Series Thread: Hot 'Stros to cool their heels in Arlington 6/6 to 6/9

[romeo212000]

Hard to bag on Elvis when he's playing good ball right now. I'd hate to see him go, but if it can free up some starting pitching money, then I say go for it.

Elvis succeeding is only good for the Rangers regardless of what they decide to do with him.

 

[romeo212000]

As many of us have mentioned on this board the issue with trading Elvis is team chemistry. And the Rangers have some of the best chemistry. So I just cannot see him being moved. But between Profar and Andrus I want Profar.

Well Profar ain't manning third base for at least one more season so...

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Well Profar ain't manning third base for at least one more season so...

Right, our IF is crowded except at 1B. I think that is where he will be for now. But then we have an issue down the road with Gallo. So something will have to give eventually but not right now. We could have quite a serious rotation between IF positions and DH even when Gallo comes up. Just means Moreland and Prince are gone or sitting on the bench watching. You have Gallo who could play 3b, 1b and possibly OF and Profar every position and DH all swapping out with Beltre, Andrus and Odor.

 

[Bmurph]

Well Cleveland is not helping tonight, Anderson has stunk it up. Glad we continue to handle our business w the division

 

[jaar01]

Just move Fielder at the deadline or more likely in the offseason for whatever we can get. I'm sure JD can figure something out. Of course we'll have to eat a bunch of money on his deal but at least he's not blocking more promising young players on the 40 man.

 

[saddles]

As many of us have mentioned on this board the issue with trading Elvis is team chemistry. And the Rangers have some of the best chemistry. So I just cannot see him being moved. But between Profar and Andrus I want Profar.

Something tells me that both Profar and Elvis will be here next year.

 

[jta4437]

U

Just move Fielder at the deadline or more likely in the offseason for whatever we can get. I'm sure JD can figure something out. Of course we'll have to eat a bunch of money on his deal but at least he's not blocking more promising young players on the 40 man.

Nobody wants him and it's not worth including prospects to get someone to eat any of that contract

We're either stuck with him or we release him

 

[Nightcrawler]

I work late a lot of the time.... So I have the "mlb at bat" app. It gives me the luxury of choosing which broadcast crew to listen to ( I usually always pick the other team) and if the Rangers are at home, I will always watch the opposing team to avoid the Jim Knox and Emily shit. Anyway, I got a good laugh tonight listening to the Astros announcers mope and whine about the Rangers dominance, I got to hear their hopes and dreams crushed when we made the comeback, and I gotta say the Astros tears are delicious. One thing that they kept saying over and over is that " our hits always find a hole" and the Astros have " bad luck".

They are really delusional, and they are pushing this narrative that we are just getting lucky. The Blue Jays organization has some of the biggest assholes to ever play the game, but the Astros have by far the most entitled one. These guys just don't seem to get it.

 

[RevSader]

I work late a lot of the time.... So I have the "mlb at bat" app. It gives me the luxury of choosing which broadcast crew to listen to ( I usually always pick the other team) and if the Rangers are at home, I will always watch the opposing team to avoid the Jim Knox and Emily shit. Anyway, I got a good laugh tonight listening to the Astros announcers mope and whine about the Rangers dominance, I got to hear their hopes and dreams crushed when we made the comeback, and I gotta say the Astros tears are delicious. One thing that they kept saying over and over is that " our hits always find a hole" and the Astros have " bad luck".

They are really delusional, and they are pushing this narrative that we are just getting lucky. The Blue Jays organization has some of the biggest assholes to ever play the game, but the Astros have by far the most entitled one. These guys just don't seem to get it.

This is your best post ever. You have nailed the Astros organization perfectly. It's an organization that believes heavily in sabermetrics, but they use it poorly and only focus on data points that support their argument and ignore any that do not. Texas is not due for regression...they turned into a more consistent team and their pythag will eventually catch up.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

I work late a lot of the time.... So I have the "mlb at bat" app. It gives me the luxury of choosing which broadcast crew to listen to ( I usually always pick the other team) and if the Rangers are at home, I will always watch the opposing team to avoid the Jim Knox and Emily shit. Anyway, I got a good laugh tonight listening to the Astros announcers mope and whine about the Rangers dominance, I got to hear their hopes and dreams crushed when we made the comeback, and I gotta say the Astros tears are delicious. One thing that they kept saying over and over is that " our hits always find a hole" and the Astros have " bad luck".

They are really delusional, and they are pushing this narrative that we are just getting lucky. The Blue Jays organization has some of the biggest assholes to ever play the game, but the Astros have by far the most entitled one. These guys just don't seem to get it.

Good post crawler. I will admit we had some good fortune in the beginning of game 1. But at the same time we gave them 3 additional opportunities because of bad play in that 1st game and then 4 walks and a hit batter last night and I do not recall much being hit hard for outs when the opportunities arose. Plus when you have a guy on 3rd with 1 out and a run down and the next 2 strike out there is not much you can say about that. We know because we have seen it plenty from our side of the field.

 

[jta4437]

This is your best post ever. You have nailed the Astros organization perfectly. It's an organization that believes heavily in sabermetrics, but they use it poorly and only focus on data points that support their argument and ignore any that do not. Texas is not due for regression...they turned into a more consistent team and their pythag will eventually catch up.

Yes there in lies the danger of sabermetrics, I believe the Rangers are an example of an organization that uses both sabermetrics and old school scouting very effectively

That said, the Mazara signing was one that was initially not very well though of by some in the industry

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/bi...lion-bonus-to-nomar-mazara-16?urn=mlb,wp11524

This isn't the most critical I've ever but it raises questions about the signing of Latin American amateurs, and I'm getting ready for work and don't have time to do an extensive search

 

[jta4437]

This is your best post ever. You have nailed the Astros organization perfectly. It's an organization that believes heavily in sabermetrics, but they use it poorly and only focus on data points that support their argument and ignore any that do not. Texas is not due for regression...they turned into a more consistent team and their pythag will eventually catch up.

Also the Astros hit on a lot of guys bc they picked high for so many years, it was bound to happen, but their system has stagnated now that they aren't replacing their callups with high draft picks, their scouting past the 1st level of talent is pretty much shit, they hit on the guys they should hit on, but don't realy find those diamonds in the rough, plus they've made some really bad trades (Giles)

The Rangers are an example of an organization, along with the Red Sox, that remains successful at calling up new guys consistently while remaining competitive on the field

 

[fordman84]

Right, our IF is crowded except at 1B. I think that is where he will be for now. But then we have an issue down the road with Gallo. So something will have to give eventually but not right now. We could have quite a serious rotation between IF positions and DH even when Gallo comes up. Just means Moreland and Prince are gone or sitting on the bench watching. You have Gallo who could play 3b, 1b and possibly OF and Profar every position and DH all swapping out with Beltre, Andrus and Odor.

We just need to not have Mitch or Prince on the roster and all is well. Platoon Gallo and Beltre at 3B, Elvis at SS, Odor at 2nd, and Profar at 1st. Hopefully we can afford to keep Desmond and our OF looks like Brinson/Desmond/Mazara/Rua. Starting rotation is Hamels/Yu/Holland/Martin/???...and that is a lineup for the next 3 seasons in my dream world.

 

[fordman84]

I work late a lot of the time.... So I have the "mlb at bat" app. It gives me the luxury of choosing which broadcast crew to listen to ( I usually always pick the other team) and if the Rangers are at home, I will always watch the opposing team to avoid the Jim Knox and Emily shit. Anyway, I got a good laugh tonight listening to the Astros announcers mope and whine about the Rangers dominance, I got to hear their hopes and dreams crushed when we made the comeback, and I gotta say the Astros tears are delicious. One thing that they kept saying over and over is that " our hits always find a hole" and the Astros have " bad luck".

They are really delusional, and they are pushing this narrative that we are just getting lucky. The Blue Jays organization has some of the biggest assholes to ever play the game, but the Astros have by far the most entitled one. These guys just don't seem to get it.

A knowledgeable fan or commentator would mention that the Astros are the ones actually getting lucky. They finally get a dominant start out of Dallas, Gomez finally gets his head out of his ass and hits a HR, Gregerson finally figures out how to pitch...and they still can't win. Texas isn't doing anything we haven't done all season. The Astros are the ones that have been playing poorly, and if anyone is lucky its them that they are actually getting production from their expensive pieces. That's just not enough.

I hope we take them to the ground tonight again, I want another sweep so damn bad I can taste it. I haven't ever really had an issue with the Astros, seemed like a hard working group. I love the hell out of Altuve and think he is class all the way. But it almost feels like they have taken on a mindset of Nolan where their world revolves around getting back at Texas. I get it, we own them. But they have to focus on more than us if they are going to bust out of their funk.

 

[fordman84]

Also the Astros hit on a lot of guys bc they picked high for so many years, it was bound to happen, but their system has stagnated now that they aren't replacing their callups with high draft picks, their scouting past the 1st level of talent is pretty much shit, they hit on the guys they should hit on, but don't realy find those diamonds in the rough, plus they've made some really bad trades (Giles)

The Rangers are an example of an organization, along with the Red Sox, that remains successful at calling up new guys consistently while remaining competitive on the field

It helps too that our trades have finally started to work. For a while we were losers in the trade game by not getting production from those guys. Astros are going through that now. Fiers is solid, but Gomez is shit this year as is Giles. Lots paid for those three guys and you have to think they probably have young guys in AAA that could do what those guys are.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Eickhoff had a solid outing vs. the Cubbies.

Jerad Eickhoff

 

[romeo212000]

We just need to not have Mitch or Prince on the roster and all is well. Platoon Gallo and Beltre at 3B, Elvis at SS, Odor at 2nd, and Profar at 1st. Hopefully we can afford to keep Desmond and our OF looks like Brinson/Desmond/Mazara/Rua. Starting rotation is Hamels/Yu/Holland/Martin/???...and that is a lineup for the next 3 seasons in my dream world.

You don't platoon Beltre, and we aren't re-signing Desmond.

 

[RevSader]

Yes there in lies the danger of sabermetrics, I believe the Rangers are an example of an organization that uses both sabermetrics and old school scouting very effectively

That said, the Mazara signing was one that was initially not very well though of by some in the industry

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/bi...lion-bonus-to-nomar-mazara-16?urn=mlb,wp11524

This isn't the most critical I've ever but it raises questions about the signing of Latin American amateurs, and I'm getting ready for work and don't have time to do an extensive search

I love our J2 signings...that's where we do our best work. Our international guys know how to pick em and it's quite obvious. If they ever do an international draft I will be a little mad, because Texas is so damn good at signing these guys and using them as chips down the road if need be.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Good post crawler. I will admit we had some good fortune in the beginning of game 1. But at the same time we gave them 3 additional opportunities because of bad play in that 1st game and then 4 walks and a hit batter last night and I do not recall much being hit hard for outs when the opportunities arose. Plus when you have a guy on 3rd with 1 out and a run down and the next 2 strike out there is not much you can say about that. We know because we have seen it plenty from our side of the field.

Yes and the key strike out came from someone touted as their 'hottest hitter."

 

[RevSader]

Also the Astros hit on a lot of guys bc they picked high for so many years, it was bound to happen, but their system has stagnated now that they aren't replacing their callups with high draft picks, their scouting past the 1st level of talent is pretty much shit, they hit on the guys they should hit on, but don't realy find those diamonds in the rough, plus they've made some really bad trades (Giles)

The Rangers are an example of an organization, along with the Red Sox, that remains successful at calling up new guys consistently while remaining competitive on the field

Astros guys are focused on our BASED and team wRC+. Our team wRC+ is being heavily weighed down (pun intended) by Prince and Mitch. Our wRC+ at all positions but 1B, DH, and SS are above league average. SS is skewed by Hanser taking a thankfully small number PAs from Elvis. Elvis is at 91 which is below league average, but not as bad as the 77 for the position. Our team wRC+ of 94 would be much higher if Prince, Mitch, and Hanser provided literally anything offensively. It's just nonsense to act like Texas is nothing special, when two dead weight have a total of 400+ PA of 2169 combined. They represent over 18 percent of all of Texas' plate appearances...so they will affect the overall number...


Oh and the Astros if you were wondering have a team wRC+ of 97...so they cannot act like their offense is better than ours.