latest offseason news

[fordman84]

Mike Adams underwent surgery to repair a minor hernia. The rangers expect him to be a little behind in ST, but expect him to be ready by opening day.

Hope it wasn't the same hernia that Baron Davis had.

 

[scotsman1948]

This is already old news

i know but i didn't see it reported

 

[scotsman1948]

# The Rangers continue to have dialogue about long-term contract extensions with core players like Ian Kinsler and Derek Holland, reports Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas. "Our general feeling is to try not to negotiate during the year, but we've made exceptions," said GM Jon Daniels.
# Daniels also refused to comment about the Rangers' talks with Yu Darvish, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. "It's best for us to lay low," said the GM. "The less noise around that, the better."

 

[scotsman1948]

The Rangers have “one eye” on Fielder, but locking up Yu Darvish remains their number one goal, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. If they sign Darvish, as expected, the chances of a deal with Fielder will drop.

 

[Al Falfa]

The Rangers have “one eye” on Fielder, but locking up Yu Darvish remains their number one goal, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. If they sign Darvish, as expected, the chances of a deal with Fielder will drop.

Signing Darvish creates problems signing our own players much less Fielder. In addition to that I've read that the Rangers are moving Mike Olt to 1st base this year.

 

[jta4437]

Signing Darvish creates problems signing our own players much less Fielder. In addition to that I've read that the Rangers are moving Mike Olt to 1st base this year.

Part time, he's still going to be playing 3B, as hit bat much more valuable at 3B than 1B, especially from a trade perspective

But if Moreland bombs out it would be nice for Olt to have some experience at 1B as well in advance

 

[scotsman1948]

Signing Darvish creates problems signing our own players much less Fielder. In addition to that I've read that the Rangers are moving Mike Olt to 1st base this year.

from listening to Daniels, the Rangers don't see signing Darvish as creating problems signing our players. other than not wanting to gamble on Napoli with a long term contract the Rangers are continuing to talk to our players & their agents on contract extensions.

 

[romeo212000]

Does Olt's abilities and makeup sound rather similar to Chris Davis?

 

[Al Falfa]

Part time, he's still going to be playing 3B, as hit bat much more valuable at 3B than 1B, especially from a trade perspective

But if Moreland bombs out it would be nice for Olt to have some experience at 1B as well in advance

I don't recall the part time 3rd base comment being mentioned in the news article I read, however that seems to be the company line almost every time these moves are made. Injuries aside, I can't see him spending much time at 3rd base with Beltre already there for the long term and the organization being thin on 1st base prospects. Time will tell.

 

[Al Falfa]

from listening to Daniels, the Rangers don't see signing Darvish as creating problems signing our players. other than not wanting to gamble on Napoli with a long term contract the Rangers are continuing to talk to our players & their agents on contract extensions.

What else is Daniels going to say? What the Rangers say and what the players and agents want are two different things.
You think signing Cruz and Hamilton doesn't constitute a gamble considering their injury history?
If you think that shelling out 100 million for an unproven product won't influence present or upcoming contract talk demands we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[scotsman1948]

What else is Daniels going to say? What the Rangers say and what the players and agents want are two different things.
You think signing Cruz and Hamilton doesn't constitute a gamble considering their injury history?
If you think that shelling out 100 million for an unproven product won't influence present or upcoming contract talk demands we'll just have to wait and see.

isn't signing any player a gamble? and NO i don't think spending the money on Darvish is going to affect present or up-coming contract talks because Nolan & Daniels have said they won't be affected. we are not talking Tom Hicks here

 

[fordman84]

Does Olt's abilities and makeup sound rather similar to Chris Davis?

They are actually more comparable to Tex except he is supposed to be a better defender at 3B than Tex ever was.

 

[scotsman1948]

The Rangers are bringing in a number of their young pitchers to Arlington to work out. Pitching coach Mike Maddux and bullpen coach Andy Hawkins will supervise the camp. Greg Maddux, who was hired this winter as a special pitching instructor, will also attend the camp as will club president Nolan Ryan.

Alexi Ogando is also expected to be at the camp. But this will give the Rangers a chance to work directly with Feliz, who has spent the past 2 1/2 seasons in the Majors as a reliever. He was a starter in the Minor Leagues.

"We want to see where he is at," general manager Jon Daniels said. "He's started his offseason program ... this is a chance for him to check in and the staff to check in with him."

The Minor League pitchers attending are right-handers Jake Brigham, Wilmer Font, Justin Grimm, Mark Hamburger, Roman Mendez, Justin Miller, Neil Ramirez, Tanner Scheppers and Matt West, and left-handers Michael Kirkman, Martin Perez, Robbie Ross and Miguel De Los Santos.

 

[jta4437]

I don't recall the part time 3rd base comment being mentioned in the news article I read, however that seems to be the company line almost every time these moves are made. Injuries aside, I can't see him spending much time at 3rd base with Beltre already there for the long term and the organization being thin on 1st base prospects. Time will tell.

It was where I read it (forget where it was)

Its an issue of preparing him to play 1B for us down the line b/c he is blocked by Beltre for the time being and therefore is a preemptive measure to create a position for him in the event he's ready for the big show at some point

BUT trade wise it makes sense to keep him playing 3B as his offensive skill set combined with his defensive skill set is much more attractive at 3B than at 1B

A highly skilled defensive 3B with a hole in his swing is much more valuable, trade wise, than an average defensive 1B (even above average) with a hole in his swing

 

[jta4437]

They are actually more comparable to Tex except he is supposed to be a better defender at 3B than Tex ever was.

Correct, Olt actually has a good eye at the plate, Davis did not

But both have holes in their swing, Olt will just be able to work far more walks therefore making a much better OBP option

 

[scotsman1948]

The Rangers are one of the teams interested in Brad Hawpe, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Hawpe is seen as insurance should current first baseman Mitch Moreland (also a left-handed batter) suffer a setback in his return from wrist surgery. A Rangers contract would represent a homecoming for Hawpe, who was born in Fort Worth.

 

[scotsman1948]

Josh Hamilton's hard-nosed style of play (and subsequent injuries) will make it hard for the outfielder to earn top dollar either in free agency or from an extension with the Rangers, writes MLB.com's Lyle Spencer.

 

[scotsman1948]

The Rangers would like to lock Mike Napoli, Josh Hamilton, Mike Adams and Colby Lewis to extensions if possible, according to Heyman. Ian Kinsler and Derek Holland are among the Rangers’ other extension candidates.

 

[Al Falfa]

isn't signing any player a gamble? and NO i don't think spending the money on Darvish is going to affect present or up-coming contract talks because Nolan & Daniels have said they won't be affected. we are not talking Tom Hicks here

Tom Hicks? And I'm not sure that what your saying about Ryan and Daniels is accurate since we've already seen the Napoli talks go from multi year to one year discussions. Negotiations are a two sided affair and Ryan and Daniels aren't going to hand out blank checks.

 

[Al Falfa]

Josh Hamilton's hard-nosed style of play (and subsequent injuries) will make it hard for the outfielder to earn top dollar either in free agency or from an extension with the Rangers, writes MLB.com's Lyle Spencer.

He may not get Puljos type money, but if the Rangers don't reach agreement with him somebody will over pay to sign him.