2014 Offseason

[romeo212000]

Echo, complain, moan, wail, harangue, dispute, instruct, spout off, lament, rant or cry. Do what you have to do to make yourself feel better.

Everyone needs something to help get them through the day.

I will still give them an "E" for empty pockets though.

If calling my point of view whining makes you feel better, go right ahead.

 

[saddles]

If calling my point of view whining makes you feel better, go right ahead.

No one's point of view is whining.

 

[elziegreat42]

Hello gentlemen, I haven't posted in a while, but I have been creeping on the offseason thread. I'm not sure if ya'll have touched on this subject yet..... But what is the general consensus on 2016 potentially being Darvish's last as a ranger? It's hard for me to imagine ownership opening up the wallet for him when the contracts of fielder and choo might be considered even more of albatrosses by this point. I hope all of you have a merry Christmas!

 

[donaldson79]

Hello gentlemen, I haven't posted in a while, but I have been creeping on the offseason thread. I'm not sure if ya'll have touched on this subject yet..... But what is the general consensus on 2016 potentially being Darvish's last as a ranger? It's hard for me to imagine ownership opening up the wallet for him when the contracts of fielder and choo might be considered even more of albatrosses by this point. I hope all of you have a merry Christmas!

Darvish will have to hit a couple of goals in order to become a FA in 2017. I'm assuming you know this.

But OK, for the sake of this, I for one think Darvish is going to look at FA. Some of this thought was based on what I perceived as a rocky relationship with the previous manager.

I suspect 2015 is a pivotal year for our future with him. If he gets along with, has respect for Bannister, believes we're in good hands, then maybe I'm being pessimistic about his future with us.

But if I'm the Rangers, I approach him/agent during next season to see if he's willing to discuss an extension/reworked contract. If he is cool to the idea then perhaps I'd shop him. If we think his goal is to test the waters of FA, and really has desires to go Hollywood or NY on us, he'd bring back a chest of players during his final year/2 years. Cheap, TORP is impossible to find in today's baseball.

But all of this is so dependent on next season, seeing what we've got, who's healthy (Prince/Choo/Yu himself), who can produce or rebound (EA/MM/Martin), and who has grown in their role (Chirinos/Odor/young pitchers).

And a Merry Christmas to you and yours too.

 

[jta4437]

Hello gentlemen, I haven't posted in a while, but I have been creeping on the offseason thread. I'm not sure if ya'll have touched on this subject yet..... But what is the general consensus on 2016 potentially being Darvish's last as a ranger? It's hard for me to imagine ownership opening up the wallet for him when the contracts of fielder and choo might be considered even more of albatrosses by this point. I hope all of you have a merry Christmas!

Been discussed in length actually...

For Darvish to have 2017 turn into a player option:

By finishing second 2 seasons ago, Darvish can opt out of the final season (2017) of his contract IF:
1) he wins the Cy Young once in the next two seasons
2) he finishes second through fourth in BOTH of the next two seasons.

Darvish’s current contract goes through 2017 with him making $11 million that season (the highest annual value during the life of the contract).

So not impossible, but he would have his work cut out for him too

 

[donaldson79]

For whomever is around, I hope you all have a safe and joyous holiday.

Merry Christmas, be safe and Go Rangers!

 

[WastinSomeTime]

What do you all think about picking up Ben Zobrist and his 7.5 mill for this year.

?There?s a decent chance? the Rays will trade Ben Zobrist | HardballTalk

 

[WastinSomeTime]

For whomever is around, I hope you all have a safe and joyous holiday.

Merry Christmas, be safe and Go Rangers!

You have a Merry Christmas as well Donaldson.

 

[saddles]

Hello gentlemen, I haven't posted in a while, but I have been creeping on the offseason thread. I'm not sure if ya'll have touched on this subject yet..... But what is the general consensus on 2016 potentially being Darvish's last as a ranger? It's hard for me to imagine ownership opening up the wallet for him when the contracts of fielder and choo might be considered even more of albatrosses by this point. I hope all of you have a merry Christmas!

I am hoping that part of the reason this club has kept its budget increases to a minimum while other teams are increasing their budgets is due to our plans to extend Darvish. I would like to see an extension worked out before the regular season starts in a few months. The longer they wait to extend him the more difficult it will be.

 

[saddles]

For whomever is around, I hope you all have a safe and joyous holiday.

Merry Christmas, be safe and Go Rangers!

Thanks. Same to you.

 

[saddles]

This write-up on Jake Thompson is an example of what you can find in Jamey Newberg's current book.

Here’s a sample of the prospect features included in the 2015 book — and there are 71 more just like it:

Jake Thompson, RHP (5) (Trade with Detroit Tigers/2014)

It doesn’t rise to the level of risk you take by trading for a Cubs starting pitcher (Ryan Dempster, Scott Feldman, Matt Garza, Jeff Samardzija, Jason Hammel), but the evidence is stacking up on the danger of trading for Rangers late relievers. Surely the Marlins don’t regret trading Adrian Gonzalez for Ugueth Urbina, but the Eric Gagne trade blew up on Boston, you can be sure Toronto would like a do-over on Mike Napoli for Frankie Francisco, and as unreliable as Joakim Soria was for Detroit down the stretch and in the playoffs this year, in both performance and health, the Tigers can’t feel very good about ponying up both Thompson and Corey Knebel for the veteran closer. Really, giving up just one of the two righthanders for Soria (which some reports suggest Detroit insisted on before finally caving and parting with both) would arguably have been a hefty price for the Tigers to pay, and that would have been true even before the 20-year-old from Rockwall put up the best strikeout rate of his five minor league stops in three pro seasons when he finished his season in Frisco’s rotation. Texas League hitters managed just a .219/.318/.328 slash line in Thompson’s nine RoughRider appearances, fanning 44 times in 35.2 innings while going deep only three times. There are some in the organization who believe that if Texas had waited another week before making the July 23 trade with the Tigers, Detroit might have pulled him off the table given how his stuff began ticking up right after the deal did go down. The Rangers were comfortable making the trade quickly, not only because they believed in what they saw this summer, but also because they’d scouted him extensively in high school and had a strong feel for who he was and could be. Wielding a true wipeout slider to complement a fastball that sits 91-93 with sinking life, Thompson (whose sturdy 6’4” frame further fits the workhorse profile) should return to the RoughRiders to begin the 2015 season and continue a steady march toward pitching for his hometown big league team.
​

 

[saddles]

This is a very good article on Michael Choice. Sometimes it is good to be reminded that these guys are human beings and have another life outside of baseball.

Holidays a time to reset for Choice's growing family | texasrangers.com

 

[scotsman1948]

For whomever is around, I hope you all have a safe and joyous holiday.

Merry Christmas, be safe and Go Rangers!

same to you man

 

[scotsman1948]

I am hoping that part of the reason this club has kept its budget increases to a minimum while other teams are increasing their budgets is due to our plans to extend Darvish. I would like to see an extension worked out before the regular season starts in a few months. The longer they wait to extend him the more difficult it will be.

think he will opt out.

 

[saddles]

What do you all think about picking up Ben Zobrist and his 7.5 mill for this year.

?There?s a decent chance? the Rays will trade Ben Zobrist | HardballTalk

I think given our current situation I would just as soon use the money on a free agent that we could flip at deadline time. That way we wouldn't be out any prospects. If this was 3-5 years ago I would be all for that kind of trade.

 

[jta4437]

think he will opt out.

He can't just opt out bc he wants to, he has to meet certain performance standards

Achievable but he's also got his work cut out for him and he has to stay healthy

 

[romeo212000]

He can't just opt out bc he wants to, he has to meet certain performance standards

Exactly

 

[scotsman1948]

He can't just opt out bc he wants to, he has to meet certain performance standards

Achievable but he's also got his work cut out for him and he has to stay healthy

okay i think if he meets the performance standards he will opt out.

 

[jta4437]

okay i think if he meets the performance standards he will opt out.

That's a no brainer, thats not even in debate, everyone knows he'll opt out of an 11 million dollar payday for a much bigger one

 

[romeo212000]

That's a no brainer, thats not even in debate, everyone knows he'll opt out of an 11 million dollar payday for a much bigger one

Yeah, that's not even up for debate.