Texas Rangers 2024-2025 Offseason Thread

[saddles]

You have to pull for a guy like David Buchanan.

 

[saddles]

From Jeff Wilson:

#Rangers announce that the network that will televise their 2025 games will be called the Rangers Sports Network. They haven’t announced over-the-air or linear partners, though that announcement could come this week. They previously partnered with Victory+ as streaming partner.

 

[scotsman#1948]

Yes we all would prefer that. But off-season is still not over

as far as the Rangers are concerned it sure looks like it is

 

[WastinSomeTime]

as far as the Rangers are concerned it sure looks like it is

Seems that way doesn't it.

 

[scotsman#1948]

Seems that way doesn't it.

we need a closer and a set-up man and guess what we get Jesse Chavez on a minor league

 

[WastinSomeTime]

we need a closer and a set-up man and guess what we get Jesse Chavez on a minor league

Seems like the things we used to do before CY.

 

[saddles]

Frim FanGraphs Steamer Projections:

Jacob deGrom, SP, Rangers
152 IP, 2.86 ERA, 206 K, 12.2 K/9, 34.2% K%, 5.1 WAR
It's been five years since deGrom had a full, healthy season. But the projections think he's still a Cy Young-caliber pitcher.
DeGrom is projected for a monster year in 2025. His projected 2.86 ERA is the best among AL starters. His projected 12.2 K/9 and 34.2% strikeout rate are the best among all MLB starters. His projected 206 strikeouts would give him his first 200-K season since 2019. And his projected 5.1 WAR would make him the most valuable pitcher in the AL. That's the deGrom we all want to see.

 

[saddles]

From Chandler Rome and Ken Rosenthal:

Trading setup man Ryan Pressly and the majority of his $14 million salary has been one of the Houston Astros’ foremost offseason goals. That they achieved it while re-entering the Alex Bregman sweepstakes is a piece of pure coincidence, timing that fueled speculation of an imminent reunion between Bregman and the only franchise he’s ever known.

No such resolution is near, and the Astros continue to show strong interest in another option, veteran infielder Jorge Polanco, two league sources told The Athletic on Monday. Polanco, 31, offers the Astros a contingency plan if Bregman goes elsewhere or his decision on which team to sign with drags on into spring training. ...

All winter, sources have indicated Astros owner Jim Crane is unwilling to pay the tax for a second consecutive season. Shipping $8.5 million of Pressly’s salary to Chicago leaves the Astros less than $5 million away from the first tax threshold, according to Cot’s Contracts.

 

[saddles]

Austin Hays signed a one year deal with the Reds for $5 million. I sure wish we could have gotten rid of Leody and signed Hays.

 

[saddles]

Jim Bowden has an article out where he picks the top 12 breakout candidates in MLB for 2025. Langford is 10th

10. Wyatt Langford, LF, Rangers​

Age: 23
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6-0 Weight: 225

Langford was my pick for American League Rookie of the Year last spring, but early season struggles and a hamstring injury damaged his chances. (He still ended up seventh in the voting and was worth 3.9 WAR overall.) He played in 134 games, tallying 16 homers, 74 RBIs, a 111 OPS+, and 19 stolen bases in 22 attempts. He finished the season strong, posting a .996 OPS in September and October.

Langford ranked in the 80th percentile in outs above average and in the 89th percentile in arm value — combine that with his 98th percentile sprint speed and it’s clear he has the elements to develop into a Gold Glove-caliber left fielder. He’s a superstar in the making on both sides of the ball.

 

[scotsman#1948]

Austin Hays signed a one year deal with the Reds for $5 million. I sure wish we could have gotten rid of Leody and signed Hays.

well i could live with the trading of Taveras part but the acquisition of a closer would be the most important

 

[saddles]

well i could live with the trading of Taveras part but the acquisition of a closer would be the most important

Yeah, but Leody's salary probably wouldn't have made that happen. We would have had to have traded either Mahle or Gray to afford a closer. Or, we could have not signed Pederson.

But, we got 90 year old Jesse Chavez. Who else do we need?

 

[scotsman#1948]

Yeah, but Leody's salary probably wouldn't have made that happen. We would have had to have traded either Mahle or Gray to afford a closer. Or, we could have not signed Pederson.

But, we got 90 year old Jesse Chavez. Who else do we need?

and if we had traded Taveras and signed Hays we would have made no progress toward getting a closer. i would be concentrating on our #1 need. actually, if ask what our top 5 needs are i would say Closer, closer, closer, closer and closer with #6 being quality set-up reliever

 

[saddles]

From Evan Grant:

Having already announced a stand-alone direct-to-consumer streaming option with the parent company of Victory+, the Rangers announced deals with major linear (traditional) cable providers DirecTV, DIRECTV STREAM, AT&T UVerse and Spectrum. The Rangers are still finalizing details with other providers.

They are also planning a 15-game over-the-air package, something they haven’t had since 2014, that could extend to more than 30 of the designated market areas in the club’s five-state territory, which includes all of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and part of New Mexico. Nextstar Media and Gray Media, which control a number of stations in the territory, will be the broadcast partners. In the Dallas-Fort Worth market, the over-the-air package will air on CW33.

 

[saddles]

and if we had traded Taveras and signed Hays we would have made no progress toward getting a closer. i would be concentrating on our #1 need. actually, if ask what our top 5 needs are i would say Closer, closer, closer, closer and closer with #6 being quality set-up reliever

I agree that Closer was, and Is, the biggest need. That doesn't mean that nothing else should get done just because CY doesn't agree.

He does not believe in spending very much on the back end of the pen. He believes in spending a whole lot of money on the rotation amd a good bit of money on a part time DH.

We still needed other bullpen pieces and an OF who could platoon against tough lefties with Carter. CY saw the need for the rest of the pen. He didn't agree with us on the closer. He didn't agree with me on Austin Hays.

I am still going to want needed pieces for the team whether CY fulfills his end or not. Lol

 

[saddles]

From Evan Grant:

It should give nearly 100% of the homes in the Rangers’ broadcast territory access to some element of local broadcasts. Neil Leibman, Chairman of the Rangers Entertainment and Media Company, said that in 2024 approximately 2 million of the 16.5 million homes in the five-state territory were able to watch the Rangers because of limited carriage of what was then branded as Bally’s Sports Southwest regional sports network and its branded streaming app.

For ownership: The Rangers expect the three tiers of broadcast to create as much — if not more — revenue as they saw from a renegotiated deal with the parent company of Bally’s. The original contract the Rangers signed with FOX, which owned the RSN system in 2010, called for more than $110 million per year in TV revenue. After Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy in 2023, the Rangers took a discount of more than $10 million in 2024 rights.

Had the Rangers returned to Diamond, now branded under FanDuel, or allowed MLB to take over production, the TV revenues would have shrunk more significantly. That would have created problems in supporting a payroll that is expected to rank among the top 10 in MLB for the third straight season.

The Rangers’ current payroll, including player benefits, nears the $241 million Competitive Balance Tax (CBT). Potential makeable incentive bonuses could push it higher, which would force the Rangers, as a third-time offender, to pay a 50% tax on the overage. The biggest deals on the roster, for Jacob deGrom, Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, which will account for $94 million in salaries in 2025 were all negotiated before Diamond filed for bankruptcy.

“How do you sign a player long term if you don’t have revenue certainty?” Davis said. “We’ve been living in three years of not knowing what our rights fees were going to be for the next X number of years. I think we had a surety that we could televise through MLB TV, but at a significant economic cost. Now, we can control our own destiny. We know pretty much what our revenue side is going to be.” ...

Davis said the club still intends to stay below the CBT threshold in 2025 to allow for “resetting” the penalties. If the Rangers do not exceed the threshold in 2025, their penalty would drop to 20% tax on the first $20 million above the threshold, which increases to $244 million in 2026.

 

[saddles]

Just a reminder, Jeff Wilson and John Rhadigan have been saying for over a month, that this TV deal was going to be what it was announced today, to be. The finalization of the dael is new, but the story about it is not. Kudos to those guys for sharing this with their listeners and subscribers over a month ago.

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

Here is a link to all of the details of the TV viewing opportunities.

https://www.mlb.com/rangers/schedule/programming?partnerId=redirect-tex-tunein

 

[saddles]

You can sign up at the link below to get on the list to be notified as soon as the Victory+ Season Passes are available. You just have to enter your email address.

Victory+

Victory+

victoryplus.com