Texas Rangers 2024-2025 Offseason Thread

[saddles]

From Jeff Wilson:

The players who became free agents aren’t entirely free just yet. They must wait five days from the conclusion of the World Series (until 4 p.m. Monday) before they are able to sign with any team. For now, they can only negotiate with their 2024 team.

Teams that hold options on players for 2025 must decide within five days if they will exercise the options or pay buyouts, thus making the players free agents, and players who hold options must decide on exercising the option or taking free agency.


There are also mutual options between players and teams, and those must be resolved before Sunday.

The Rangers have players who fit into all three categories.

Outfielder Travis Jankowski, catcher Carson Kelly, left-hander Andrew Heaney and right-handers Max Scherzer, Kirby Yates, Jose Leclerc and Jose Ureña are free agents.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi holds a $20 player option that he is expected to decline, right-hander David Roberston has a $7 million mutual option that he is expected to decline, and the Rangers hold a $6.5 million option on left-hander Andrew Chafin with a $500,000 buyout.

 

[saddles]

Also from Jeff Wilson:

Clubs will begin to clean up their 40-man rosters, a process that begins when free agents hit the market. All players on the 60-day injured list must be reinstated to the 40-man roster, and some players on the 40-man roster will be designated for assignment or released.

Those moves are in anticipation of player acquisition and protecting players from the Rule 5 draft, which must be completed by Nov. 19 with the setting of the reserve list (40-man roster).

The non-tender deadline arrives Nov. 22. If a team doesn’t want to go to arbitration with its eligible players, it can decide to not give them contracts. The Rangers have five arb-eligible players: First baseman Nathaniel Lowe, catcher Jonah Heim, center fielder Leody Taveras and right-handers Dane Dunning and Josh Sborz.

Basically, non-tendered players no longer are a fit with their clubs or their projected contracts don’t match their projected value.


Players from foreign professional leagues can be posted beginning Friday (through Dec. 5), with the big fish this offseason being right-hander Roki Sasaki. The annual general manager meetings commence Tuesday in San Antonio.

 

[saddles]

More from Jeff Wilson:

The end of the World Series ends the moratorium on trades that began after the July 30 trade deadline. Trades are often seen as a more affordable way to acquire help than free agency.

Baseball executives often point to the GM meetings as the genesis for trades, though work that led up to the trade deadline also comes into play. Clubs will also attempt to trade players they plan to non-tender.

The Rangers dispatched their pro scouts late in the season to gather information on potential trade targets. With budgets now in place, teams can seek out players who fit their needs and their payroll.

 

[saddles]

The Winter Meetings will be held in Dallas December 8-11 with the draft lottery on the 10th and the Rule 5 draft is on the 11th.

 

[ThereIsNoPlace]

What'd you guys think of Will Venable? How do you think he will pan out as White Sox manager?

 

[saddles]

What'd you guys think of Will Venable? How do you think he will pan out as White Sox manager?

He was thought to be the heir apparent to Bochy. I have no clue what kind of manager he will be, though.

 

[Kelleyman]

In and article last noght, Evan Grant suggested 4 moves the Rangers could make to out them back into contention.

1. Sign Roki Sasaki
2. Trade Marcus Semien
3. Sign Nathan Eovaldi
4. Trade for Jordan Montgomery

I am not sure why he thinks we need 3 more starting pitchers.

Maybe 3 out of 4?

 

[saddles]

Maybe 3 out of 4?

I was very surprised Evan made the suggestion about trading Semien. That would be a gutsy move, but it could be a wise move depending on both the return for Marcus and how they spent his money elsewhere.

 

[saddles]

One other move Evan suggested was to name Ross Fenstermaker the new GM. Ross has been in the organization since 2010. I think he would make a great candidate.

His name was brought up a few weeks ago. My question is, if they were going to do that, why hasn't it happened already? The delay makes it seem like they want an outside candidate. I asked Evan that and he thinks it is because they are going to have to interview diverse candidates for the position before they go ahead and hire who they want in the position.

 

[Kelleyman]

I was very surprised Evan made the suggestion about trading Semien. That would be a gutsy move, but it could be a wise move depending on both the return for Marcus and how they spent his money elsewhere.

I was wondering if you trade Marcus then maybe it frees up money to sign Soto. Josh Smith becomes the infielder

 

[saddles]

Deadlines and Dates from mlbtraderumors.com:

The 2024-25 Offseason Begins​

October 31st, 2024 at 9:30am CST • By Anthony Franco
After the Dodgers secured their second title in five years, the offseason is officially underway. Transactions should begin again today. Teams are permitted to begin making trades. There’ll be a host of waiver claims as clubs clear space from their 40-man roster, largely in tandem with the necessary reinstatement of injured players from the IL. Teams and players have five days to decide whether to exercise any contractual options.

Free agency technically opens today, but there’s a five-day window for exclusive negotiation between teams and their own free agents. We’re not getting a Juan Soto signing anytime soon, but we could see a handful of smaller extensions as teams try to keep some players from testing the open market.

MLBTR’s winter coverage will kick off later today with our preview of the Top 35 Trade Candidates. We’ve already released projected arbitration salaries from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and taken a position-by-position look at the upcoming free agent class while previewing the qualifying offer decisions for pitchers and position players. Our Top 50 Free Agents post will be published on Monday evening after the finalization of option and QO calls.

OCTOBER 31: Free agency begins for eligible players, but they aren’t permitted to sign with other teams for at least five days. Free agents no longer count against their previous teams’ 40-man rosters. Trades of players who were on the 40-man roster reopen for the first time since last summer’s deadline.

NOVEMBER 3: Gold Glove winners announced.

NOVEMBER 4: Free agents are eligible to sign with any team. All players or teams with contractual options/opt-out clauses must make their decisions by this evening. Teams have until 4:00 pm Central to decide whether to issue qualifying offers to eligible free agents.

NOVEMBER 4-7: General managers meetings in San Antonio, Texas. The GM Meetings typically lay the groundwork for the offseason rather than spurring much roster movement in themselves. They’re nevertheless significant as an opportunity for media to speak with high-level executives, which can shed some light on teams’ goals for the winter.

NOVEMBER 12: Silver Slugger award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 14: Reliever of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 18: Rookie of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 19: Players have until 3:00 pm Central to decide whether to accept the qualifying offer. If they accept, they’ll return to their previous team on a one-year, $21.05MM contract. Players who accept a QO, like all major league free agent signees, cannot be traded without their consent until June 15. Those who decline the QO are tied to draft compensation. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently covered what each team would receive for losing a qualified free agent and the penalties that teams would pay to sign a player who declined a QO.

NOVEMBER 19: Rule 5 protection deadline. Teams must add players who would otherwise be eligible for the Rule 5 draft to their 40-man roster by this date to keep them out of the draft.

NOVEMBER 19: Manager of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 19-21: Quarterly owners meetings in New York.

NOVEMBER 20: Cy Young award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 21: MVP award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 22: Non-tender deadline. Teams must decide whether to offer contracts to the arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration players on their 40-man roster. They do not need to agree to salaries by this date, but there’ll be a flurry of salary agreements as players who might otherwise be non-tender candidates often lock in deals at slightly lesser than projected salaries to avoid being cut loose. Players who are non-tendered immediately become free agents without going through waivers.

DECEMBER 8: Hall of Fame Classic Baseball Committee announcement.

DECEMBER 8-11: Winter Meetings in Dallas, Texas. The Winter Meetings are the offseason’s busiest few days and annually feature ample free agent and trade activity.

DECEMBER 10: Amateur draft lottery. The Rockies and Marlins have the best chance (22.45% each) of securing next year’s first overall pick.

DECEMBER 11: Rule 5 draft. Players selected must stay on their new teams’ active rosters for the entire ’25 season or be offered back to their original organization.

DECEMBER 15: Closing of the 2024 signing period for international amateurs.

JANUARY 9: Teams and arbitration-eligible players exchange salary filing figures. They’re free to continue negotiating beyond this date, though virtually every team treats this as an unofficial deadline to avoid an arbitration hearing unless they sign a multi-year contract.

JANUARY 15: Opening of the 2025 signing period for international amateurs. The majority of the international signings for the year will be announced on this date, as virtually all the top prospects have reached handshake agreements by this point. The notable (potential) exception: Japanese star Roki Sasaki, who has expressed an interest in being posted for MLB teams but would be subject to amateur bonus pool restrictions as a player under the age of 25 if his NPB team makes him available this offseason.

 

[saddles]

I was wondering if you trade Marcus then maybe it frees up money to sign Soto. Josh Smith becomes the infielder

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Evan mentioned Smith as the new second baseman.

They could also use the money in other ways, if they can't convince Soto.

The return could be very significant.

 

[Kelleyman]

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Evan mentioned Smith as the new second baseman.

They could also use the money in other ways, if they can't convince Soto.

The return could be very significant.

Soto to me is more valuable than Ohtani as a bat
He battles and raises his game in the big moment.
I like him and Buehler

 

[scotsman#1948]

I was wondering if you trade Marcus then maybe it frees up money to sign Soto. Josh Smith becomes the infielder

Semien is owed 98M for 2025, 2026, 2027 & 2028 and any team that would trade for him would probably expect Texas to eat at least 50% of the that. wouldn't think that would be considered freeing up money

 

[scotsman#1948]

Does he have one. Sure didn’t seem like he had one last year.

i personally don't know but maybe he thought we had just come off a WS win and that the present construction of the team should be adequate to defend. no GM could have foreseen the events of 2024 and made adequate offensive counter moves during the offseason. however, there is no excuse for the poor construction of the bullpen

 

[Duane1952]

i personally don't know but maybe he thought we had just come off a WS win and that the present construction of the team should be adequate to defend. no GM could have foreseen the events of 2024 and made adequate offensive counter moves during the offseason. however, there is no excuse for the poor construction of the bullpen

To me doing nothing at the trade deadline was stupid. It was obvious that this team wasn’t going anywhere without help.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

He was thought to be the heir apparent to Bochy. I have no clue what kind of manager he will be, though.

He will have his work cut out for him.

 

[Duane1952]

In and article last noght, Evan Grant suggested 4 moves the Rangers could make to out them back into contention.

1. Sign Roki Sasaki
2. Trade Marcus Semien
3. Sign Nathan Eovaldi
4. Trade for Jordan Montgomery

I am not sure why he thinks we need 3 more starting pitchers.

1 might happen. It’s going to be hard to trade Semien, with his contract and age. Eovaldi is going to be expensive. With the owner wanting to get under the luxury tax, probably not going to happen. Want nothing to do with Montgomery.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Soto to me is more valuable than Ohtani as a bat
He battles and raises his game in the big moment.
I like him and Buehler

I like Buehler if he can stay healthy.

 

[saddles]

To me doing nothing at the trade deadline was stupid. It was obvious that this team wasn’t going anywhere without help.

They should have been sellers at the deadline.