OFFICIAL OFF SEASON THREAD ( 2017 )

[darrylgann]

Chris Sale trade leaves Rangers with a decision: Extend Yu Darvish, or consider trading ace | @Evan_P_Grant
http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rangers/rangers/2016/12/06/chris-sale-trade-leaves-rangers-decisionextend-yu-darvish

 

[DT LUNA]

Chris Sale trade leaves Rangers with a decision: Extend Yu Darvish, or consider trading ace | @Evan_P_Grant
http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rangers/rangers/2016/12/06/chris-sale-trade-leaves-rangers-decisionextend-yu-darvish

Donaldson and myself have been on this trade Darvish or extend him for awhile. Waiting will be suicide if Yu elects FA. We can end up holding a empty bag.

 

[darrylgann]

Donaldson and myself have been on this trade Darvish or extend him for awhile. Waiting will be suicide if Yu elects FA. We can end up holding a empty bag.

Yeah, I've been keeping up, just not much to say. I'm on the trading him front for some reason. Quick way to replenish our farm. Even if we take a step back next year. Seattle (possibly in on Trumbo) and Houston each got better. But it's gotta be done right. And I don't expect JD to do it.

 

[saddles]

I don't get Adam Morris' contention that we are basically bringing back, in tact, a back to back division winner. No Gomez, Desmond, Beltran, Moreland, or for depth Holland. Who knows what we have in Choo and we don't know if the 2016 Hamels is what we have to look forward to from him or not. It isn't nearly intact. Besides even if they were to win the division again they have only been good enough the past 2 years to win 2 playoff games altogether. The only reason to win the division is to ensure yourself going to the playoffs and the only reason to go to the playoffs is to win the WS. We weren't nearly good enough to even make it past the first round of the postseason and yet we have lost all of that talent. We are going to get some more talent between now and ST, but it will not be what it was and even that wasn't enough.

 

[DT LUNA]

I don't get Adam Morris' contention that we are basically bringing back, in tact, a back to back division winner. No Gomez, Desmond, Beltran, Moreland, or for depth Holland. Who knows what we have in Choo and we don't know if the 2016 Hamels is what we have to look forward to from him or not. It isn't nearly intact. Besides even if they were to win the division again they have only been good enough the past 2 years to win 2 playoff games altogether. The only reason to win the division is to ensure yourself going to the playoffs and the only reason to go to the playoffs is to win the WS. We weren't nearly good enough to even make it past the first round of the postseason and yet we have lost all of that talent. We are going to get some more talent between now and ST, but it will not be what it was and even that wasn't enough.

We touched on that earlier today and I'm still worried about replacements. MM a gold glove, Gomez and Desmond contributions and no sign to equal that and then there is the rotation. Don't get it.

 

[scotsman1948]

Some of you will really love this article.

Report: Mitch Moreland goes to Boston; is Joey Gallo ready to compete for Rangers job? | SportsDay

The question going forward will be whether Gallo is ready to compete for the first base job or if he needs more time in the minor leagues after two mostly disappointing brief stints in the majors.

"Joey continues to progress," manager Jeff Banister said. "I think that we still consider Joey as a tremendous talent, a guy that's going to continue to progress. He comes to spring training with us and fights to try to contend for a position. Now, we've got to evaluate all of our players, where they fit on the team, and then evaluate whether or not that the best thing for Joey is to be on a Major League team or to continue to get at-bats in the minors."

Gallo has had more than 2,000 minor league plate appearances, which is a significant figure, but he's also only 23. It's conceivable that because of his frame and long swing, he could use more reps.

"Joey is not an average player," GM Jon Daniels said. "He doesn't just show up on the bell curve. He's an outlier in talent and could be an outlier in when he's ready."

Gallo posted an .896 OPS at Triple-A last year, but struck out in 19 of 25 major league at-bats. He had just one hit in the majors and finished hitless in his last 22 at-bats. He went to Venezuela in November to work on his swing, but strained his hamstring just three games in.

"When you dial down on a Joey Gallo and you look at the velocity when he puts the ball in play, he's in an elite category.," Banister said. "We know the potential there. It's just the ability to be consistent with the potential. It comes down to showing the ability to make adjustments and handle the Major League life. This is a tough place to play. It's not just show up and play. There's some meritorious events that have to happen to be able to play at the Major League level."

it is not time for Gallo. We do not need a 300 strikeout individual on an already under producing offense

 

[scotsman1948]

We touched on that earlier today and I'm still worried about replacements. MM a gold glove, Gomez and Desmond contributions and no sign to equal that and then there is the rotation. Don't get it.

it is a mystery to me how anyone could call this team as it is now a contender with all that is missing

 

[scotsman1948]

That's the problem to me. He won't consider stepping back far enough and he won't step forward far enough.

how far back do you want him to step back? And how far forward?

 

[DT LUNA]

it is a mystery to me how anyone could call this team as it is now a contender with all that is missing

Some of the sports writers are are saying anything for a story. We are not contenders as of now.

 

[Kelleyman]

I don't get Adam Morris' contention that we are basically bringing back, in tact, a back to back division winner. No Gomez, Desmond, Beltran, Moreland, or for depth Holland. Who knows what we have in Choo and we don't know if the 2016 Hamels is what we have to look forward to from him or not. It isn't nearly intact. Besides even if they were to win the division again they have only been good enough the past 2 years to win 2 playoff games altogether. The only reason to win the division is to ensure yourself going to the playoffs and the only reason to go to the playoffs is to win the WS. We weren't nearly good enough to even make it past the first round of the postseason and yet we have lost all of that talent. We are going to get some more talent between now and ST, but it will not be what it was and even that wasn't enough.

Well I am not they disappointed over losing Mitch, Beltran who did nothing for us near the end, likely Dutch who pitched horribly. We might lose Des which may hurt but I think we end up getting a better defensive CF and we sure don't miss 2nd half Des. Gomez we miss but still early in the game to moan which Morris is alluding to anyways. So early in offseason to put us in connection.

Re last year talent. We did not play well down the stretch hitting or pitching. It may have been enough take t to at least get to WS.

 

[saddles]

how far back do you want him to step back? And how far forward?

It would be a very long and detailed answer to fully explain what I think they should do, but I don't imagine you would agree with me. With our budget we need several young very good home grown players to contribute in order to win a WS and I think we are vastly understocked in those type of players in the upper levels of the minors after the Hamels and Lucroy trades. We need some more of those types if we are ever going to win a WS.

 

[Bmurph]

Problem is I see no potential upgrades to the rotation or to CF or 1B on the horizon, and there just isn't much available unless teams are willing to spend the money required to land guys. That and we aren't really at a point where we can trade many prospects either. I am not about blowing anything up as Morris is saying but I don't see the 2017 Rangers competing at the level the 2016 Rangers did with the way the team is looking on the SP front and losing MM, Desmond, Gomez and replacing them with less talented players

 

[Bmurph]

Same song third verse, isn't that what they do every year with Colby? I mean they look at an upgrade and realize to land one you have to shell out the $ to do so. I would have rather paid Colby what it will take, than pay Cashner what they paid him

 

[darrylgann]

Source: Carlos Gomez, Rangers making progress on a deal. Could come together quickly.

According to Jeff Passon

 

[UK Cowboy]

Donaldson and myself have been on this trade Darvish or extend him for awhile. Waiting will be suicide if Yu elects FA. We can end up holding a empty bag.

JD could get a heck of a haul for Yu. I wouldn't trade him just to trade him, but if the right deal hit the table...

 

[Bmurph]

DONE!

Rangers To Re-Sign Carlos Gomez

By Charlie Wilmoth | December 6, 2016 at 10:39pm CDT

Veteran center fielder Carlos Gomez has agreed to a one-year deal with the Rangers, pending a physical, FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets. He will receive $11.5MM, according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman (on Twitter). Gomez is a Scott Boras client.

That Texas would have wanted to re-sign Gomez perhaps isn’t surprising — the Rangers, who were set to lose both Gomez and Ian Desmond to free agency this winter, were short in the outfield and had lately had talks about a variety of off-the-beaten-path outfield options, including Travis Jankowski and Matt Szczur. They’ve also shown interest in Jarrod Dyson.

Gomez gives the Rangers a more obvious solution to their hole in center field, where he’ll be flanked by Nomar Mazara and Shin-Soo Choo. After struggling with the Astros to start 2016, Gomez signed with the Rangers as a free agent at midseason and hit a terrific .284/.362/.543, looking a lot like the Carlos Gomez who played his way to the fringes of the NL MVP race with the Brewers in 2013 and 2014. While advanced metrics suggest Gomez isn’t quite the defender he once was, he’s also still very much a legitimate center fielder. MLBTR ranked Gomez 19th on its list of the top 50 free agents this winter, predicting he’d re-sign with the Rangers. (Desmond also looked like a candidate to return, but Gomez re-signing would seem to suggest Desmond will sign elsewhere, although that’s not yet certain.)

That Gomez, who’s still just 31, would receive only a one-year deal is surprising, but perhaps he’s hoping to continue rebuilding his value after his ugly performance in Houston. If he were to do so with another strong year in Texas, he could position himself for a big payday next winter. The deal is a favorable one for the Rangers, who are assuming very limited risk despite Gomez’s somewhat erratic performance history — even given Gomez’s success with the Rangers, his total line for 2016 was still just .231/.298/.384. If, for whatever reason, Gomez’s 2017 looks more like his Astros performance than his 2016 Rangers performance, the Rangers are still only out $11.5MM.

SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo wrote that Gomez and the Rangers met today (Twitter links), with Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan tweeting that a deal could come together quickly. Yahoo!’s Tim Brown tweeted the length of the deal.

 

[saddles]

JD could get a heck of a haul for Yu. I wouldn't trade him just to trade him, but if the right deal hit the table...

I would rather extend him and trade Hamels between the two of them.

 

[WilltheThrill]

With Gomez now back in the fold, here is what I'd like to see:

Trade Jeffress (who the Reds covet for some weird reason) along with 2-3 prospects for DeSclafani and Hamilton. DeSclafani would immediately upgrade the rotation and give them a very legit #3 starter behind Hamels and Darvish. Put Gomez in LF, Hamilton in CF, Mazara in RF, and have Choo DH. Then trade for Matt Szczur from the Cubs (who have a surplus of OF) to serve as the 4th/platoon OF. He's a quality player who had very solid offensive numbers last season and would be able to give our other OF'ers days off without the team suffering much in production (unlike a certain worthless bench outfielder who was just recently released).

Then sign a big power bat to play 1B. There are multiple options available, from Encarnacion to Napoli all the way down to Chris Carter. I know EE is a pipe dream, but I could live with another Napoli reunion. That would yield a lineup of something like this:

CF- Hamilton
DH- Choo
3B- Beltre
1B- Napoli
2B- Odor
C- Lucroy
RF- Mazara
LF- Gomez
SS- Andrus

I could live with that for sure. Basically it's trading Desmond's power for Hamilton's ridiculous speed and defense, Moreland for Napoli, and Hoying for Szczur.

That would still leave question marks regarding the #5 starting pitcher spot (assuming Hamels-Darvish-Disco-Perez makes up the top 4) and what to do with Profar and Gallo (though one of them might have to go in the proposed Reds trade).

 

[Bmurph]

With Gomez now back in the fold, here is what I'd like to see:

Trade Jeffress (who the Reds covet for some weird reason) along with 2-3 prospects for DeSclafani and Hamilton. DeSclafani would immediately upgrade the rotation and give them a very legit #3 starter behind Hamels and Darvish. Put Gomez in LF, Hamilton in CF, Mazara in RF, and have Choo DH. Then trade for Matt Szczur from the Cubs (who have a surplus of OF) to serve as the 4th/platoon OF. He's a quality player who had very solid offensive numbers last season and would be able to give our other OF'ers days off without the team suffering much in production (unlike a certain worthless bench outfielder who was just recently released).

Then sign a big power bat to play 1B. There are multiple options available, from Encarnacion to Napoli all the way down to Chris Carter. I know EE is a pipe dream, but I could live with another Napoli reunion. That would yield a lineup of something like this:

CF- Hamilton
DH- Choo
3B- Beltre
1B- Napoli
2B- Odor
C- Lucroy
RF- Mazara
LF- Gomez
SS- Andrus

I could live with that for sure. Basically it's trading Desmond's power for Hamilton's ridiculous speed and defense, Moreland for Napoli, and Hoying for Szczur.

That would still leave question marks regarding the #5 starting pitcher spot (assuming Hamels-Darvish-Disco-Perez makes up the top 4) and what to do with Profar and Gallo (though one of them might have to go in the proposed Reds trade).

Colby is probably re-signed for the 5th spot

 

[Bmurph]

What is the over/under on errors by EA without MM at 1st base next season?