Texas Rangers 2021 - 2022 Offseason Thread

[Kelleyman]

Someone should write an article analyzing how a shortened season could affect the Rangers in particular.

For instance, many have said for months that the Rangers need to sign some guys to function as innings eaters for the rotation since our younger pitchers would be limited in how many innings they could pitch. If the season is only 120 to 130 games that wouldn't be necessary.

The non-40 man roster guys would start on time. Guys like Winn, Smith, Foscue, Harris, Kent and Latz would continue to get closer to being ready in AAA and AA. Then when the season starts up, some of those guys could conceivably be only 2 or 3 months away from being ready. Would that shortened time frame convince the front office to take a different approach to free agency than they would have back a couple of months ago when it would have taken more regular season games for them to be ready?

Good point. This may be a factor especially if MILB rolls on and preps guys who might be ready later

 

[Uncle Siggy]

The Best Fit for Any Version of Carlos Rodón

Despite injury concerns, a handful of teams are well-suited to fit a workload-adjusted Carlos Rodón.

blogs.fangraphs.com

Doug Latta Talks Hitting

A renowned hitting instructor discusses the art and science of efficiently squaring up baseballs.

blogs.fangraphs.com

 

[scotsman1948]

The Rangers are known to be interested in Seiya Suzuki and Grant suggests that the club touch base with him after the lockout. They currently project to have an outfield of two Calhouns, Kole and Willie, along with Adolis Garcia and depth options such as Leody Taveras, Nick Solak and Eli White. Taveras and White both have options and could spend some time in the minors if another outfielder is added into the mix.


with the exception of Garcia, this, to me, appears to be one of the worst outfields projected for 2022 in all the MLB. Kole can't stay on the field playing only a third of the Diamondback games last season and Willie's injury issues aren't much better and he projects as a well-below average fielder. both Calhoun's better project as a DH but both are LH'ed so there is only room for one of them on the 26-man roster. hopefully we are going to sign at least one outfielder are we're going to be in real trouble if we ever play this system

 

[scotsman1948]

i also find this interesting:

Despite dealing with injuries in 2021, Kershaw threw 121 2/3 innings with a 3.55 ERA, 29.5% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate. Although he’ll turn 34 in March, he’s still an elite pitcher when healthy and would provide a huge boost for the Rangers. Gray currently occupies the top spot in the rotation, followed by a pile of wild cards and question marks. Dane Dunning, Taylor Hearn, A.J. Alexy, Spencer Howard, Kolby Allard, Glenn Otto, Yerry Rodriguez, Brock Burke and Cole Winn are among the options to fill out the remaining spots, but most of them have little or no MLB experience at this point. They also all have minor league options, meaning there’s plenty of room to make external additions and bump everyone else down a peg. If the club isn’t able to nab Kershaw or Rodon, they could pivot to players such as Yusei Kikuchi, Tyler Anderson, Matt Harvey, Johnny Cueto, Michael Pineda, Zack Greinke, and many others.

hopefully we are going to look at least one FA starter from this list

 

[saddles]

Jeff Wilson's podcast partner, John Moore, takes a stab at the 2025 roster and lineup.


Rotation (6)
1. RHP Jack Leiter

2. RHP Dane Dunning

3. LHP Cody Bradford

4. RHP Cole Winn

5. RHP Ricky Vanasco

6. RHP Owen White

Bullpen (7)
RHP Jonathan Hernandez (closer)

RHP Ronny Henriquez

LHP Cole Ragans

RHP Yerry Rodriguez

RHP Nick Snyder

LHP Brett Martin

RHP Joe Barlow

Catcher (2)
Sam Huff

Jonah Heim

Infield (6)
1B Nathaniel Lowe

2B Marcus Semien

3B Josh Jung

SS Corey Seager

2B/1B Justin Foscue

UT Davis Wendzel

Isiah Kiner-Falefa will be playing somewhere else via trade. Nick Solak is likely playing in Korea, Japan or with another organization.

Outfield/DH (5)
LF Dustin Harris

CF Evan Carter

RF Aaron Zavala

OF Leody Taveras

OF Josh Smith

Opening Day lineup 2025 (vs RHP)
1. CF Evan Carter

2. 2B Marcus Semien

3. SS Corey Seager

4. 3B Josh Jung

6. 1B Nathaniel Lowe

6. C Sam Huff

7. RF Dustin Harris

8. DH Aaron Zavala

9. LF Josh Smith

SP Jack Leiter

Opening Day lineup (vs LHP)
1. CF Evan Carter

2. 2B Marcus Semien

3. SS Corey Seager

4. 3B Josh Jung

5. DH Sam Huff

6. RF Dustin Harris

7. 1B Justin Foscue

8. C Jonah Heim

9. LF Josh Smith

SP Jack Leiter

Now remember, I am not taking into account that the Rangers will likely make trades or sign other free agents in the next couple of years, or even once the lockout ends.

But … this is a look into the future at who I think could be here. Or, more importantly, who will not be here.

 

[saddles]

It very well could be Smith in CF and Duran in LF. Hopefully, Crim is here and Lowe is gone.

 

[Kelleyman]

Jeff Wilson's podcast partner, John Moore, takes a stab at the 2025 roster and lineup.


Rotation (6)
1. RHP Jack Leiter

2. RHP Dane Dunning

3. LHP Cody Bradford

4. RHP Cole Winn

5. RHP Ricky Vanasco

6. RHP Owen White

Bullpen (7)
RHP Jonathan Hernandez (closer)

RHP Ronny Henriquez

LHP Cole Ragans

RHP Yerry Rodriguez

RHP Nick Snyder

LHP Brett Martin

RHP Joe Barlow

Catcher (2)
Sam Huff

Jonah Heim

Infield (6)
1B Nathaniel Lowe

2B Marcus Semien

3B Josh Jung

SS Corey Seager

2B/1B Justin Foscue

UT Davis Wendzel

Isiah Kiner-Falefa will be playing somewhere else via trade. Nick Solak is likely playing in Korea, Japan or with another organization.

Outfield/DH (5)
LF Dustin Harris

CF Evan Carter

RF Aaron Zavala

OF Leody Taveras

OF Josh Smith

Opening Day lineup 2025 (vs RHP)
1. CF Evan Carter

2. 2B Marcus Semien

3. SS Corey Seager

4. 3B Josh Jung

6. 1B Nathaniel Lowe

6. C Sam Huff

7. RF Dustin Harris

8. DH Aaron Zavala

9. LF Josh Smith

SP Jack Leiter

Opening Day lineup (vs LHP)
1. CF Evan Carter

2. 2B Marcus Semien

3. SS Corey Seager

4. 3B Josh Jung

5. DH Sam Huff

6. RF Dustin Harris

7. 1B Justin Foscue

8. C Jonah Heim

9. LF Josh Smith

SP Jack Leiter

Now remember, I am not taking into account that the Rangers will likely make trades or sign other free agents in the next couple of years, or even once the lockout ends.

But … this is a look into the future at who I think could be here. Or, more importantly, who will not be here.

Wonder where Garcia is at. Seems like we have player control for a few years

 

[scotsman1948]

Wonder where Garcia is at. Seems like we have player control for a few years

i was wondering that too.

 

[Kelleyman]

Re lockout Neither side is backing down. Have to think ST in serious jeopardy. Nothing yet when Negotiations may start again or if any counters are to be communicated.

 

[Kelleyman]

Read that players want owners to just end lockout and continue to negotiate. Owners fear a strike in middle of season if things stall

 

[scotsman1948]

Re lockout Neither side is backing down. Have to think ST in serious jeopardy. Nothing yet when Negotiations may start again or if any counters are to be communicated.

have to believe that not only is ST in serious jeopardy but a good portion, if not all of it, is in serious jeopardy

 

[scotsman1948]

Read that players want owners to just end lockout and continue to negotiate. Owners fear a strike in middle of season if things stall

and that's exactly what the players want to do

 

[scotsman1948]

Longtime big-league first baseman Adrián González, who played for the Rangers, Padres, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Mets across fifteen seasons in the majors, officially announced his retirement today on his personal Instagram.

 

[scotsman1948]

FA outfield options:

Texas Rangers free agent options for the outfield​

1. Seiya Suzuki- Possible
2. Nick Castellanos- Unlikely
3. Kris Bryant- Unlikely
4. Kyle Schwarber- Possible
5. Michael Conforto- Unlikely

Tier 2​

There are other routes the Texas Rangers could go if they really wanted to address their outfield woes. The second tier of players may not net you a player battling for an All-Star performance year in and year out, but it could land you an experienced player. This is where you could find trade bait, career resurgent players, or just a competitive proven upgrade. (last 3 years stats listed)

1. Corey Dickerson 239 games (.278, 25 home runs)
2. Eddie Rosario 305 games (.267, 53 home runs)
3. Tommy Pham 331 games (.249, 39 home runs)
4. Joc Pederson 329 games (.237, 61 home runs)
5. Andrew McCutchen 260 games (.237, 47 home runs)

 

[jta4437]

Suzuki
Pham
Schwarber in that order

 

[saddles]

Wonder where Garcia is at. Seems like we have player control for a few years

He had this to say.

"Love Willie Calhoun and Adolis Garcia, but this team will need to get younger and Adolis may only be a one-hit wonder. The 2022 season is a big one for Garcia to show if he is a long-term solution."

 

[saddles]

Read that players want owners to just end lockout and continue to negotiate. Owners fear a strike in middle of season if things stall

Wouldn't that be a better outcome than not having anything at all? I am not anti-MLB in this thing at all, but it seems they could do some things to improve their image without agreeing to most of the player demands. They should make one more offer and then end the lockout and let the players go on strike later.

It wouldn't change their image with a very biased media, but it might with some of the fans.

 

[saddles]

The Rangers seemed to make it clear a few months ago that they would not fill all of their long term needs with this year's free agents. With that being the case, which positions do you see them not acquiring a long term answer for in this offseason?

If corse, there is always the chance that they were not truthful about that, but assuming they were, it appears that there will still be some guys in the lineup and in the rotation in 2022 who do not appear to be more than stop gap options.

So, which positions do you see them not acquiring a long term answer for in this offseason?

 

[Uncle Siggy]

So, which positions do you see them not acquiring a long term answer for in this offseason?

You might want to specify what "long term" means (how many years) especially with free agency and all...

 

[scotsman1948]

Wouldn't that be a better outcome than not having anything at all? I am not anti-MLB in this thing at all, but it seems they could do some things to improve their image without agreeing to most of the player demands. They should make one more offer and then end the lockout and let the players go on strike later.

It wouldn't change their image with a very biased media, but it might with some of the fans.

imagine X number of games into the season and on such and such date with all 32 teams scheduled to play and with stands of most 75-100% full and suddenly it is announced that the players have elected to shut down the season, how do you think it would be received by those fans? who would the fans blame?