The Officially Official Off Season Thread (2016)

[True Rangers Fan]

Does anyone know the rationale behind baseball not allowing teams to trade draft picks?

Seems to work really well in most other sports doesn't it?

It's time to trade draft picks in MLB

 

[saddles]

Nope.

I guess you forget the shellacking Jerry got for the Switzer hire. The Switzer hire or the Wash hire? Give me Switzer every day of the week over Wash. And that comes from a fan that didn't like Switzer being brought in at all.

That wasn't all either. They hit Jerry hard about a lot of things back within a few years of the championship runs and hardly anything but softballs for the Rangers within a few years of their "almost" championship.

The two stories behind the Game 6 fiasco where two separate players disagreed on record with two different things that Wash said is a prime example. Both Feliz and Chavez had differing opinions on what happened than Wash did and no media member pushed those story lines. Had that been 2 Cowboys players saying something happened that completely disagreed with something the head coach said we would have been reading about that for weeks.

 

[scotsman1948]

Personally, I am all for spending on veterans. I also like building a team through your system. They could have taken their pick of those two ways a couple of years ago and I would have been fine with either.

to me it is neither path it should be a combo of the 2 where you spend on vets and use your prospects together in a cohesive manner that keeps the team competitive over years not 1 or 2 seasons. but you don't spin your wheels waiting for a prospect to stay competitive

 

[saddles]

Does anyone know the rationale behind baseball not allowing teams to trade draft picks?

Seems to work really well in most other sports doesn't it?

Baseball gets stuck in a rut a lot. Just look at the fact that the pitchers still bat in the NL for a good example.

 

[saddles]

to me it is neither path it should be a combo of the 2 where you spend on vets and use your prospects together in a cohesive manner that keeps the team competitive over years not 1 or 2 seasons. but you don't spin your wheels waiting for a prospect to stay competitive

I wanted to do both 2 offseasons ago. That is, I wanted to spend while we waited on our prospects. That combo works if it doesn't include trading away very many of your prospects.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

I guess you forget the shellacking Jerry got for the Switzer hire. The Switzer hire or the Wash hire? Give me Switzer every day of the week over Wash. And that comes from a fan that didn't like Switzer being brought in at all.

My point/joke was clearly that Jerry Jones didn't construct those teams. Jimmy Johnson did.

 

[saddles]

My point/joke was clearly that Jerry Jones didn't construct those teams. Jimmy Johnson did.

Well, substitute "Cowboys teams" for "Jerry's teams" then. lol

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

Evan had a chat today. He thinks Beltre and the Rangers will probably extend his contract in ST at about the same AAV as it is currently. He thinks Gallo is the 2017 starter at 1B. He thinks the Rangers could sign Fister eventually. He expects Prince will hit 28 HRs and that Choo will have a very good year. He sees a real possibility of the Rangers and Reds doing a Profar for Homer Bailey trade if Profar proves healthy.

Evan Grant answers Rangers questions at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5; ask yours now | SportsDay

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Evan Grant answers Rangers questions at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5; ask yours now | SportsDay

I don't criticize EG as much as other do on here, but he did sound pretty idiotic with two back-to-back answers in that chat. He says it's unlikely that the Rangers trade Moreland before 2016, and even more unlikely they trade him during 2016... because he'd just be a rental and wouldn't bring back much in return. But he then goes on to say that Gallo is most likely at 1B in 2017.

So they just let Moreland walk for nothing? That doesn't make any sense.

 

[DT LUNA]

Evan had a chat today. He thinks Beltre and the Rangers will probably extend his contract in ST at about the same AAV as it is currently. He thinks Gallo is the 2017 starter at 1B. He thinks the Rangers could sign Fister eventually. He expects Prince will hit 28 HRs and that Choo will have a very good year. He sees a real possibility of the Rangers and Reds doing a Profar for Homer Bailey trade if Profar proves healthy.

Evan Grant answers Rangers questions at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5; ask yours now | SportsDay

Evan puts his pants on one leg at a time. Don't put to much confidence in what he thinks rather in what he knows.

 

[saddles]

I don't criticize EG as much as other do on here, but he did sound pretty idiotic with two back-to-back answers in that chat. He says it's unlikely that the Rangers trade Moreland before 2016, and even more unlikely they trade him during 2016... because he'd just be a rental and wouldn't bring back much in return. But he then goes on to say that Gallo is most likely at 1B in 2017.

So they just let Moreland walk for nothing? That doesn't make any sense.

Then again, Evan is the one who told me a few years back that Moreland would not be coming up to play in the big leagues anytime soon only to have Mitch come up a couple of days later.

 

[saddles]

Rangers Sign Cesar Ramos To Minor League Deal

The Rangers have signed left-handed reliever Cesar Ramos to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training, according to a tweet from Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake.


Ramos, a client of the Wasserman Media Group, spent the 2015 season with the division-rival Angels and enjoyed a strong season out of the Halos’ bullpen but was surprisingly non-tendered in December. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected him to receive a $1.7MM salary, which the Angels clearly weren’t interested in paying despite the fact that Ramos logged a 2.75 ERA with 7.4 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 47.1 percent ground-ball rate in 52 1/3 innings.


The 31-year-old Ramos certainly didn’t dominate opponents, as lefties hit .265/.346/.316 against him last season, while righties batted .276/.324/.382. Ramos, though, does have a 3.49 ERA in 276 innings dating back to the 2011 season, giving him a solid track record. Interestingly, the Rangers’ release notes that Ramos will be stretched out to work as a starting pitcher rather than resuming his traditional bullpen role. Ramos did start seven games for the Rays in 2014, but just 10 of his 251 Major League appearances have been starts.

 

[Kelleyman]

Heavy lifting is all relative, depends on what all needs lifting. Snakes needed a lot more lifting done than the Rangers. Sometimes we need guys just to play better. That being said there is a definite upgrade I would like to see at some point at catcher

 

[jta4437]

My point was more about the media and the different way they cover the two teams and less about the validity of the excuse or reasoning.

My comment wasn't necessarily an attack on your comments other than saying that I don't really think the media is making excuses by saying Hamels is the big money acquisition, it has an element of truth... had that trade not taken place then more assets would've been at our disposal to make a move this offseason, whether that was via free agency or trade

 

[Kelleyman]

Switzer lost us a Super Bowl. Really don't care if Wash was crucified but yes common knowledge of his lineup miscues

 

[jta4437]

Heavy lifting is all relative, depends on what all needs lifting. Snakes needed a lot more lifting done than the Rangers. Sometimes we need guys just to play better. That being said there is a definite upgrade I would like to see at some point at catcher

Problem that upgrade almost never comes via free agency, usually trade or prospects

We will have to find someone willing to trade a solid catcher, bc we have next to nothing prosepct wise; Jose Trevino ranks a cool 27th in our system, not very aspiring for a catching prospect

 

[Kelleyman]

Problem that upgrade almost never comes via free agency, usually trade or prospects

We will have to find someone willing to trade a solid catcher, bc we have next to nothing prosepct wise; Jose Trevino ranks a cool 27th in our system, not very aspiring for a catching prospect

Yes, the trade market appears slim. Would go for defense only if we could make up at other positions as a stop gap at least. I like our two guys but would be nice to upgrade

 

[saddles]

My comment wasn't necessarily an attack on your comments other than saying that I don't really think the media is making excuses by saying Hamels is the big money acquisition, it has an element of truth... had that trade not taken place then more assets would've been at our disposal to make a move this offseason, whether that was via free agency or trade

No, I didn't sense any attack whatsoever.

I agree that there is an element of truth in it.

 

[saddles]

Heavy lifting is all relative, depends on what all needs lifting. Snakes needed a lot more lifting done than the Rangers. Sometimes we need guys just to play better. That being said there is a definite upgrade I would like to see at some point at catcher

I am beginning to think that JD doesn't feel that much of an upgrade at catcher is needed. He has not put a lot of effort into getting any free agent catchers over the past few years and he traded away the one good catching prospect that we have had in quite some time. Nothing much in the way of finding a Latin ballplayer at that position lately either.