2014 Offseason

[RevSader]

I don't mind Elvis in the two hole if he is not the manager's personal bunting machine and if base clogger Choo isn't in front of him. Just allow Elvis to hit the way he knows how and don't try to force him to take a certain "apporach" and he can hit anywhere. Stop having him bunt and stop wanting him to see a certain amount of pitches. If it is a first pitch strike then let him swing at the first pitch.

Teams that see more pitches tend to have better offenses. They get the starters out of games and grind out at bats. I have no problem with guys doing that at the plate. It's one thing I liked about Soto even when he was struggling. He would get to 0-2 and then work the count and make the pitcher throw strikes at that point.

 

[donaldson79]

I don't mind Elvis in the two hole if he is not the manager's personal bunting machine and if base clogger Choo isn't in front of him. Just allow Elvis to hit the way he knows how and don't try to force him to take a certain "apporach" and he can hit anywhere. Stop having him bunt and stop wanting him to see a certain amount of pitches. If it is a first pitch strike then let him swing at the first pitch.

I don't think enough has been made of how EA was used by the departed manager and how it could have really effected his game.

Now, as some have noted, EA's gotta nut-up and show up in shape, focused and ready to achieve "whatever is asked of him" or else.

But I do think it may be worth watching to see how he responds to the new management team.

However, I do not consider Choo anything close to a "base clogger."

 

[RevSader]

I don't think enough has been made of how EA was used by the departed manager and how it could have really effected his game.

Now, as some have noted, EA's gotta nut-up and show up in shape, focused and ready to achieve "whatever is asked of him" or else.

But I do think it may be worth watching to see how he responds to the new management team.

However, I do not consider Choo anything close to a "base clogger."

Look up the phrase TOOTBLAN. Choo isn't the best or the worst base runner on the team. I don't know how I feel about him leading off going forward though. I would rather he use that OPS to move guys around the bases.

 

[saddles]

Teams that see more pitches tend to have better offenses. They get the starters out of games and grind out at bats. I have no problem with guys doing that at the plate. It's one thing I liked about Soto even when he was struggling. He would get to 0-2 and then work the count and make the pitcher throw strikes at that point.

That is one approach, but I like wearing a pitcher out instead of trying to wear him down. You swing at strikes and let balls go. Getting down in the count is never a good thing to me. Most hitters have a much worse average when they are down in the count. If you swing at strikes then eventually you probably see more pitches because the pitcher throws you more balls out of the zone. Either way my approach would be to let that take care of itself. Also, some starters I would rather see stay in the game. Now there are certain instances where I might get desperate enough to make getting the starter out of the game my main goal, but not very often. I want the approach to be to grind the ball and not at bats. If you get enough hits the pitcher will be taken out no matter how few pitches he has thrown.

 

[Duane1952]

I am done blaming Magadan. Elvis is a grown ass man. If he wants to become a better hitter he will get his ass in the cage and do the work to make it happen. He has the talent. He just has to make it happen. Magadan is there for a resource. If stubborn players don't want to listen to him he is not going to a bit of good. The hitter has to do his part. So far I have not seen evidence of Elvis doing his part. He's not patient and he has horrible bat speed.

Rev i didn't mean to give you a thumbs down. Touched the ipad in the wrongpart of the ipad. I agree part of this has to be on the players. It has not only been Elvis. The team risp has been terrible under his watch. For whatever reason the players are not buying into what he is teaching. Maybe Wash had something to do with it. Hopefully things will change under Bannister.

 

[donaldson79]

Hitzges is going to have Ranger talk right off the bat this morning.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

I think where grace comes into the equation with how RW used the bunt and hit and run to the extreme is in regards to Magdagan. I am sure it took some of what he would want to see happen out of his hands. In regards to EA I think some of the problem can be attributed in asking him to bunt, hit and run and move runners over by hitting the to right side. But what he did to prepare for last off season is all on him. So I will be interested to see how his change in preparation helps him this year.

 

[jta4437]

I disagree, but no way to know unless it happens. We have plenty of mediocre pitchers for the rotation next year. He would better than all of them not named Yu or Derek.

He might be better but not for the money he would cost

 

[donaldson79]

On Norm's show this morning he went over our internal problems - can Feliz be counted on to close? Do we know what if anything we can get from Profar? Who is our other catcher? etc - that we've discussed here for a while.

He used the term "in order for us to contend in 2015" several times and honestly, without the stars aligning as correctly for us this year as they did against us last, I don't see us being in this position.

He inferred Martin can't be counted on to play CF against lefties, and he may be right. But to me, this is one of the questions next season will answer for us, and only by him playing full time are we ever going to get a satisfactory answer to the question IMO.

 

[saddles]

Rumors are swirling about us being interested in Ian Kennedy who is expected to get $10.3 million next season. That would be a huge chunk of what we have left to spend on the remaining 12 to 13 spots on the roster. That would mean about 12 players making very close to the minimum including the #4 starting pitcher, #5 starting pitcher and backup catcher.

Texas Rangers interested in San Diego Padres' Ian Kennedy - ESPN Dallas

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Rumors are swirling about us being interested in Ian Kennedy who is expected to get $10.3 million next season. That would be a huge chunk of what we have left to spend on the remaining 12 to 13 spots on the roster. That would mean about 12 players making very close to the minimum including the #4 starting pitcher, #5 starting pitcher and backup catcher.

Texas Rangers interested in San Diego Padres' Ian Kennedy - ESPN Dallas

A MORP will cost and it could be right around the 10 mill level or higher. He is a free agent in 2016. In 2014 his SO/9-BB/9 was 9.3/3.1. He gives up less than a HR per game but not sure if that is a product of San Diego. I would rather we went after one of their other starters even though he was not too bad last year. Hard to believe he is 29. Seems like he has been pitching in the majors forever.

 

[scotsman1948]

Rumors are swirling about us being interested in Ian Kennedy who is expected to get $10.3 million next season. That would be a huge chunk of what we have left to spend on the remaining 12 to 13 spots on the roster. That would mean about 12 players making very close to the minimum including the #4 starting pitcher, #5 starting pitcher and backup catcher.

Texas Rangers interested in San Diego Padres' Ian Kennedy - ESPN Dallas

again i have ask: how do we know exactly how much the Rangers are actually willing to spend?

 

[Justinkm83]

Talk about mediocre. I would much rather trade for Niese than Kennedy. I would hope he doesn't cost much in the way of prospects because my interest level is pretty low on him.


Cashner JD, not Kennedy.

 

[DT LUNA]

again i have ask: how do we know exactly how much the Rangers are actually willing to spend?

Good question Scottie. No one here knows.

 

[Justinkm83]

again i have ask: how do we know exactly how much the Rangers are actually willing to spend?

Saddles trusts JD at his word. I think if a great opportunity presents itself JD will pull the trigger no matter the cost.

 

[Justinkm83]

JD and Banister live at 5:00 on 105.3 the fan

 

[DT LUNA]

Saddles trusts JD at his word. I think if a great opportunity presents itself JD will pull the trigger no matter the cost.

I agree Justin.

 

[saddles]

again i have ask: how do we know exactly how much the Rangers are actually willing to spend?

There have been several stories in the local media spelling out what they are going to spend based on them talking to JD. That is how we know. The last I read the budget is supposed to be about $134 million and the 9 guys they currently have signed plus the three arbitration eligible guys(I am not including Rosales) should make somewhere in the $117 million range. If Kennedy gets $10.3 that brings the total up to $127.3. That leaves $7 million for the other 12 guys and that is not even factoring in the fact that we will need to pay 26 guys since Harrison no doubt starts the season on the DL.

That is why I don't listen to these rumors about the Rangers. They never take into consideration the Rangers budget constraints.

Offseason Outlook: Texas Rangers ? MLB Trade Rumors

Big-market Rangers short on funds this off-season | Texas Rangers | Texas Rangers News and Vi...

 

[saddles]

Saddles trusts JD at his word. I think if a great opportunity presents itself JD will pull the trigger no matter the cost.

I have heard a lot of JD interviews and read a lot of his quotes. He is never afraid to say either "no comment "or say something like "I would rather not get into specifics" when he doesn't want to be specific. I have never heard him or read him being specific and then saw him do something completely different. Now if something arises that pushes the budget up $4-5 million dollars in a very good deal then that could easily be seen as still keeping his word and fudging a bit. If he spends that much for no one special or more for anyone then that would be breaking his word.

I know trusting him is not very exciting as it puts a downer on all of this offseason speculation, but until he proves to be a liar I will give him the benefit of the doubt. He could have always refrained from getting into specifics and yet he did choose to get into specifics. Others can fantasize about him lying to us all they want and they may very well be right, but I see no reason whatsoever to think he has lied to us in all of these interviews that he has done. I can wish the Rangers would improve all I want, but I can't force JD to be a liar by doing so.

 

[saddles]

JD and Banister live at 5:00 on 105.3 the fan

Will it be worth listening to if JD is not honest with us?