Series Thread: Rangers Travel to Houston For Three Games July 12-14

[saddles]

14 out of 30 teams have 2024 payrolls over $200M and there will probably be more next season so when you reference budget considerations how much below 200M do you want the Rangers to be next season?

First of all, it is not me wanting a certain budget amount. It is Ray Davis wanting that. I think he wants to be under the luxury tax threshold. I believe that is $241 million in 2025.

Now, how much of whatever they will have left under that, do they want to spend on various areas?

How much on the pen?

How much on the rotation?

How much on starting position players?

How much on bench players?

Every dollar spent on one area will add to one area and take away from available money for the other areas.

 

[Duane1952]

This Eangers top prospect list is from Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs.com. Fangraphs always sees things a good bit differently than others

Raners Top Prospects

Rk	Name	Age	Highest Level	Position	ETA	FV
1	Wyatt Langford	22.7	MLB	LF	2024	65
2	Evan Carter	21.9	MLB	LF	2024	55
3	Sebastian Walcott	18.3	A+	3B	2027	50
4	Alejandro Rosario	22.5	A+	SP	2026	50
5	Justin Foscue	25.4	MLB	2B	2024	45
6	Winston Santos	22.2	AA	SP	2025	45
7	Cameron Cauley	21.4	A+	SS	2026	45
8	Emiliano Teodo	23.4	AA	SIRP	2025	45
9	Kumar Rocker	24.6	A+	SIRP	2024	40+
10	Jack Leiter	24.2	MLB	SIRP	2024	40+
11	Yeremi Cabrera	19.0	R	CF	2029	40+
12	Aidan Curry	22.0	A+	SP	2026	40+
13	Kohl Drake	24.0	AA	SP	2025	40+
14	Izack Tiger	23.4	A	SIRP	2027	40+
15	Marc Church	23.3	AAA	SIRP	2025	40+
16	Paulino Santana	17.7	R	RF	2030	40
17	Owen White	24.9	MLB	SP	2024	40
18	Mitch Bratt	21.0	A+	SP	2026	40
19	Joseph Montalvo	22.2	A+	SP	2026	40
20	Caden Scarborough	19.3	R	SP	2028	40
21	Cody Freeman	23.5	AA	3B	2025	40
22	Jacob Latz	28.3	MLB	SIRP	2024	40
23	Cole Winn	24.6	MLB	SIRP	2024	40
24	Carson Coleman	26.3	AA	SIRP	2025	40
25	Brock Porter	21.1	A+	SP	2027	40
26	Gleider Figuereo	20.0	A+	3B	2027	40
27	Skylar Hales	22.7	AA	SIRP	2026	40
28	Dane Acker	25.3	AA	MIRP	2025	40
29	Braylin Morel	18.5	R	RF	2029	35+
30	Ryan Lobus	23.8	A+	MIRP	2026	35+
31	Daniel Robert	29.9	MLB	SIRP	2024	35+
32	Davis Wendzel	27.1	MLB	3B	2024	35+
33	Liam Hicks	25.1	AA	C	2025	35+
34	Abimelec Ortiz	22.4	AA	1B	2027	35+
35	Tyler Owens	23.5	AA	SIRP	2025	35+
36	Robby Ahlstrom	25.1	AA	SIRP	2025	35+
37	Reid Birlingmair	27.7	AAA	SIRP	2025	35+
38	Adrian Rodriguez	23.2	A+	SIRP	2026	35+
39	Victor Simeon	23.6	A	SIRP	2027	35+
40	Ismael Agreda	20.8	R	SIRP	2028	35+

Reading Options

Don’t know if I would still call Langford and Carter prospects.

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

Mark Feinsand said he believes the Mariners could add 3 bats via trade to improve their lineup. No major moves, but guys who could help.

 

[Duane1952]

What’s the deal with Jankowski playing almost every game. He played in 7 of the 9 games this month. Barely hitting .200.

 

[saddles]

Latest Baseball of America mock draft has Janek sliding to the Rangers. It also has Sloan and Whote going after that, so we would have all three as options.

30. Rangers — Walker Janek, C, Sam Houston State​

There’s some thought that Janek could be sliding a bit. I think that would be a mistake considering just how impressive he is as a defender and thrower behind the plate. He’s the best defensive catcher in the class, with solid bat speed and offensive tools to go with it and is likely to be a more high-probability big leaguer than many of the players in front of him on this mock draft.

I have the Rangers benefiting from the slide here in this mock. The Rangers are also linked to the other two college catchers (Caleb Lomavita and Malcolm Moore). Those two could be in play if they’re here, as could Theo Gillen and Jurrangelo Cijntje. Texas is also linked to prep pitchers Kash Mayfield and William Schmidt.

Prep Baseball's latest mock draft agrees it will be Walker Janek.

 

[scotsman#1948]

What’s the deal with Jankowski playing almost every game. He played in 7 of the 9 games this month. Barely hitting .200.

who else is there?

 

[saddles]

From today's mock draft from Baseball Prospect Journal:

30. Rangers: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford​

They still have Sloan available when the Rangers pick.

 

[saddles]

What’s the deal with Jankowski playing almost every game. He played in 7 of the 9 games this month. Barely hitting .200.

That is why Foscue should be here.

 

[saddles]

From today's mock draft from Baseball Prospect Journal:

30. Rangers: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford​

They still have Sloan available when the Rangers pick.

Today's USA Today mock draft also says Malcolm Moore with Sloan still available.

 

[scotsman#1948]

That is why Foscue should be here.

i agree replacing Grossman

 

[saddles]

Possible Rangers Pick Preview

RHP Brody Brecht, Iowa​

Brecht is listed at 6-4, 235 pounds. Brecht is a former dual sport athlete. He played wide receiver for Iowa’s football team. He finally dropped football to concentrate on pitching during his junior year. Going into his junior year scouts raved about his stuff but were concerned with his command. There were also some scouts that complained about the way Iowa handled Brecht.

Futurestarseries.com had this to say about Brecht. “If you were to build a Mount Rushmore for the best pure stuff college baseball has ever seen, there’s a very real argument that Brecht would deserve to be on it. Most would agree Brecht has the most electric fastball in the 2024 class.”

MLB.com raved about him in their writeup. “When he’s on, Brecht’s fastball and slider are comparable to those of Paul Skenes, the No. 1 pick in last year’s Draft. He can sit at 96-99 mph and touch 101 with his heater, which has explosive running action and superior shape to Skenes’ fastball, though Brecht doesn’t locate his nearly as well. All that said, his best pitch is a slider that parks at 87-89 mph and peaks at 91 with plenty of horizontal and vertical action.”

He has the chance to eventually possess an elite fastball and two plus-or-better breaking balls. He got off to a slow start this year but made some mid-season adjustments on his own and finished strong. He worked on his mental approach and also started throwing a splitter more often. That gave him a reliable off-speed pitch to go along with his triple-digit fastball and slider. He still has the potential to improve the command that has been his only weakness.

Iowa baseball coach, Rick Heller thinks the adjustments Brecht made after he gave up football and devoted his time to being a better pitcher shows that Brecht still can improve. “It shows you the aptitude that Brody has and the ability to make adjustments and change,” Heller said. “Not everybody has that. It’s not easy to do and Brody did it in a very short time.” If Brecht continues to learn and develop then the sky is the limit for him.

 

[Duane1952]

who else is there?

Derek Hill is a better hitter.

 

[saddles]

When the first round of the draft is going on there are a few names that if you see them being taken in the 20s, that is good for the Rangers. With each of those players being selected it pushes another better player down to be available when the Rangers pick. There are certainly going to be 2 or 3 of these players picked in the 20s, but when more are taken in the 20s it almost certainly makes for a better selection for us. Here are some names to watch for:

Theo Gillen
Dakota Jordan
Kaelin Culpepper
Billy Amick
Malcolm Moore
Slade Caldwell
Braylon Doughty
Jonathan Santucci
Tyson Lewis
Kellon Lyndsey
Wyatt Sanford
Caleb Lomavitta
Luke Dickerson

 

[scotsman#1948]

Derek Hill is a better hitter.

Jankowski can play all 3 outfield positions and is a better fielder

 

[Senator_fan]

Mark Feinsand said he believes the Mariners could add 3 bats via trade to improve their lineup. No major moves, but guys who could help.

They better do something. They scored 11 runs last night off a AA pitcher making his debut and some other no name that followed him.

 

[Duane1952]

Jankowski can play all 3 outfield positions and is a better fielder

Most the time Jankowski has been at DH. Fielding doesn’t matter at that position. And he had an error the last time he played in the field.

 

[DT LUNA]

Most the time Jankowski has been at DH. Fielding doesn’t matter at that position. And he had an error the last time he played in the field.

Ski should not be in the lineup at all unless to replace an injured player. We need the best bats available in Houston and Ski does not qualify imo.

 

[Senator_fan]

On July 11, 2015 the Rangers were 42-45 and 5.5 games out of first.
On July 22 they were 9 games out.
On August 2, they were 8 games out and still won the division.

Could they repeat that?

 

[Duane1952]

Ski should not be in the lineup at all unless to replace an injured player. We need the best bats available in Houston and Ski does not qualify imo.

Tell that to Scotsman.