2014 Offseason

[True Rangers Fan]

The first line of the article : The four-headed future of the Rangers’ pitching rotation warmed up together Friday.

The word "rotation" is not in the first line of the article.

 

[jta4437]

Texas Rangers sign Rougned Odor, Jurickson Profar to one-year deals - ESPN Dallas

hadn't seen this posted earlier today ...

What is the conversation around town about how Choice fits into the OF mix? Is Rua insurance on Choice or Choice insurance on Rua? And who is the likely CF-capable 4OF?

Have always been a Mitch Moreland rooter. Goes back to the time when I found nothing about Smoak I liked. But I just can't see a spot for Mitch unless he goes to the bullpen as a lefty specialist. TEX could use one of them.

I don't think we know at this point, it's going to be a battle between Smolinski, Choice and Rua and we'll see how it all shakes out

My money is on Rua coming out ahead though

 

[saddles]

Fraley: Why quartet of future Rangers pitchers is reminiscent of Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz era in Atlanta | Dallas Morning News

They're definitely not the 4 I thought he was going to name. They might have come up together, and are RH, but the similarities pretty much end there. I don't consider these 4 the future of our rotation, besides Chi Chi, and maybe Asher.

I think Ortiz and Thompson probably belong in the conversation. Give me a long term rotation of Holland, Perez, Chi Chi, Ortiz and Thompson. If they extend Yu then that's all the better.

 

[donaldson79]

Cowlishaw: Josh and Wash led Rangers to club's greatest heights; their fall just as precipitous | Dallas Morning News

 

[Windingmywatch]

Again, I'm guessing they're thinking Martin's range will make up the difference.

I have this vision of player running to his right going for a ball in the gap and plaintively holding his glove in the air as the ball sales five feet past him rolling to the wall in that cutout by the bullpen ... and Martin chases it down finally.

Not as limited as Vlad was in RF ... but you can draw a straight line from where we are to where that is.

 

[donaldson79]

I have this vision of player running to his right going for a ball in the gap and plaintively holding his glove in the air as the ball sales five feet past him rolling to the wall in that cutout by the bullpen ... and Martin chases it down finally.

Not as limited as Vlad was in RF ... but you can draw a straight line from where we are to where that is.

I'm willing to give Choo the benefit of the doubt for now. He has good instincts, although a lack of flat-out foot speed.

It's somewhat amusing to me how some - not necessarily you - had nothing but bad things to say about Cruz and how horrid he was in RF. Yet now, they want to praise his arm, how we miss him, and how poor Choo is.

Personally, I would have loved to have Nelson back, especially since he's now in Seattle.

I'm not expecting GG out there from anyone in 2015. But I am willing to "reserve judgement" and see how Choo works out, at least in ST.

 

[Windingmywatch]

I'm willing to give Choo the benefit of the doubt for now. He has good instincts, although a lack of flat-out foot speed.

It's somewhat amusing to me how some - not necessarily you - had nothing but bad things to say about Cruz and how horrid he was in RF. Yet now, they want to praise his arm, how we miss him, and how poor Choo is.

Personally, I would have loved to have Nelson back, especially since he's now in Seattle.

I'm not expecting GG out there from anyone in 2015. But I am willing to "reserve judgement" and see how Choo works out, at least in ST.

Ah you are right ... "not necessarily you (me)". Nellie was not the best or the worst fielder. Range and arm though he ranks higher than Choo. But this is a pointless comparison with Nellie not here. I would say though that if they were both on the roster ... Choo would still be playing LF.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

On Romeo's original statement of Rua in RF instead of Choo is accurate based on the fact that your RF should have above average arm strength. Only problem is Choo is just so bad in LF. It is amazing it seems on our lack of RF options. I always loved Cruz in RF even though he stunk at going straight back. But so far we have not had any one better out there not when you combine his offense and defense.

 

[donaldson79]

On Romeo's original statement of Rua in RF instead of Choo is accurate based on the fact that your RF should have above average arm strength. Only problem is Choo is just so bad in LF. It is amazing it seems on our lack of RF options. I always loved Cruz in RF even though he stunk at going straight back. But so far we have not had any one better out there not when you combine his offense and defense.

You've hit the nail-on-the-head as far as I'm concerned.

Cruz was far from magic in RF. We all get this. But overall, between his arm/attitude/speed/BAT I would have taken him for a 2 year deal (maybe even 3) 2 years ago. And some on here acted like I was nuts for thinking such.

Maybe their right b/c I still think this.

 

[saddles]

You've hit the nail-on-the-head as far as I'm concerned.

Cruz was far from magic in RF. We all get this. But overall, between his arm/attitude/speed/BAT I would have taken him for a 2 year deal (maybe even 3) 2 years ago. And some on here acted like I was nuts for thinking such.

Maybe their right b/c I still think this.

I agree that Cruz would be much better than Rios or Choo in RF. There are going to be many that disagree with that simply because he isn't here. In posting on 3 different boards over the years I have found out that a large contingent of Ranger fans will always believe whatever we have is better than what we had a chance to have. They really have a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea that JD could have made a mistake or two along the way.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

They really have a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea that JD could have made a mistake or two along the way.

There's also a contingent that thinks everything JD does is a mistake.

 

[saddles]

Cowlishaw: Josh and Wash led Rangers to club's greatest heights; their fall just as precipitous | Dallas Morning News

"Josh and Wash. They were the faces of the Texas Rangers during the franchise's all-too-brief brush with greatness. More than Michael or Nellie or Nap, certainly more than C.J. out there on the hill, Josh and Wash gave this team and its fans something no other team could touch."

All I can do is laugh at Cowlishaw's rendition of those years. No matter how much you don't want to believe it Cowlishaw Wash was a weight around this team that kept them from ultimate greatness. They went where they did in spite of him.

 

[saddles]

There's also a contingent that thinks everything JD does is a mistake.

Yes, and both of those contingents think the other is nuts. Both are way off base in my estimation.

I have found that those who think JD does everything wrong are a little more accepting of those of us whose ideas about JD lies somewhere between the two extremes. Not a lot, but some.

 

[donaldson79]

I agree that Cruz would be much better than Rios or Choo in RF. There are going to be many that disagree with that simply because he isn't here. In posting on 3 different boards over the years I have found out that a large contingent of Ranger fans will always believe whatever we have is better than what we had a chance to have. They really have a hard time wrapping their heads around the idea that JD could have made a mistake or two along the way.

You're right, and I have no problem with this. Kind of human nature to protect one's own, even it isn't 100% true.

As an example, I am a U of Memphis supporter. And I defended John Calapari as best I could when he was there. Consider him pretty much an A-Hole now. But as long as he was our A-Hole, I supported him. Same as AJP when he was here. But must admit, I'm sure glad he didn't stay long.

And for JD, overall he gets a good solid B grade from me. I recognize some blunders as well as a few gold star moves too. Hope we don't look back after this season and see Choo/Prince on the dump-heap and I'll drop my grade considerably.

 

[saddles]

You're right, and I have no problem with this. Kind of human nature to protect one's own, even it isn't 100% true.

As an example, I am a U of Memphis supporter. And I defended John Calapari as best I could when he was there. Consider him pretty much an A-Hole now. But as long as he was our A-Hole, I supported him. Same as AJP when he was here. But must admit, I'm sure glad he didn't stay long.

And for JD, overall he gets a good solid B grade from me. I recognize some blunders as well as a few gold star moves too. Hope we don't look back after this season and see Choo/Prince on the dump-heap and I'll drop my grade considerably.

Unlike a lot of others I didn't like those moves from the beginning and that was with me thinking that each of them would have good years in 2014 and 2015. It was how long they would keep producing after the first couple of years that bothered me and especially with Prince.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Jeff Banister challenges Texas Rangers starting pitchers to push, lift each other | Dallas Morning News

Loving Banister.

 

[donaldson79]

Observation: The new format seems to update much better and if you want to multi-quote, it works MUCH better too.

 

[ESPN Refugee]

There's also a contingent that thinks everything JD does is a mistake.

Those guys are knuckleheads. It's obvious and common sense that even the best of the best GM's will have plenty of misses or things that don't quite turn out the way they expected to be.

That's not to say JD shouldn't be held accountable as I do think he's had his share of mistakes but you just can't win em all.

 

[ESPN Refugee]

You're right, and I have no problem with this. Kind of human nature to protect one's own, even it isn't 100% true.

As an example, I am a U of Memphis supporter. And I defended John Calapari as best I could when he was there. Consider him pretty much an A-Hole now. But as long as he was our A-Hole, I supported him. Same as AJP when he was here. But must admit, I'm sure glad he didn't stay long.

And for JD, overall he gets a good solid B grade from me. I recognize some blunders as well as a few gold star moves too. Hope we don't look back after this season and see Choo/Prince on the dump-heap and I'll drop my grade considerably.

Isn't it like really wrong to be a supporter of the Vols and Tigers?

 

[saddles]

No shortage of instructors to aid growth of Texas Rangers Joey Gallo | Dallas Morning News

Giambi emphasized being able to make adjustments to his swing without having to constantly seek input from instructors. The idea is to be able to be a more self-sufficient hitter.


Gallo also learned what happens when he doesn’t do what is necessary to maintain the swing. Namely, slumps.


He said that after his impressive two months at Myrtle Beach, he got too comfortable with his swing, which, in concert with the improved pitching talent he saw after a promotion to Double-A Frisco, led to his poor finish. Gallo hit .232 in 68 games at Frisco and averaged a strikeout every 2.53 plate appearances. By comparison, the worst strikeout rate in the majors last year was Baltimore’s Chris Davis, who averaged a strikeout every 3.03 plate appearances.


“I want to be able to make my own adjustments and to be able to stay on top of them for the whole year, not just for the first two months,” Gallo said. “I lost my feel for my swing when I started feeling too comfortable.”