2017 Texas Rangers offseason thread

[scotsman1948]

Pitching will get priority imo and the budget most likely will not afford both.

Yelich only gets 7M for 2018 which will covered by the release of Napoli. figuring the total players under contract at 93.833M and then figuring in arbitration/team control players at around 11.6M you come up with a total of 105.433M. not knowing how much Prince is still going to count throw in 9M and you have 114.433M. add Yelich and subtract whoever we trade for him and i put team contracts around 120M. that leaves around 30 to 40M to spend on pitching. of course if we are free of Prince's amount then we have 39-49M.

 

[saddles]

Rangers' Jon Daniels praises farm system

The Rangers' top three picks in '17 -- outfielder Bubba Thompson, infielder Chris Seise and pitcher Hans Crouse -- are among the organization's top eight prospects according to MLBPipeline.com -- and second-round pick catcher Matt Whatley is at No. 27 after a strong debut season at Class A Spokane. Most intriguing is first baseman Tyreque Reed, the ninth-round pick out of Itawamba (Ms.) College, who hit .350 with five home runs, 29 RBIs and a .617 slugging percentage in 35 games for the Arizona Rookie League Rangers.


"On the pro side in a couple of deals that we made, I felt our scouts did some really good work," Daniels said. "Willie Calhoun, A.J. Alexy, Pedro Gonzalez all have a chance to really do well in our system ultimately up here in Arlington. It might take some time, but the talent is very, very interesting."


Calhoun, Alexy and infielder Brendon Davis were acquired from the Dodgers in the trade for Yu Darvish. Calhoun had an immediate impact as a September callup but Alexy, a right-handed pitcher who is just 19, was 1-1 with a 3.05 ERA in five starts for Class A Hickory, striking out 27 in 20 innings. Gonzalez, a 19-year-old power prodigy, was acquired from the Rockies for catcher Jonathan Lucroy...

The next few years will deliver the final verdict, but the Rangers expect a number of young pitchers to rise quickly after what they accomplished at Class A Down East and Hickory. There is much work ahead but Texas feels good about a group that includes right-handers Kyle Cody, Jonathan Hernandez, Mike Matuella, Richelson Pena and Edgar Arredondo, and left-handers Brett Martin, Wes Benjamin and Joe Palumbo among others.

 

[scotsman1948]

pitching: sign darvish, otani & mikolas to fill the 3 holes in the starting rotation. sign nicasio &/or watson for the bullpen.

rotation:
darvish
hamels
otani
perez
mikolas
bullpen:
barnette
bush
claudio
diekman
kela
nicasio/watson
?

 

[Kelleyman]

Ok. I do think it it too early to dismiss 2018 Rangers and regardless we need pitching and I would like a CF if possible but whoever we get I think we need to have some we are prepared to flip after ASB if things go south.

Not too sure I would pick up Barnette option unless injury was a factor. Love to see see LeClerc improve his command. Good arm. Bullpen is hard to predict but having guys fight for jobs in the spring sets a tone for achievement which I think is good.

There is a balance between being a Pollyanna and man of Doom

 

[True Rangers Fan]

I'd put more money on Cobb than Darvish, if I'm betting.

 

[Kelleyman]

I'd put more money on Cobb than Darvish, if I'm betting.

Part of me thinks we need to get a pitcher signed before December to look like we are competing to Otani. Also think to sign Otani we will have to move Choo somehow. We are way too DH heavy

 

[scotsman1948]

Part of me thinks we need to get a pitcher signed before December to look like we are competing to Otani. Also think to sign Otani we will have to move Choo somehow. We are way too DH heavy

you may be right but i just don't see any takers for Choo unless we give up a ton of money and probably prospects to sweeten the pot. for at least 2018 i think we are forced to use Choo as the primary DH and bring in someone like Yelich to cover CF. let Yelich patrol CF in 2018 and maybe 2019 and then shift him to left if and when Taveras is mlb ready

 

[saddles]

you may be right but i just don't see any takers for Choo unless we give up a ton of money and probably prospects to sweeten the pot. for at least 2018 i think we are forced to use Choo as the primary DH and bring in someone like Yelich to cover CF. let Yelich patrol CF in 2018 and maybe 2019 and then shift him to left if and when Taveras is mlb ready

Don't count on keeping Taveras if they trade for Yelich.

 

[saddles]

Part of me thinks we need to get a pitcher signed before December to look like we are competing to Otani. Also think to sign Otani we will have to move Choo somehow. We are way too DH heavy

The pitcher to sign in that regard would be Darvish.

Trading Choo should be done in my opinion.

 

[saddles]

Ok. I do think it it too early to dismiss 2018 Rangers and regardless we need pitching and I would like a CF if possible but whoever we get I think we need to have some we are prepared to flip after ASB if things go south.

Not too sure I would pick up Barnette option unless injury was a factor. Love to see see LeClerc improve his command. Good arm. Bullpen is hard to predict but having guys fight for jobs in the spring sets a tone for achievement which I think is good.

There is a balance between being a Pollyanna and man of Doom

Didn't Dyson look great in ST this year? I just don't know how much we will learn about them prior to the season starting.

As far as dismissing the Rangers in 2018 what are you not dismissing? Are you holding out hope they can win a wildcard or are you holding out hope that they will play like the best team in the American League next season?

The idea of flipping players at the deadline is hampered greatly by the second wildcard. It is hard to be bad enough to not be within a few games of that at the deadline. You have to have a season like 2014 it seems.

 

[DT LUNA]

The pitcher to sign in that regard would be Darvish.

Trading Choo should be done in my opinion.

I think we all agree on trading Choo

 

[scotsman1948]

Don't count on keeping Taveras if they trade for Yelich.

well i do

 

[scotsman1948]

I think we all agree on trading Choo

name 3 teams that would take him without expecting the Rangers to eat a significant amount of the 62M owed him and throw in prospects for a minimal return. it is easier to talk about trading Choo than pulling it off with that albatross of a contract

 

[DT LUNA]

name 3 teams that would take him without expecting the Rangers to eat a significant amount of the 62M owed him and throw in prospects for a minimal return. it is easier to talk about trading Choo than pulling it off with that albatross of a contract

name 3 teams that would take him without expecting the Rangers to eat a significant amount of the 62M owed him and throw in prospects for a minimal return. it is easier to talk about trading Choo than pulling it off with that albatross of a contract

We just said he should be traded. You name three. I don't care who they could be and didn't name any. He should be traded!

 

[saddles]

name 3 teams that would take him without expecting the Rangers to eat a significant amount of the 62M owed him and throw in prospects for a minimal return. it is easier to talk about trading Choo than pulling it off with that albatross of a contract

It will be a whole lot easier to trade Choo if we eat half of his salary than it will be to trade for Yelich without giving up several top 10 prospects including Taveras.

 

[scotsman1948]

I think we all agree on trading Choo

iagree i just don't see it happening without eating a big chunk of his salary and giving up prospects or taking on another bad contract. in the end we could be in worse shape over those 3 years or more

 

[Kelleyman]

The pitcher to sign in that regard would be Darvish.

Trading Choo should be done in my opinion.

Well I agree Dervish is first choice and still wonder why a pitcher who wants to DH would come her is Choo is her and re CF I would like another that is string defensively we can afford and stick him at bottom of lineup.

We really need to make some trades to ease up LF/1B/DH logjam

 

[scotsman1948]

We just said he should be traded. You name three. I don't care who they could be and didn't name any. He should be traded!

okay teams that need a dh: yankees, rays, twins, tigers and kansas city. there i named 5 teams 4 who can't and won't take on his salary and 1 who could but won't

 

[saddles]

okay teams that need a dh: yankees, rays, twins, tigers and kansas city. there i named 5 teams 4 who can't and won't take on his salary and 1 who could but won't

Choo is supposed to work on playing 1B in the offseason and he can still play some OF so that opens him up to a lot of teams. And if we eat half of his salary there would only be a handful of teams that could not afford him.

 

[Kelleyman]

Didn't Dyson look great in ST this year? I just don't know how much we will learn about them prior to the season starting.

As far as dismissing the Rangers in 2018 what are you not dismissing? Are you holding out hope they can win a wildcard or are you holding out hope that they will play like the best team in the American League next season?

The idea of flipping players at the deadline is hampered greatly by the second wildcard. It is hard to be bad enough to not be within a few games of that at the deadline. You have to have a season like 2014 it seems.

1. My point was bullpen was set and players were not competing for spots.
2. I am not assuming the Rangers have zero chance for competing for division. Injuries happen and if you get in strange things can happen. Of course I would like for them to look like the strongest team. I always hope
3. Yes flipping players is a bit trickier. Sure some hated moving Darvish