latest offseason news

[romeo212000]

but he has the range of a statue, but I'm ok with him in the OF sometimes

His lack of range can be masked by having a great CF with the range to compensate (like Gentry) play next to him. I wouldn't want him playing there with someone like Murphy or even Borbon in CF.

 

[jta4437]

His lack of range can be masked by having a great CF with the range to compensate (like Gentry) play next to him. I wouldn't want him playing there with someone like Murphy or even Borbon in CF.

Borbon has good range, just a bad arm and iffy instincts

 

[romeo212000]

Borbon has good range, just a bad arm and iffy instincts

That was why I said I wouldn't put him out there with Mitch. It's not his range I'm concerned with. It's what new boneheaded move he's going to make next that concerns me. Cruz, Murphy, and Hamilton can cover his ass some when he has a lapse in judgement. Moreland cannot.

 

[jta4437]

I'm all for giving Gentry a shot to be the mostly regular CFer while Martin earns his stripes in AAA

Gentry steals bases at a ridiculous clip, gets good jumps and plays smart

His average across his minor league career has been pretty solid and started to show in decent time last year

He's not completely "popless," I've seen him give several balls a good ride but no luck yet at the ML level, and he hit HRs in the minors (high of 8 in AA), he's no Hamilton but he's no Otis Nixon either

And the best thing of all, he plays a killer CF, highest UZR/150 for any CFer with at least 100 innings played, and has a strong arm to boot

106 GP, .253 BA, .334 OBP, .367 SLG, 2 HRs, 34 SBs next year

In relation to his bat, he does consistently hit line drives, he's not a beat it into the ground hitter, which always gives him hope in relation to his SLG%

 

[Windingmywatch]

Moreland is a decent option for a corner OF backup. Good arm too. Definitely enough to make runners think twice.

TEX has said it will not be deploying Moreland in the outfield in 2012 ... but even it it considered Moreland a RF option in lieu of Cruz ... that means Moreland isn't at 1b ... meaning either Young is at 1b ... or Torrealba is behind the plate. Don't like either of those options over any length of time.

It is the age old adage of "for want of a nail the war was lost". TEX lacks backup RH COF talent. If Cruz goes down it may not suffer defensively with one of the CFers taking on the position but it loses offensive potential without a clear COF backup at AA or higher.

Maybe if Cruz goes down TEX uses Mitch in RF and promotes Mike Olt to play 1b as a way to balance COF familiarity with a power RH bat option. Maybe Olt can play RF? Dunno ... but that would be a better option for me than seeing Young at 1b and Torrealba behind the plate on a daily basis.

 

[Windingmywatch]

I'm all for giving Gentry a shot to be the mostly regular CFer while Martin earns his stripes in AAA

Gentry steals bases at a ridiculous clip, gets good jumps and plays smart

His average across his minor league career has been pretty solid and started to show in decent time last year

He's not completely "popless," I've seen him give several balls a good ride but no luck yet at the ML level, and he hit HRs in the minors (high of 8 in AA), he's no Hamilton but he's no Otis Nixon either

And the best thing of all, he plays a killer CF, highest UZR/150 for any CFer with at least 100 innings played, and has a strong arm to boot

106 GP, .253 BA, .334 OBP, .367 SLG, 2 HRs, 34 SBs next year

Agree on Gentry 100% ... watched him at Frisco too where he was by 2:1 margin the best OF on the field on both sides. It was Gentry who got to balls in the RF gap that JMJr was too lazy to chase ... had the better arm too.

Only guy I have seen close on a ball in the gap as fast as Gentry is Mike Trout ... both do it effortlessly, gliding and accellerating to the ball. Neither Martin nor Engle Beltre from what I have seen of them at the AA level can best Gentry in CF.

 

[jta4437]

Agree on Gentry 100% ... watched him at Frisco too where he was by 2:1 margin the best OF on the field on both sides. It was Gentry who got to balls in the RF gap that JMJr was too lazy to chase ... had the better arm too.

Only guy I have seen close on a ball in the gap as fast as Gentry is Mike Trout ... both do it effortlessly, gliding and accellerating to the ball. Neither Martin nor Engle Beltre from what I have seen of them at the AA level can best Gentry in CF.

Been on fangraphs a lot today, and was looking at his %'s and some numbers jumped out from last year

23% LineDrive% which is quite good especially for someone who's a speedster, so if he does get one in the gap he's going a while

His FlyBall% was 27%, so if he hits it in the air he's hitting a liner somewhere

his GB% was 50%, so he actually plays up to his strengths

His %'s are similar to Andrus but on the better side I think, plus I think he's a WAY better baserunner than Andrus

 

[romeo212000]

Agree on Gentry 100% ... watched him at Frisco too where he was by 2:1 margin the best OF on the field on both sides. It was Gentry who got to balls in the RF gap that JMJr was too lazy to chase ... had the better arm too.

Only guy I have seen close on a ball in the gap as fast as Gentry is Mike Trout ... both do it effortlessly, gliding and accellerating to the ball. Neither Martin nor Engle Beltre from what I have seen of them at the AA level can best Gentry in CF.

People keep talking about looking for a CF until Martin comes up, but I'm telling you Gentry should be more than adequate this year. He can be an elite defensive CF. He isn't a power hitter but he hits lots of line drives. He should easily carry his weight at the plate.

 

[jta4437]

Even if Gentry hits .230, he brings plenty of value in other areas, defense and basepaths, plus his style always puts pressure on a defense

If he's hitting 9 then he'll be hitting in front of Kinsler and I'm sure he'll see more than his fair share of fastballs, that along with his solid eye, he should be able sustain a pretty good OBP,

From what I saw last year, a little work on his bunting would be nice, not a bad bunter, but could be better

 

[romeo212000]

Even if Gentry hits .230, he brings plenty of value in other areas, defense and basepaths, plus his style always puts pressure on a defense

If he's hitting 9 then he'll be hitting in front of Kinsler and I'm sure he'll see more than his fair share of fastballs, that along with his solid eye, he should be able sustain a pretty good OBP,

From what I saw last year, a little work on his bunting would be nice, not a bad bunter, but could be better

I'd be shocked if he hits less than .250 this year. When he gets on base in front of Ian he'll be terror on the bases. He also makes it very difficult for defenses to turn double plays.

 

[scotsman1948]

from mlbtraderumors:

Oswalt is likely to sign with the Cardinals "soon," reports Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston. His source cautioned that it's "not yet 100 percent," however. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that Oswalt turned down a one-year, $10MM offer from the Tigers, and that being close to his Mississippi home is a major factor in his decision.

looks like we can stop worrying about the Rangers making a dumb move in this direction

 

[Al Falfa]

from mlbtraderumors:

Oswalt is likely to sign with the Cardinals "soon," reports Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston. His source cautioned that it's "not yet 100 percent," however. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that Oswalt turned down a one-year, $10MM offer from the Tigers, and that being close to his Mississippi home is a major factor in his decision.

looks like we can stop worrying about the Rangers making a dumb move in this direction

From everything I've read concerning the Oswalt/Rangers talks money was the biggest obstacle in the talks. Aside from that, I'm not sure how this could be called dumb move just yet. Signing Oswalt isn't exactly scraping the bottom of the barrel and he is sure good enough to make a living pitching in the AL West and against a majority of AL teams. The back may be an issue, but then that's probably where the $$ hang up is rather than his ability.

 

[scotsman1948]

From everything I've read concerning the Oswalt/Rangers talks money was the biggest obstacle in the talks. Aside from that, I'm not sure how this could be called dumb move just yet. Signing Oswalt isn't exactly scraping the bottom of the barrel and he is sure good enough to make a living pitching in the AL West and against a majority of AL teams. The back may be an issue, but then that's probably where the $$ hang up is rather than his ability.

most feel that getting him would be unnecessary overkill with startng pitching we have

 

[Al Falfa]

most feel that getting him would be unnecessary overkill with startng pitching we have

Maybe so. I guess I still remember the days when Kevin Millwood was our ace and nobody wanted to pitch here. With Feliz and Holland being some what unknowns I'm thinking surplus rather than overkill.

 

[jta4437]

Maybe so. I guess I still remember the days when Kevin Millwood was our ace and nobody wanted to pitch here. With Feliz and Holland being some what unknowns I'm thinking surplus rather than overkill.

All of our starting options have question marks

Lewis and his hip and getting his gopher ball problem solved

Holland and his consistency

Is Harrison for real?

Darvish and transition to the ML game

Feliz and starting in the MLs for the 1st time ever and starting for the first time in 3 years

Ogando and developing extra pitches, or is he in the bullpen

Feldman, which do you see, pre-contract Feldy or post-contract Feldy?

No one is a sure thing but I'm confident that out of the 7, 5 will come together and form a solid rotation without making necessary the signing of another question mark in Oswalt's back, after the Brandon Webb debacle last year, I'm kinda done with that kind of move

 

[romeo212000]

most feel that getting him would be unnecessary overkill with startng pitching we have

This.

 

[scotsman1948]

from mlbtraderumors:

# Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler says that he doesn't have anything new to report on a possible long-term extension, writes Richard Durrett of ESPN.com. Kinsler added that there hasn't been many discussions with the club in regards to a new deal, but we know that there has been some conversation.
# More from Durrett, as he writes that Rangers pitcher Matt Harrison isn't concerned about hearing Roy Oswalt's name being connected to the club. Harrison would likely be bumped out of the rotation if Texas signs the veteran, but Harrison says that he's okay with moving to the bullpen.

 

[scotsman1948]

from mlbtraderumors:

The Rangers haven't made offer to Oswalt either, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Texas is interested in the veteran, but like the Cardinals, he's not an obvious fit for the club.

 

[scotsman1948]

from mlbtraderumors:

The Rangers have signed Kyle Hudson to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, according to Executive Vice President of Communications John Blake (via Twitter). The Orioles released the outfielder on Monday.

The 25-year-old hit .296/.375/.336 line with 41 stolen bases in 485 minor league plate appearances last season. Hudson also appeared in 14 Major League games for the O's as a September callup.

 

[jta4437]

from mlbtraderumors:

The Rangers have signed Kyle Hudson to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, according to Executive Vice President of Communications John Blake (via Twitter). The Orioles released the outfielder on Monday.

The 25-year-old hit .296/.375/.336 line with 41 stolen bases in 485 minor league plate appearances last season. Hudson also appeared in 14 Major League games for the O's as a September callup.

Whats with this constant exchange between the Rangers & the Orioles