Series Thread: Let The Wild Card Battle Royal Begin vs. Kansas City July 14-16

[PhantomWarrior]

The view behind the plate is smoking hot tonight.

Yes easy on the eyes.

 

[Bmurph]

Murph did the Crawler hijack your account.

Nope, trying to stay positive but this season and the impending FA, has me concerned. I want this team to be successful but if that means taking a step back to make that happen in the new ballpark, I am all for it!

 

[Nightcrawler]

Murph did the Crawler hijack your account.

You're making me want to hijack yours. I'll make posts about you're undying love for the angry guy from Oklahoma.

 

[DT LUNA]

You're making me want to hijack yours. I'll make posts about you're undying love for the angry guy from Oklahoma.

That's a naughty naughty

 

[donaldson79]

By Evan Grant, Staff Writer Contact Evan Granton TwitterEvan_P_Grant

Here is the question on everybody's mind: Will the Rangers sign or trade Yu Darvish?

Here is what they will do: Neither.

I say this with absolute certainty. I think.

Or let Jon Daniels say it.

"He's the kind of player, the kind of pitcher we'd like to have going forward," Daniels said Friday on KTCK-AM (1310) The Ticket as he was checking in for a flight to Kansas City not too far away from where Darvish stood. "Long story short, we'd like to have him here beyond this year. Ultimately, it comes down to financial terms.

"We've agreed to handle that privately," Daniels added. "We'd like to have him. It's a matter of whether there is common ground and we can meet in the middle."

In other words: Almost nothing has changed.

When the Rangers and Darvish's representatives checked in over the winter, that's basically where they left things. Ditto this spring. Here we are a little over two weeks away from the trade deadline and its still pretty much status quo.

And, you know what? Come 10 days from now when this big trip to Kansas City, Baltimore and Tampa Bay ends, the Rangers still won't be in the AL West race and likely won't be out of the AL wild card race. It will probably be just as hard to make a call on the team's playoff chances.

In the next 10 days, Daniels will be around the club for two of three road series. He might get a better sense of what this enigmatic team is, but, as the label suggests, "enigmatic" teams rarely reveal their identity until the last stages of a season.

There is also an inconvenient truth here about the trade market: Darvish will be the most talented pitcher available if the Rangers choose to investigate that possibility, but he won't be the most coveted. There are too many controllable starters -- Sonny Gray, Gerritt Cole, Justin Verlander, the possibility of any healthy New York Mets pitcher -- available and not many desperate GMs. Guys won't give away a top prospect for a rental. It simply won't happen.

And if he is made available, is there a robust market? Unless there is an injury somewhere, probably not. The Chicago Cubs have already acted. It leaves Houston and perhaps the New York Yankees as likely destinations. If you think getting maximum value for a rental is difficult, try adding "from a division rival whose GM hordes prospects," to the equation. As for the Yankees, they began the weekend 31/2 games back of Boston in the AL East and facing those same Red Sox over the weekend.

If the Rangers decide to trade him, it comes down to this: Can they do better than the equivalent of a second-round draft pick (and the value of that draft slot), which is what they would likely get as compensation when he rejects the qualifying offer.

The answer: Probably, but not a whole lot more. In that regard, even if the Rangers are on the fringes of the wild-card race, it might make more sense to hold on to him, see how he and the team finish and then revisit the whole "do we sign him or not?" conversation in October.

If the Rangers go in the other direction and decide to pursue a deal, what's most important to determine over the next two weeks is not what the "common ground," is, but rather if a "common ground" actually exists. If it does, there is plenty of time in the final two months of the season, regardless of whether they are in or out of the race trying to get to the midpoint.

But there is also this to consider: Darvish turns 31 in August and five- or six-year mega-contracts for pitchers in their 30s almost never provide year-over-year returns.

There is still a lot to be sorted out.

In that regard, nothing has changed where the future of Yu Darvish is concerned.

 

[DT LUNA]

Tonight's game is at 6:15 FS1HD

 

[donaldson79]

Seems as if many of us are perplexed as to, should we cheer for or against our Rangers right now. Me too, so I get it.

 

[DT LUNA]

Seems as if many of us are perplexed as to, should we cheer for or against our Rangers right now. Me too, so I get it.

I'm always for my team. If there is a problem, then JD needs to fix it. That is what he gets paid for isn't it. If we trade YU, so be it. I'm a fan and winning is all I know.

 

[donaldson79]

I'm always for my team. If there is a problem, then JD needs to fix it. That is what he gets paid for isn't it. If we trade YU, so be it. I'm a fan and winning is all I know.

I guess my quandary is, are you better off regrouping now and winning tomorrow, or bet to come on winning today with a team I see as severely flawed, with little chance of accomplishing much? And I certainly don't want us to lose anyone with a controllable contract, or is young of age in hopes of just reaching the PO in 2017.

 

[DT LUNA]

I guess my quandary is, are you better off regrouping now and winning tomorrow, or bet to come on winning today with a team I see as severely flawed, with little chance of accomplishing much? And I certainly don't want us to lose anyone with a controllable contract, or is young of age in hopes of just reaching the PO in 2017.

Got ya. The way I see it we won't see a winner for sometime. We lost to much already from the minors and there is no guarantee that what we get back in prospects will pan out. Seems somebody needs to pony up with a payroll.

 

[Nightcrawler]

I guess my quandary is, are you better off regrouping now and winning tomorrow, or bet to come on winning today with a team I see as severely flawed, with little chance of accomplishing much? And I certainly don't want us to lose anyone with a controllable contract, or is young of age in hopes of just reaching the PO in 2017.

If they go for it we better see a damn wild card game. That's all I gotta say

 

[donaldson79]

If they go for it we better see a damn wild card game. That's all I gotta say

And what's the point of seeing a WC game, win or lose, and then get bounced shortly thereafter?

IMO, if you don't have the team to compete for the AL championship, and we don't, then regroup.

 

[saddles]

We can only hope this is adding to what we can offer Otani.

 

[donaldson79]

Seems somebody needs to pony up with a payroll.

Our payroll isn't the problem, per se. At the start of the season, we had the 6th highest one, and not much behind #5 (Toronto).

Now, how our payroll is allotted, this may be the rub. But as far as spending money, we're doing this already IMO.

 

[DT LUNA]

Our payroll isn't the problem, per se. At the start of the season, we had the 6th highest one, and not much behind #5 (Toronto).

Now, how our payroll is allotted, this may be the rub. But as far as spending money, we're doing this already IMO.

We got in a fix with Choo fielder Elvis Yu and Hamels leaving little and a weak minor system to acquire much. Relief may come with Yu and Cole but that's good pitching to lose and hard to replace.

 

[Nightcrawler]

And what's the point of seeing a WC game, win or lose, and then get bounced shortly thereafter?

IMO, if you don't have the team to compete for the AL championship, and we don't, then regroup.

I've said it once before and people will think I'm crazy, but I don't give a damn.

If we get in and win the wild card, which is a big if. Our likely opponent would be the Houston Astros. I know that our team is not afraid of those guys. When we go into a series against them, I am still optimistic about our chances. We haven't done that bad against them if you ask me. I wouldn't pick us to win the series, but I'd give us a punchers chance. I'd feel more optimistic about our chances than against the blue jays the last few years. For some reason that team just had our number. Donaldson and encarnacion were ranger killers. Estrada was untouchable in the playoffs and the secret weapon was Roberto Osuna. I'm not kidding you. Look up the stats. In the postseason against the Rangers his combined stats over the last few years were

9.1 innings pitched
10ks
0.00 ERA

In general, as long as we're not playing the jays. I think this team might do something. It's a long shot, but it's still possible.

 

[DT LUNA]

I've said it once before and people will think I'm crazy, but I don't give a damn.

If we get in and win the wild card, which is a big if. Our likely opponent would be the Houston Astros. I know that our team is not afraid of those guys. When we go into a series against them, I am still optimistic about our chances. We haven't done that bad against them if you ask me. I wouldn't pick us to win the series, but I'd give us a punchers chance. I'd feel more optimistic about our chances than against the blue jays the last few years. For some reason that team just had our number. Donaldson and encarnacion were ranger killers. Estrada was untouchable in the playoffs and the secret weapon was Roberto Osuna. I'm not kidding you. Look up the stats. In the postseason against the Rangers his combined stats over the last few years were

9.1 innings pitched
10ks
0.00 ERA

In general, as long as we're not playing the jays. I think this team might do something. It's a long shot, but it's still possible.

You just said a mouth full of nothing. One minute you want to sell and now you're back talking about those "pesky" Jays. LOL

 

[Duane1952]

The game is on FSSW till the Yankee Red Sox game is a final.

 

[DT LUNA]

The game is on FSSW till the Yankee Red Sox game is a final.

10-4

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Napoli at cleanup hitting .197