2014 Offseason

[RevSader]

This article is about 3 weeks old, but is an interesting read. I disagree with some of what Gil has to say, but I liked the article.

Go ahead, Rangers execs: Be mavericks in free agency | The Star Telegram

Spend money, because why the hell not?

No way in hell anyone is signing Shields for 4/65...

And yeah the guys didn't make billions of dollars by spending money. Ugh that was just a rotten take...Franchises should spend money based around their income...Spending money like the Dodgers because Bob and Ray happen to be really rich is unrealistic and frankly quite dumb.

 

[romeo212000]

Spend money, because why the hell not?

No way in hell anyone is signing Shields for 4/65...

And yeah the guys didn't make billions of dollars by spending money. Ugh that was just a rotten take...Franchises should spend money based around their income...Spending money like the Dodgers because Bob and Ray happen to be really rich is unrealistic and frankly quite dumb.

It's always easy to spend someone else's money.

 

[saddles]

Spend money, because why the hell not?

No way in hell anyone is signing Shields for 4/65...

And yeah the guys didn't make billions of dollars by spending money. Ugh that was just a rotten take...Franchises should spend money based around their income...Spending money like the Dodgers because Bob and Ray happen to be really rich is unrealistic and frankly quite dumb.

I am all for the Rangers spending money based on their income.

 

[scotsman1948]

Spend money, because why the hell not?

No way in hell anyone is signing Shields for 4/65...

And yeah the guys didn't make billions of dollars by spending money. Ugh that was just a rotten take...Franchises should spend money based around their income...Spending money like the Dodgers because Bob and Ray happen to be really rich is unrealistic and frankly quite dumb.

but isn't it true that the more attractive the product the more you make so if a baseball team wins then more people come to watch the team play which brings in more money. Bob and Ray are willing to spend money to make the team better which draws in more fans which makes them more money.

 

[saddles]

Will Texas Rangers No. 12 prospect be able to withstand rigors of a full season as a regular? | Dallas Morning News

the belief from several evaluators we contacted, is that it will be more as a utility guy than an impact player. Sardinas has good contact skills, good speed and is an accomplished fielder at both second and short, but he lacks a “standout” skill.

do not rule out the possibility that, if Profar is healthy, Sardinas could end up being part of a trade package.

I am not sure if the first part is right how valuable he could be in a trade.

 

[saddles]

but isn't it true that the more attractive the product the more you make so if a baseball team wins then more people come to watch the team play which brings in more money. Bob and Ray are willing to spend money to make the team better which draws in more fans which makes them more money.

When Hicks fell on hard times financially he developed the theory that if the fans show up in record numbers he could take that money and spend it the next year, but it simply doesn't work that way. Instead of "build it and they will come" he thought "come and I will build it". I don't know if these guys have decided the same thing or if they are simply biding their time until better things come along. That is very hard to tell, but I can understand folks thinking that has become the case.

 

[donaldson79]

My take on spending - this is nothing most of ya haven't touched on at some point - is, first, I agree with romeo in that, I'm damn good at spending someone else's money. Make my best decisions with your wallet.

But there's no reason to spend it when there's not much upside to doing so. I don't want us spending $60 mil for Shields, or big bucks for a LF when it's not prudent to do so.

 

[saddles]

My take on spending - this is nothing most of ya haven't touched on at some point - is, first, I agree with romeo in that, I'm damn good at spending someone else's money. Make my best decisions with your wallet.

But there's no reason to spend it when there's not much upside to doing so. I don't want us spending $60 mil for Shields, or big bucks for a LF when it's not prudent to do so.

I agree with that. I just am not convinced that ownership would be comfortable bumping the budget up substantially if there were good free agents out there. Some are assuming so, but we have had two years in a row of basically the same budget even though there was a very slight increase last offseason. I did think there were guys to go after last offseason that we never pursued very heavily. One can think they will increase their budget when the right guys come along, but if we have another offseason where it doesn't increase one might need to change that opinion. If the right guys don't come along three years in a row then either the definition of "right guys" needs to change or there are no "right guys" left which kind of means the same thing as my first possibility.

Let me get something straight though. I am not talking about bumping the budget up to match the Dodgers, Yankees, or Angels. It seems like anytime this subject is brought up that is put out there as something folks like me want. What I am talking about is bumping it up to the $155-160 million range which should be very feasible given the increase in our revenue streams the past couple of years.

This offseason wasn't the time to do a whole lot of spending though as far as free agents are concerned. It does make me wonder if we will ever pursue a top free agent pitcher though since we didn't pursue any of the three very good pitchers available. I said I wonder; I didn't say I was complaining about it. I haven't really wanted us to pursue one since Cliff Lee.

I also wonder if the budget hampered our ability to make a trade that would bring back someone making a somewhat substantial amount of money. That is another instance of me wondering, but not necessarily complaining.

 

[saddles]

Another positive MRI for Texas Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar | Dallas Morning News

Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar underwent another followup MRI on Monday and, according to sources, it showed continued healing of the torn teres major muscle that forced him to miss the entire 2014 season.

If he gets completely well I still expect Profar to be the regular second baseman here before the end of June. Nothing against Odor, but Profar's upside is much higher if he can ever get healthy. We really need to see what he can do when playing here on an everyday basis before next offseason in order to make personnel decisions.

 

[DT LUNA]

I agree with that. I just am not convinced that ownership would be comfortable bumping the budget up substantially if there were good free agents out there. Some are assuming so, but we have had two years in a row of basically the same budget even though there was a very slight increase last offseason. I did think there were guys to go after last offseason that we never pursued very heavily. One can think they will increase their budget when the right guys come along, but if we have another offseason where it doesn't increase one might need to change that opinion. If the right guys don't come along three years in a row then either the definition of "right guys" needs to change or there are no "right guys" left which kind of means the same thing as my first possibility.

Let me get something straight though. I am not talking about bumping the budget up to match the Dodgers, Yankees, or Angels. It seems like anytime this subject is brought up that is put out there as something folks like me want. What I am talking about is bumping it up to the $155-160 million range which should be very feasible given the increase in our revenue streams the past couple of years.

This offseason wasn't the time to do a whole lot of spending though as far as free agents are concerned. It does make me wonder if we will ever pursue a top free agent pitcher though since we didn't pursue any of the three very good pitchers available. I said I wonder; I didn't say I was complaining about it. I haven't really wanted us to pursue one since Cliff Lee.

I also wonder if the budget hampered our ability to make a trade that would bring back someone making a somewhat substantial amount of money. That is another instance of me wondering, but not necessarily complaining.

I think the injured including lewis will determine a lot of what we need and the rookies ( Rua and others) being the rest. Until that happens we won't know where to spend other than a sp. I just believe it best to be conservative untill we know what we have to start the season.

 

[donaldson79]

Another positive MRI for Texas Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar | Dallas Morning News



If he gets completely well I still expect Profar to be the regular second baseman here before the end of June. Nothing against Odor, but Profar's upside is much higher if he can ever get healthy. We really need to see what he can do when playing here on an everyday basis before next offseason in order to make personnel decisions.

I think it's going to be interesting to see what position Profar plays at AAA. Will he get most of his time at SS or 2nd? Split?

Regardless, a SS is much more valuable than a 2nd baseman. Especially one with some pop in their bat, which going back 2 years, Profar was foreseen as a 15+ HR guy at SS.

Maybe pie-in-the-sky, but if EA plays well, Odors shows last season wasn't a fluke, even builds on it, and Profar is having a stellar season at AAA, then Profar's value will be high again, and we'll see.

 

[saddles]

I think the injured including lewis will determine a lot of what we need and the rookies ( Rua and others) being the rest. Until that happens we won't know where to spend other than a sp. I just believe it best to be conservative untill we know what we have to start the season.

At this point in time that seems to be the most prudent course to take.

 

[saddles]

I think it's going to be interesting to see what position Profar plays at AAA. Will he get most of his time at SS or 2nd? Split?

Regardless, a SS is much more valuable than a 2nd baseman. Especially one with some pop in their bat, which going back 2 years, Profar was foreseen as a 15+ HR guy at SS.

Maybe pie-in-the-sky, but if EA plays well, Odors shows last season wasn't a fluke, even builds on it, and Profar is having a stellar season at AAA, then Profar's value will be high again, and we'll see.

I think if that is the case then we should trade Odor eventually. I know those who are fed up with Elvis will shudder at keeping him, but in your scenario Elvis is playing well. In that scenario I go with the theory that you keep the best and trade the rest. Now if Odor steps up and hits about .310 and has 25 HRs this year then Elvis would become the odd man out, but I don't think anyone expects that out of Odor. There are just so many ways this can pan out this year, but it will take getting Profar a lot of everyday at bats up here to make those determinations.

 

[scotsman1948]

My take on spending - this is nothing most of ya haven't touched on at some point - is, first, I agree with romeo in that, I'm damn good at spending someone else's money. Make my best decisions with your wallet.

But there's no reason to spend it when there's not much upside to doing so. I don't want us spending $60 mil for Shields, or big bucks for a LF when it's not prudent to do so.

I don't see any OF 'er out there in FA worth it but you can never have enough SP just look at last year

 

[saddles]

I don't see any OF 'er out there in FA worth it but you can never have enough SP just look at last year

Using last year as an example you could the same thing about position players. Last year we wouldn't have made the postseason had Holland and Perez both stayed healthy.

 

[scotsman1948]

Using last year as an example you could the same thing about position players. Last year we wouldn't have made the postseason had Holland and Perez both stayed healthy.

Injuries are a fact of life in baseball and it is SP where a single injury or 2 can have devastating effects on what a team does. We knew that

 

[donaldson79]

Injuries are a fact of life in baseball and it is SP where a single injury or 2 can have devastating effects on what a team does. We knew that

As Winding has said many times before........Gotta go into the season with 10 starters.

 

[saddles]

Injuries are a fact of life in baseball and it is SP where a single injury or 2 can have devastating effects on what a team does. We knew that

Some think the injuries to Choo and Prince had a devastating effect on the team.

If your #2 and #3 pitchers both get hurt I don't know what else you can do. You certainly can't fill up the team with 5 guys that are #1, #2, and #3 pitchers unless they are all young prospects who hit at once like Oakland has had at times. SP depth is helped by having ready prospects at AAA. That is what we need to maintain longterm. I think our rotation will be fine by the time 2016 rolls around. If we had signed two #3 pitchers this offseason we would still not be good enough to complete in 2015 and we would have blocked the progress of guys like Thompson and Chi Chi.

 

[saddles]

As Winding has said many times before........Gotta go into the season with 10 starters.

On your 40 man or on your 25 man roster?

 

[DT LUNA]

At this point in time that seems to be the most prudent course to take.

And that's why the budget is of little concern.