Texas Rangers 2024-2025 Offseason Thread

[scotsman#1948]

I think CY will sign Eovaldi, which will put us in a budget crunch.

We will try to get lucky on 8th and 9th inning guys, maybe even Yates and Robertson again, but the rest of the bullpen will be put together with spit and chewing gum. It is the JD way that has been slightly tweaked by CY.

They will trust improved health from Carter and Jung, and turnaround seasons from Heim, Semien and Garcia to make a huge difference, offensively. I expect one or both of Jankowski and Grossman to be back.

I want them to take a completely different approach, but I know they will not see it anywhere close to the same as I do.

hopefully by no later than the trade deadline of the 2026 season we have gotten rid of deGrom. Mahle. Heim, Lowe, Garcia, Semien, Seager & others, Stopped pursuing high dollar free agents and are concentrating on building a team of nothing but our home-grown crop of players

 

[Duane1952]

hopefully by no later than the trade deadline of the 2026 season we have gotten rid of deGrom. Mahle. Heim, Lowe, Garcia, Semien, Seager & others, Stopped pursuing high dollar free agents and are concentrating on building a team of nothing but our home-grown crop of players

And when have they ever done that. They don’t have a history of producing their own home grown talent.

 

[saddles]

hopefully by no later than the trade deadline of the 2026 season we have gotten rid of deGrom. Mahle. Heim, Lowe, Garcia, Semien, Seager & others, Stopped pursuing high dollar free agents and are concentrating on building a team of nothing but our home-grown crop of players

Why would you throw the babies out with the bath water? That wouldn't be too smart. You have to have the right mix.

 

[scotsman#1948]

Why would you throw the babies out with the bath water? That wouldn't be too smart. You have to have the right mix.

i didn't know i was throwing any babies out with the bath waters, we could open with this

2026 SP's: Rocker, Leiter, Bradford, Teodo, Santos and/or Rosario

RP: Pennington. Sborz, Hales, Magdaleno, Bratt, Curry. Church, Wolfram, Acker, Porter

Position: C Huff, C Moore, 1B Ortiz, 1B Crim, 2B Vargas, 2B Duran, SS Walcott, SS Smith, 3b Jung, LF Langford, CF Carter, RF Osuna, OF Harris

now i'm not an expert but it seems like a solid team to me. but i will accept any feedback

 

[saddles]

i didn't know i was throwing any babies out with the bath waters, we could open with this

2026 SP's: Rocker, Leiter, Bradford, Teodo, Santos and/or Rosario

RP: Pennington. Sborz, Hales, Magdaleno, Bratt, Curry. Church, Wolfram, Acker, Porter

Position: C Huff, C Moore, 1B Ortiz, 1B Crim, 2B Vargas, 2B Duran, SS Walcott, SS Smith, 3b Jung, LF Langford, CF Carter, RF Osuna, OF Harris

now i'm not an expert but it seems like a solid team to me. but i will accept any feedback

When you trade away all of the other guys the return better be better than several of those guys you list. If facr, you would probably get at least 8 or 9 players back in the combined deals that should be better that almost all of the position players outside of Langford and possibly Carter and Jung.

 

[scotsman#1948]

When you trade away all of the other guys the return better be better than several of those guys you list. If facr, you would probably get at least 8 or 9 players back in the combined deals that should be better that almost all of the position players outside of Langford and possibly Carter and Jung.

excellent point. it was difficult to figure what might be the return so i went strictly with what we had down on the farm. you are correct that some of the returns might be better

 

[saddles]

I read where the famous Kirk Gibson World Series HR and the Grand Slam last night for Freeman were both hit at 8:37 PM Pacific time, 36 years apart.

 

[saddles]

The last two nights combined, Osuna has went 2 for 5 with 3 walks. Weems had a really good relief outing and here is Josh Stephan's line.

 

[scotsman#1948]

I read where the famous Kirk Gibson World Series HR and the Grand Slam last night for Freeman were both hit at 8:37 PM Pacific time, 36 years apart.

and supposedly landed within the same general area in the stands. both came with 2 outs and both rallies started with a walk

 

[saddles]

Keith Law reported on some of the players he saw in the AFL recently. He had this to say about Alejandro Osuna:

Osuna had something of a breakout season this year, repeating High A and then hitting .306/.379/.523 in 57 games in Double A, without a clear plus tool in his skillset. He does get the bat to the ball pretty frequently and has shown solid plate coverage in the Fall League, with a very fast bat and a really simple, repeatable swing that lines up with the high-contact results.

He doesn’t walk much but I did see him work the count well and lay off pitches aimed at getting him to chase. He might be a tweener, lacking the power for a corner or the speed/defense for center, but the hit tool is good enough to keep him in play as a potential regular.

 

[scotsman#1948]

MLBTR is saying that San Diego and Tampa Bay will be looking for a catcher.

there are several teams looking for a 1Bman: Arizona, Houston, Minnesota, NYMets, NYYankees, Pittsburgh, Seattle & St Louis

 

[saddles]

Here is Baseball America’s Draft Report Card for the Ragers 2024 draft.

Best Pure Hitter: Outfielder Casey Cook (3) is a natural hitter with great rhythm, a clean lefthanded swing and a solid batting eye. He has a hit-over-power offensive profile and makes a lot of contact, slashing .341/.431/.605 with North Carolina in 2024.

Best Power Hitter: Catcher Malcolm Moore (1) has had a strong offensive reputation since his high school days as a member of the 2022 class and pairs contact ability and power that could make him a middle-of-the-order bat. He backspins the ball well to all fields and hit 31 home runs in two seasons with Stanford.

Fastest Runner: Outfielder Dylan Dreiling (2) is an above-average runner but not a true burner. He wasn’t aggressive on the bases in two seasons with Tennessee, where he went 5-for-6 (83.3%). After playing left field for the Volunteers, he spent 19 of his 24 games with High-A Hickory in center.

Best Defensive Player: Cook (3) is a reliable defender in an outfield corner who might be stretched range wise for center, but he does have some experience as a second baseman in the past. The Rangers had him play 141 innings at the keystone in his pro debut, which creates some intriguing versatility potential.

Best Fastball: Righthander Anthony Susac (8) has a fastball that averaged 93-94 mph last spring with Arizona and has touched 96-97 with solid riding life. It was more of a ground ball offering than a real swing-and-miss fastball in college.

Best Secondary Pitch: Susac (8) also pitches heavily on his mid-80s slider, which is a candidate for this category, as is righthander David Hagaman’s (4) upper-80s slider, which generated a 46% miss rate last spring with West Virginia.

Best Pro Debut: Catcher Ben Hartl (14) led Rangers draftees with a .928 OPS in his debut, which was split between Low-A Down East and Triple-A Round Rock. He spent just two games at Round Rock but between both levels slashed .333/.474/.452 with one home run and a pair of doubles. Susac (8) struck out 12 batters and didn’t allow an earned run in 9.1 innings in his debut.

Best Athlete: Dreiling’s (2) speed and athleticism could allow him to slide to center field and be a solid defender at the position with more reps, and he also flashes pull-side power that turned into 23 home runs with Tennessee in 2024.

Most Intriguing Background: Shortstop Devin Fitz-Gerald (5) is the son of Stoneman Douglas High coach Todd Fitz-Gerald, who has turned the team into one of the most consistently strong baseball programs in the country and an annual producer of high-end talent. His older brother, Hunter Fitz-Gerald, played college baseball at Florida Southern and Old Dominion and is currently a first baseman in the Mariners organization.

Closest To The Majors: Hartl (14) having already played two games at the Triple-A level makes him a reasonable pick for this category, but each of the Rangers top three college hitters could move quickly as well.

Best Day Three Pick (Or NDFA): Lefthander Dalton Pence (11) signed for $350,000 in the 11th round and has a 92-95 mph fastball with impressive life that misses a lot of barrels at the top of the zone.

 

[saddles]

From Jon Heyman:

Rangers bench coach Will Venable, a finalist for both Marlins and White Sox manager derbies, is in Miami interviewing today

 

[scotsman#1948]

teams are starting to designate players for assignment

 

[DT LUNA]

What ever happened to the Rangers this year also has happened to the Yankees

 

[saddles]

It is looking more and more like free agency will begin at 4:00 PM on November 3.

 

[saddles]

Osuna went 2 for 4 with a walk last night.

 

[saddles]

Is It Time to Move On From These Rangers? | The Prospect Times | Texas Rangers Farm System Hub

The World Series begins tonight, which means we are that much closer to the beginning of Free Agency in the MLB. For the Rangers, a lot of questions need answers this offseason, including what the payroll number Ray Davis and company are comfortable spending in 2025. Early discussions lead everyone…

theprospecttimes.com

This is a really good article from The Prospect Times' Derek Lien.

 

[Duane1952]

Is It Time to Move On From These Rangers? | The Prospect Times | Texas Rangers Farm System Hub

The World Series begins tonight, which means we are that much closer to the beginning of Free Agency in the MLB. For the Rangers, a lot of questions need answers this offseason, including what the payroll number Ray Davis and company are comfortable spending in 2025. Early discussions lead everyone…

theprospecttimes.com

This is a really good article from The Prospect Times' Derek Lien.

It hard to evaluate Huff, when Bochy has never gave him a fair chance to see what he can do.

 

[Kelleyman]

hopefully by no later than the trade deadline of the 2026 season we have gotten rid of deGrom. Mahle. Heim, Lowe, Garcia, Semien, Seager & others, Stopped pursuing high dollar free agents and are concentrating on building a team of nothing but our home-grown crop of players

Wut?????