2017 Texas Rangers offseason thread

[DT LUNA]

5 MLB clubs that have improved in offseason

Do not agree with this guy. How did we improve with these additions?

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Do not agree with this guy. How did we improve with these additions?

"improve" might be a relative term, compared to 2017. The 2018 rotation is more solid now than we thought it would be, and the Rangers aren't bogged down with heavy or long contracts.

 

[donaldson79]

Our biggest issue with not getting MLB talent has been the moves we made. Every MLB talent that is close was shipped our for Lee, Garza, Hamels, Eaton, Dempster, etc. We were contenders for years, and contenders sell their best talent more often than not. We have a lot of prospects that will be good in the next 2-3 years, unless we sell again. JD is at his best when he is selling (except for the Eaton trade).

Out of all the guys we've traded over the past 6 years, how many of em are producing for their new teams?

 

[donaldson79]

Outfielder Christian Yelich is "unhappy'' over the Miami Marlins' player exodus this offseason, sources told ESPN, but he wants to give the team's front office a chance to explain its rebuilding plan before he assesses his future with the franchise.

Yelich, who spoke earlier this offseason with Michael Hill, the Marlins' president of baseball operations, expects to have a follow-up conversation with Hill this week because he's trying to be "respectful'' of the organization, said a source familiar with the situation.

Now that the Marlins' new Derek Jeter-led ownership group has signed off on trading Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon and Marcell Ozuna in the quest to cut payroll, attention has focused on Yelich and catcher J.T. Realmuto, budding stars who are likely to attract considerable interest if they were made available in trades.

 

[saddles]

This is a confusing statement.

We haven't had a championship caliber team since the ones we had early in this decade. Those teams were partly the result of a rebuild. We haven't had a rebuild since and we have not had any championship caliber teams since that one at the early part of this decade broke apart.

 

[saddles]

Out of all the guys we've traded over the past 6 years, how many of em are producing for their new teams?

Off the top of my head I can think of:

Jared Eickhoff
Jake Thompson
Kyle Hendricks
Corey Knebel
Pedro Strop
CJ Edwards
Jorge Alfaro
Nick Williams
Chris Davis


And soon we can add Lewis Brinson to that list and possibly Ryan Cordell as well.

 

[saddles]

"improve" might be a relative term, compared to 2017. The 2018 rotation is more solid now than we thought it would be, and the Rangers aren't bogged down with heavy or long contracts.

I am not sure if the 2018 rotation is more solid than I thought it would be, but then there is still a lot of time left to do something else. To me Minor and Fister are very big question marks.

 

[donaldson79]

Off the top of my head I can think of:

Jared Eickhoff
Jake Thompson
Kyle Hendricks
Corey Knebel
Pedro Strop
CJ Edwards
Jorge Alfaro
Nick Williams
Chris Davis


And soon we can add Lewis Brinson to that list and possibly Ryan Cordell as well.

Maybe my term of "producing" and your interpretation are different. To date, Thompson and Alfaro have done little to nothing at the ML level. Strop, Edwards have been pretty serviceable, but not much more than this.

But you named several guys who'd I'd forgotten about, particularly Knebel and Davis, which are very good players.

 

[saddles]

Maybe my term of "producing" and your interpretation are different. To date, Thompson and Alfaro have done little to nothing at the ML level. Strop, Edwards have been pretty serviceable, but not much more than this.

But you named several guys who'd I'd forgotten about, particularly Knebel and Davis, which are very good players.

Thompson had an ERA below 4 in his time in the big leagues this year. I think there would be a lot of us happy if a 23 year-old produced on that level for us, but it has been a limited time so far.

Alfaro only had a little over 100 AB, but he was smoking the ball for that limited time. So far so good for him I would say. When we are dealing with prospects who have been traded away, some of them are going to have a limited time to judge them on.

 

[Kelleyman]

"improve" might be a relative term, compared to 2017. The 2018 rotation is more solid now than we thought it would be, and the Rangers aren't bogged down with heavy or long contracts.

Thinking the point is that these pick ups are underrated. Obviously some other teams have had splashes that look huge. But some may be overrated. Let’s take Ohtani who may be a little disappointing this year but should get even better over time

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Thinking the point is that these pick ups are underrated. Obviously some other teams have had splashes that look huge. But some may be overrated. Let’s take Ohtani who may be a little disappointing this year but should get even better over time

They might all tank, but as it stands JD put together a rotation that should get us through the season. That was pretty much going to be the best case scenario for 2018.

 

[DT LUNA]

They might all tank, but as it stands JD put together a rotation that should get us through the season. That was pretty much going to be the best case scenario for 2018.

The jury is still out. Could have a verdict soon.

 

[donaldson79]

DALLAS -- The Chicago Cubs are making a pitch for Yu Darvish.

The free-agent right-hander said he had a "very good meeting" on Monday with Cubs officials. Darvish tweeted a statement in Japanese confirming the get-together amid reports that Chicago executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer were in Dallas to speak with him.

 

[DT LUNA]

DALLAS -- The Chicago Cubs are making a pitch for Yu Darvish.

The free-agent right-hander said he had a "very good meeting" on Monday with Cubs officials. Darvish tweeted a statement in Japanese confirming the get-together amid reports that Chicago executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer were in Dallas to speak with him.

You got up at 5:19 am to tell me that?lol

 

[fordman84]

Do not agree with this guy. How did we improve with these additions?

I think the improvement is more long term, low risk. We have 4/5's of our starters essentially playing for their net contract. We should have flexibility in 2019 as well. I would expect to start making pitches to our long term future players next offseason but not locking ourselves into Choo like stupid contracts. 2020 is the season I am keeping my eye on. All along many of us have known that Texas summers are what keeps at least a few top FA's from considering Texas. That should go away in 2020 with the new stadium. I hate this saying, but keeping the powder dry is the goal right now. Gonna suck for the next two seasons, but I think JD has put a competitive team out there. Won't be any favorites but could contend for the West and/or WC. Selling the clubhouse and new staidum to FA's for the future should begin next year and that's when we should start to see changes.

As for this offseason, I don't think JD improved us. Swap Yu for Moore (downgrade) and the other are question marks like last year. The batting order is basically the same except we have hopes for Roughned to turn it around.

 

[fordman84]

Out of all the guys we've traded over the past 6 years, how many of em are producing for their new teams?

We can't control how the develop or promote those players we sent up. I get your point, but it's not an accurate comparison. Look at what we did with Salty. Had he not been thrust out as the "replacement for Tex" he probably would have done better here. How many of our guys got that same treatment with other teams?

 

[fordman84]

I am not sure if the 2018 rotation is more solid than I thought it would be, but then there is still a lot of time left to do something else. To me Minor and Fister are very big question marks.

Agree, much the same as Cashner and Ross were last year. I don't see 2018 offseason as much different than 2017 in terms of what we added.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

The jury is still out. Could have a verdict soon.

It's not a rotation that is going to compete for a postseason appearance. I wasn't expecting one, so I'm OK.

 

[donaldson79]

You got up at 5:19 am to tell me that?lol

Didn't spoil your breakfast did it?

I never expected him to be back with us, so I'm good with him staying in the NL.

 

[fordman84]

Didn't spoil your breakfast did it?

I never expected him to be back with us, so I'm good with him staying in the NL.

I just don't want Houston getting him, heard they were poking around.