Texas Rangers 2022 - 2023 Offseason Thread

[saddles]

Kelly is the guy he thinks we might lose. He looked raw in Frisco but his stuff is good if he can get it together

Bradford and Englert looked much more ready than Kelly.

 

[saddles]

Grades for CY thus far.

Bochy hire -- A
Odorizzy trade -- A+

Next up, is preparing for the Rule 5 draft. That grade comes tomorrow.

Preparing for Rule 5 draft -- D

Hey, you can't win 'em all. I think the lowest grade is dropped when calculating the final grade anyway.

 

[DTC]

Padres, Nick Martinez Agree To Three-Year Deal

Nov. 16, 9:46pm: Lin reports the full contract breakdown, which goes well beyond a traditional deal. According to the Athletic, …

www.mlbtraderumors.com

 

[DTC]

 

[Kelleyman]

Looks like he is off the board

 

[saddles]

From Jeff Wilson:

Bullpen upgrades coming?

When Young was asked about the Rangers still being in the market for starting pitchers, he said the Rangers are looking to fill out their “pitching staff.”

That means bullpen help could be on the horizon.

The Rangers should bring back left-hander Matt Moore, who performed so well for them in 2022. In hindsight, with the way prices for relievers are soaring, the Rangers should have taken care of Moore during the season.

But the Rangers could be aiming higher, potentially for a closer.

Let’s just use Kenley Jansen as an example. I’m not saying the Rangers are interested in him, but he’s the first free-agent closer I thought of.

OK. The Rangers sign Jansen to a two-year deal. That means right-handers Jose Leclerc and Jonathan Hernandez become setup men any where from the sixth to eight inning. Moore fits in that group, and so does lefty Brock Burke.

Games just got shorter, and maybe there’s a setup man out there the Rangers can sign, too.

However, the Rangers’ are essentially going to have only eight 40-man players as real options to choose from the minors to start the season. The six prospects added to the 40-man Tuesday need more time in minors, though Winn could fill a valuable multple-innings role in his first stint in the majors.

It would be a similar play to what the Rangers did with Derek Holland in 2009. He was brought up to work as a reliever so that he could get a feel for big-league baseball in short spurs. .

The point, though, is if the six 40-man adds are going to stick, a few of them need to be of some service.

And the bullpen needs to be serviced.

 

[saddles]

From Jeff Wilson:

Bullpen upgrades coming?

When Young was asked about the Rangers still being in the market for starting pitchers, he said the Rangers are looking to fill out their “pitching staff.”

That means bullpen help could be on the horizon.

The Rangers should bring back left-hander Matt Moore, who performed so well for them in 2022. In hindsight, with the way prices for relievers are soaring, the Rangers should have taken care of Moore during the season.

But the Rangers could be aiming higher, potentially for a closer.

Let’s just use Kenley Jansen as an example. I’m not saying the Rangers are interested in him, but he’s the first free-agent closer I thought of.

OK. The Rangers sign Jansen to a two-year deal. That means right-handers Jose Leclerc and Jonathan Hernandez become setup men any where from the sixth to eight inning. Moore fits in that group, and so does lefty Brock Burke.

Games just got shorter, and maybe there’s a setup man out there the Rangers can sign, too.

However, the Rangers’ are essentially going to have only eight 40-man players as real options to choose from the minors to start the season. The six prospects added to the 40-man Tuesday need more time in minors, though Winn could fill a valuable multple-innings role in his first stint in the majors.

It would be a similar play to what the Rangers did with Derek Holland in 2009. He was brought up to work as a reliever so that he could get a feel for big-league baseball in short spurs. .

The point, though, is if the six 40-man adds are going to stick, a few of them need to be of some service.

And the bullpen needs to be serviced.

There is a major difference between Holland back in the day and Winn now. Holland had looked very, very good prior to coming up and Winn has looked bad.

I still think they did both Derek and Neftali a disservice by bringing them up to fill bullpen needs when they still needed to be in the minor leagues becoming better starters. That was especially the case with Feliz. I wouldn't want them making that same mistake with any other starters. Besides, when those starters come up and are effective in the pen then no one wants to take them out of the pen.

 

[saddles]

I guess we are in a bit of a lull until the Winter Meetings in about 3 weeks.

 

[saddles]

How far into the 2023 season does Perez have to pitch like he did in 2022, to make folks stop thinking last year was a fluke?

I think he could do so through June and there would still be folks clamoring for the Rangers to trade for a better pitcher than him at the trade deadline.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Rangers Promotions | Texas Rangers

for those interested, while we wait for deGrom to sign

 

[True Rangers Fan]

How far into the 2023 season does Perez have to pitch like he did in 2022, to make folks stop thinking last year was a fluke?

I think he could do so through June and there would still be folks clamoring for the Rangers to trade for a better pitcher than him at the trade deadline.

not sure I understand that second part. I don't remember hearing a lot of people saying they needed to last year.

but for me, he doesn't need to duplicate 2022 entirely, but he needs to put up numbers close the whole way through.

 

[saddles]

Rangers Promotions | Texas Rangers

for those interested, while we wait for deGrom to sign

 

[True Rangers Fan]

what caused me to look in the first place was a report that the Angels had no Ohtani themed giveaways scheduled after the trade deadline.

 

[saddles]

not sure I understand that second part. I don't remember hearing a lot of people saying they needed to last year.

but for me, he doesn't need to duplicate 2022 entirely, but he needs to put up numbers close the whole way through.

A lot of people are expecting a lot more this year. Even this past year there were folks thinking we needed to trade for a better pitcher at the deadline. That is how I got started telling Newberg that Martin Perez says hello.

I just saw where the guy who has the Prospect Times account on Twitter said we still need to acquire a #1, a #2, and a #3. He seems to think Perez is a #4.

I do think part of the disrespect for Perez's 2022 performance from some Rangers fans is that they are overly enamored with big trades for pitchers to help the club. If they acknowlwdge just how great Perez was, it shoots holes in their argument that the Rangers have to make a big trade for pitching. Jamey Newberg seems to be in that category. He has a lot of company it seems.

I think that is one of the reasons some have a hard time with the Odorizzy trade. They think that trade could negate the need for a much bigger trade.

 

[armadillooutlaw]

How far into the 2023 season does Perez have to pitch like he did in 2022, to make folks stop thinking last year was a fluke?

I think he could do so through June and there would still be folks clamoring for the Rangers to trade for a better pitcher than him at the trade deadline.

If he ends up with an ERA around 3.50 and continues to be healthy I'll be very happy. I'm a believer that he's turned a corner. Whether he continues to perform like an ace or more like a very good #2 or #3 is the only question I have.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

A lot of people are expecting a lot more this year. Even this past year there were folks thinking we needed to trade for a better pitcher at the deadline. That is how I got started telling Newberg that Martin Perez says hello.

I just saw where the guy who has the Prospect Times account on Twitter said we still need to acquire a #1, a #2, and a #3. He seems to think Perez is a #4.

I do think part of the disrespect for Perez's 2022 performance from some Rangers fans is that they are overly enamored with big trades for pitchers to help the club. If they acknowlwdge just how great Perez was, it shoots holes in their argument that the Rangers have to make a big trade for pitching. Jamey Newberg seems to be in that category. He has a lot of company it seems.

I think that is one of the reasons some have a hard time with the Odorizzy trade. They think that trade could negate the need for a much bigger trade.

I misread your original post. I thought you said people were saying to trade Perez for a better pitcher. Whoops.

Personally I think that it's kinda silly to rank a pitcher outside of the staff that they're on. Calling Perez a #4 is silly.

But I can daydream about CY putting together a staff where Perez is the #3.

 

[Kelleyman]

Perez has become more a thinking man’s pitcher. His stuff is not dominant but he sure hits his spots. We have seen him evolve more than the average fan or national media person.
Attitude wise he has absolutely turned the corner. That much is for real

 

[Kelleyman]

Via Scott Lucas

I feel good about my thought process yesterday, if I may say so. Four sure things, a belief that Ornelas seemed the type to be picked if unprotected, and “a group of five or six pitchers in which I expect at least one to be added.” I improved on 2021, when Texas selected only three of the six I expected, omitting OF Bubba Thompson and lefties Cole Ragans and Jake Latz.

Winn, White, and Ornelas are Texas’s top three picks from 2018. Kent is a 9th-rounder from 2019. Harris was acquired with OF Marcus Smith for Mike Minor in 2020, and Acuna was an international free agent.

Available in the Rule 5 draft will be RHP Mason Englert, RHP Antoine Kelly, RHP Avery Weems, LHP Cody Bradford, and 1B Blaine Crim, among others. If any of these names concern you, at least know that they’ll have plenty of company. This MLB Pipeline article shows which top-30 prospects were selected and omitted from every team. 177 top-30 prospects were eligible, but only 78 were selected, leaving 99 top-30 names on the market. Another 35 protected players weren’t in a top 30. Beauty lies in the eye.

Entering yesterday, ten clubs had full rosters, meaning they couldn’t add anybody without jettisoning someone else. The median number of available slots per team was three. Texas, with six open slots, was an outlier.

 

[DTC]

A lot of people are expecting a lot more this year. Even this past year there were folks thinking we needed to trade for a better pitcher at the deadline. That is how I got started telling Newberg that Martin Perez says hello.

I just saw where the guy who has the Prospect Times account on Twitter said we still need to acquire a #1, a #2, and a #3. He seems to think Perez is a #4.

I do think part of the disrespect for Perez's 2022 performance from some Rangers fans is that they are overly enamored with big trades for pitchers to help the club. If they acknowlwdge just how great Perez was, it shoots holes in their argument that the Rangers have to make a big trade for pitching. Jamey Newberg seems to be in that category. He has a lot of company it seems.

I think that is one of the reasons some have a hard time with the Odorizzy trade. They think that trade could negate the need for a much bigger trade.

You can’t blame people for not being sold on Martin yet.
He had a spectacular year but still had a high SIERA. Low K/9 high BB/9.
Had a lot of called strikes go his way and left a lot of runners stranded. Kinda got lucky.
His HR/9 will go up as well

 

[Kelleyman]

So as Lucas states there is alot of good talent out there that can get picked up rule 5 and alot of full rosters. I don’t expect to lose more than one