybody that puts on a Ranger uniform.......Canseco, A-Rod, even Berkman but I certainly hope JD never even dreams of signing that guy. I don't think I could do it man.

 

[RevSader]

Hey Rev,

You had me leaning earlier this year towards there being no such thing as clutch. Then I tune in to Red Sox/Rays and watch Longo do it again when his team needed him most. There may not be a true way to quantify clutch but if there was Longoria would be the definition of it.

Dude is unbelievable in the last week of Sept and the first part of Oct

That was a medium leverage situation at best. Bucholz left the ball up over the plate and Longo finally made real contact. Wouldn't all it clutch.

 

[lainey12]

Effing hate that dude man. I can root for just about anybody that puts on a Ranger uniform.......Canseco, A-Rod, even Berkman but I certainly hope JD never even dreams of signing that guy. I don't think I could do it man.

Beane won't trade within the division, but maybe Balfour is a free agent, I guess I don't know

 

[RevSader]

So today Grant Brisbee write a huge story about how awesome Koji is and how impressive he has been...Koji hangs a pitch and gives up the walk off homer tonight. It was such gut wrenching timing for him. Koji now has 6 post season appearances and has allowed 4 homers...

 

[darrylgann]

Anyone know what happened to Durrentt on the radio. When Gallaway left they changed up ESPN/Dallas radio. Getting nothing but National stuff.

 

[Duane1952]

Anyone know what happened to Durrentt on the radio. When Gallaway left they changed up ESPN/Dallas radio. Getting nothing but National stuff.

According to his facebook page, he is out today. He has somebody filling in for him.

 

[donaldson79]

My idea of keeping Profar and rotating around the infield was met with a crash by what I read from JD today. It seems, the FO really wants to make a decision on him, and placing him in this tough (moving all over the infield) situation again is not much of any option. Maybe resigning Rosales is any option because I'm really afraid of our "potential" injury situation at 3rd and 2nd (or is that 1st?).

 

[donaldson79]

According to his facebook page, he is out today. He has somebody filling in for him.

I'm out of town. But I thought Galloway was staying through the end of the year. What has happened?

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

FYI - Durrett is no longer on radio...
https://www.facebook.com/FitzandDurrett

For those asking about the radio change...here's Richard Durrett's take:

Some of you have asked about the radio show today, so I thought I'd give a brief update. ESPN no longer operates 103.3 FM. Cumulus now does and they offered me the chance to continue the show with Ian Fitzsimmons as we've been doing for the last seven months. I appreciate that they did give me that option, but I've decided to stay at ESPNDallas.com and see where that leads me. It means that I'm no longer on the air as part of the midday show.

First, I want to thank Ian. We had a fun time doing that show and I'm happy to say that I feel like it was successful. Andy Lockridge was fantastic in sharing his radio knowledge and helping guide the show. Landry Locker brought his creativity and enthusiasm to the job every day. Trey Fallon worked so hard to help us broaden the brand through social media. He's a talented guy who will land on his feet shortly. Jeff Platt did SportsCenters and a whole lot more for us, contributing to the show's content on a daily basis. You'll still be hearing him, along with Ian, on middays. Mark Friedman was always there to poke us with ideas and to make sure we were on the right track. He'll still be at 103.3 FM as a producer and I'm sure you'll hear his voice more on the air, too. And that's a good thing. Randy Galloway, Chuck Cooperstein, Tim MacMahon, Jean-Jacques Taylor, Glen Stretch Smith, Matt Mosley and so many others were so important in helping develop the show. And to Scott Noll, Barry Vigoda and the ESPN Dallas staff for always supporting us.

Thanks also to Ron Washington, Darren Woodson, Ed Werder, Kirk Herbstreit, Marc Stein, Todd Archer, Calvin Watkins, Tim MacMahon, Steve Busby, Nate Newton, Jim Bowden, and Drew Pearson for coming on regularly with us.

I want to also thank Tom Lee, who took a chance on me when few would have, figuring that my personality and Ian's -- both so different -- would create a solid show. I'm grateful he took the risk.

Thanks, also, to all of you who have supported the show over the past year. Hearing from you through Facebook, Twitter, the Text Toy and phone has been fun.

I'll be writing plenty about Rangers and baseball and other sports, too for ESPNDallas.com. And I hope to still be on the radio from time-to-time as well.

 

[Duane1952]

I'm out of town. But I thought Galloway was staying through the end of the year. What has happened?

Galloway's last day was yesterday.

 

[Duane1952]

FYI - Durrett is no longer on radio...
https://www.facebook.com/FitzandDurrett

To bad they didn't have him replace galloway.

 

[donaldson79]

To bad they didn't have him replace galloway.

Ya know, about 4 years ago and longer, Randy was great. But over the past year plus, he's been awful and just going through the motions. Actually surprised this move wasn't made a little earlier.

 

[PDay8810]

Ya know, about 4 years ago and longer, Randy was great. But over the past year plus, he's been awful and just going through the motions. Actually surprised this move wasn't made a little earlier.

I'd bet Randy did it on his terms.
Galloway got old, no question but he still had valid points among the shock value

 

[RevSader]

Ya know, about 4 years ago and longer, Randy was great. But over the past year plus, he's been awful and just going through the motions. Actually surprised this move wasn't made a little earlier.

He had to up the crazy to sell. Lots of competition in this day and age.

 

[RevSader]

I know this is a wall of text, but this is worth reading...

From Adam J. Morris on a T.R. Sullivan mail bag question.

What particularly caught my eye, though, was the response to a question about Jose Abreu:

Any word on the Rangers' interest in first baseman Jose Dariel Abreu?
-- Paul S., Arlington, Texas
The Rangers have scouted Abreu, 26, extensively, and he put up some impressive numbers in Cuba. They have definite interest in him, although that doesn't necessarily mean that they will push Mitch Moreland out of the picture. Even with Moreland, the Rangers still need to acquire at least two offensive players this winter at designated hitter and in the outfield.
​

This sentiment was also present in a piece looking at the Rangers' offseason plans that Sullivan wrote last week:

First base: Anybody notice Moreland was 12th in the American League as far as home runs per at-bat? No, it's hard to notice that when he has 117 strikeouts, the 10th lowest on-base percentage in the league and batted .185 with runners in scoring position.
Moreland's .736 OPS wasn't overwhelming, but there were only nine first basemen in the Majors this year with an OPS greater than .767. The point is as much as the Rangers need more offense out of first base, there aren't many attractive options beyond hoping Moreland can take the next step the Rangers thought he would make this season.
​

Here's the problem...Sullivan suggests that the Rangers need an outfielder and a DH, and already have Moreland, so they might as well keep Moreland as the first baseman and hope he takes the next step, because otherwise, they have to go fill three holes in the lineup (not even counting catcher).
But that ignores the fact that, if Elvis Andrus, Jurickson Profar, and Ian Kinsler are all here next season, Kinsler is likely playing 1B or the outfield, which takes away one of the holes in the lineup. And if one of those guys gets dealt, they are likely being dealt for a 1B or COF.
It also ignores the fact that Craig Gentry had another solid season in a part-time role in 2014, and if the Rangers were to have to pick between filling a hole internally with either Gentry or Moreland, it seems like Gentry would more likely get the nod at this point.
The Rangers have put a good deal of faith in Moreland since trading away Justin Smoak in 2010, and Moreland had a solid 47 game run in 2010 that made it look like he could be the team's first baseman going forward. But since the start of the 2011 season, Moreland has put up a .253/.312/.437 line in 1387 plate appearances over 395 games. Even if you wanted to make him a platoon player, his line against RHPs as a major leaguer is just .258/.325/.463, which isn't the level of production you want from a platoon 1B/DH/COF.
The lack of offense means that he's hovered around replacement level during that time, putting up an aggregate bWAR of 0.9 and an aggregate fWAR of 1.5 over the past three seasons. And Moreland is 28 years old, so its not like there's a lot of development that you're going to expect to get out of him.
Look, maybe Sullivan is right, and the Rangers are going to have to go with Moreland as an everyday 1B next year because there are other holes to fill and they don't want to commit to, say, a Gentry/Engel Beltre platoon in the outfield (or even a Gentry/Moreland platoon). At this point, though, it seems more likely the Rangers are going to have a new 1B next season, and if Moreland is here, it will be in a bench role.

 

[lainey12]

Don't put Kinsler in the OF, so freaking stupid....
sigh
First base or trade him

 

[RevSader]

Don't put Kinsler in the OF, so freaking stupid....
sigh
First base or trade him

So if the Yankees would eat his salary, would you take Soriano for him?

 

[darrylgann]

FYI - Durrett is no longer on radio...
https://www.facebook.com/FitzandDurrett

Wow. Thanks for the update. Things certainly change over there at ESPN/Dallas. Wonder if he got his old job back writing on the Rangers, pushing Todd back out of the picture. Hope we get that 'chat' going for them next year.

 

[scotsman1948]

Don't put Kinsler in the OF, so freaking stupid....
sigh
First base or trade him

don't think 1st is good idea either

 

[scotsman1948]

So if the Yankees would eat his salary, would you take Soriano for him?

no