The Officially Official Off Season Thread (2016)

[saddles]

Jon Daniels on why he hopes Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara don't make the Rangers roster when the season begins | SportsDay

On what Nomar Mazara and Joey Gallo are lacking to be on the big league roster:

Daniels: "Experience more than anything else. I hope they don't make the club. I hope they go down and get experience. My expectation is that they're both going to have big camps. They're very talented. They're going to be ready to roll probably before some of the veteran guys are and they're going to look very good in camp. I think we are cognizant as a group that these guys are extremely talented. They're also relatively inexperienced. We pushed Joey last year. We did it I think for the right reasons. At the time, he kind of gave us a spark for a period but that inexperience showed up. Hopefully he'll be better for it and come out of it. Those are guys I view probably more down the line during the second half or sometime during the season. You know they're going to come into camp ready to compete ready to win the job. Hopefully other guys are healthy and step up to give those guys some time."

 

[saddles]

Rangers pitcher Derek Holland learning from Cole Hamels during offseason | SportsDay

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Rangers pitcher Derek Holland learning from Cole Hamels during offseason | SportsDay

Kudos to Holland for working on his game because was about as bad as it gets at the end of the season. If he would have pitched like many of us thought he was going to the results at the end would have been different.

 

[donaldson79]

There was a drop they played on the Ticket years ago where Norm was ripping into a caller and he said "Do any of you know what the hell I do for a living?!?"

Yes I did....ha ha

I didn't hear it live, but that's a great drop isn't it?

 

[donaldson79]

Jon Daniels on why he hopes Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara don't make the Rangers roster when the season begins | SportsDay

On what Nomar Mazara and Joey Gallo are lacking to be on the big league roster:

Daniels: "Experience more than anything else. I hope they don't make the club. I hope they go down and get experience. My expectation is that they're both going to have big camps. They're very talented. They're going to be ready to roll probably before some of the veteran guys are and they're going to look very good in camp. I think we are cognizant as a group that these guys are extremely talented. They're also relatively inexperienced. We pushed Joey last year. We did it I think for the right reasons. At the time, he kind of gave us a spark for a period but that inexperience showed up. Hopefully he'll be better for it and come out of it. Those are guys I view probably more down the line during the second half or sometime during the season. You know they're going to come into camp ready to compete ready to win the job. Hopefully other guys are healthy and step up to give those guys some time."

How much more open and straight forward can he be? I've always been impressed with this.

 

[scotsman1948]

Kudos to Holland for working on his game because was about as bad as it gets at the end of the season. If he would have pitched like many of us thought he was going to the results at the end would have been different.

part of my thinking on Holland is he came back too early wanting to be part of what the team was doing. i think with him working with Hamels he recognizes that and wants to make up for it.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

part of my thinking on Holland is he came back too early wanting to be part of what the team was doing. i think with him working with Hamels he recognizes that and wants to make up for it.

I agree. Thought that's what happened at the outset of 2015 as well.

 

[romeo212000]

Kudos to Holland for working on his game because was about as bad as it gets at the end of the season. If he would have pitched like many of us thought he was going to the results at the end would have been different.

Holland came back too soon and ran out of gas.

 

[donaldson79]

Holland came back too soon and ran out of gas.

He came back too soon and pitched WAY too many innings from the onset. Seems he threw about 240 pitches during his first two outings.

 

[romeo212000]

He came back too soon and pitched WAY too many innings from the onset. Seems he threw about 240 pitches during his first two outings.

Yeah. I appreciate his guts, but it really ended up hurting him down the stretch.

 

[scotsman1948]

He came back too soon and pitched WAY too many innings from the onset. Seems he threw about 240 pitches during his first two outings.

it came down to him wanting to be part of what became an epic finish and him convincing Bannister and everyone else he was ready and then not manning up and saying he wasn't.

 

[saddles]

it came down to him wanting to be part of what became an epic finish and him convincing Bannister and everyone else he was ready and then not manning up and saying he wasn't.

Funny you put it that way. The year before Yu admitted he was hurt and the media and some fans criticized him for it.

I don't blame Derek at all. It is not like he pitched through an injury. In his first 5 games back he had an ERA of 2.37 so he appeared to be fine. His body and mechanics simply didn't hold up. He had 3 very rough games and then came back and pitched pretty good in his last start. Then he went 11 days between that start and his playoff start. I think his mechanics were just out of whack and he probably had some fatigue from pitching so many innings when he first came back. Probably akin to the dead arm that a lot of pitchers go through in ST or early in the year.

He had come back the year before and pitched great after an injury. I see no reason to place blame on him.

 

[saddles]

Tigers Designate Jefry Marte For Assignment

I wonder if the Rangers will be interested in this guy.

 

[saddles]

Jurickson Profar said he is at full strength

Profar is on a throwing program and able to throw from a distance of 135 feet without issues. He said he was throwing about "90 percent" on Wednesday, but that was good enough on a frosty January morning. He will wait until the Arizona desert before airing it out.


His two-year odyssey is almost over.


"Yeah, sure," Profar said. "I just, at some point, knew I'm going to be ready. That was the mindset, just work hard every day and make sure I'm ready for now."

He hadn't been able to get past the 120 ft. mark in his previous rehab attempts. This is very good news.

 

[Xx srs bsns xX]

Jurickson Profar said he is at full strength

Profar is on a throwing program and able to throw from a distance of 135 feet without issues. He said he was throwing about "90 percent" on Wednesday, but that was good enough on a frosty January morning. He will wait until the Arizona desert before airing it out.


His two-year odyssey is almost over.


"Yeah, sure," Profar said. "I just, at some point, knew I'm going to be ready. That was the mindset, just work hard every day and make sure I'm ready for now."

He hadn't been able to get past the 120 ft. mark in his previous rehab attempts. This is very good news.

105ft mark... but correct. Reading that he's throwing @ 135ft is great news.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

New Rangers pitching coach says Yu Darvish looks ahead of schedule | SportsDay

Good news! Having a pitching coach who has been thru 2 surgeries may be of some help to Yu as well.

 

[saddles]

105ft mark... but correct. Reading that he's throwing @ 135ft is great news.

Yeah, I saw what they said about 105 ft. mark, but I could swear it was at the 120 ft. mark both of the previous times. Yes, either way it is great news.

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

New Texas Rangers coaches start process of building trust

“This week isn’t even about hitting,” Iapoce said. “It’s just about connecting and making the relationships with the players to trust instead of coming on board and pinpointing the negatives. You want to come in and build relationships.

“It’s a huge challenge, even with a young guy in this day and age. You just go in with a learning attitude and learn from those players and respect the fact that they’re really good and you’ll be there for them and do whatever you can. I think that’s how the trust will be established.”

Iapoce and Brocail aren’t dealing with veterans this week. Adrian Beltre, Cole Hamels and Prince Fielder aren’t at the minicamp, though they will be around this weekend for the awards banquet and Fan Fest.

Shortstop Elvis Andrus, second baseman Rougned Odor and third baseman Joey Gallo have all had some form of contact with Iapoce.

Gallo said that he turned to friend and fellow Las Vegas native Kris Bryant, the reigning National League rookie of the year who worked with Iapoce in the Chicago Cubs organization, for some background info.

“He said, ‘I love him. He’s a really good hitting coach and will help you a lot,’ ” Gallo said.

 

[saddles]

Rangers notes: Joey Gallo wasted no time preparing for 2016

“I think I just tried to make too many adjustments at one time. I tried to be a different player and I started to get all messed up and that’s my own fault,” Gallo said after the Rangers’ winter camp workout Wednesday morning. “I don’t blame anybody for that. That was just me trying to do too much.”

His experience in 2015, which included a left ankle injury at the end of spring training, should serve him well going forward, he said. He took just a week off before starting his off-season workouts. He feels the difference already, especially in his legs. He hopes to keep his emotions on an even keel in 2016.

Gallo joked that his big league debut on June 2, when he went 3 for 4 with a double, homer and four RBIs, was his downfall. Expectations went through the roof. It didn’t serve him well the rest of the season.

“When you first get called up you’re tense and you want to impress everybody and you want to be a superstar,” he said. “It’s tough to play like that so I just want to play and let the results happen.”


Rua’s decision

Ryan Rua’s decision not to play in the Arizona Fall League in October disappointed the club but Rua saw it as a way to close a “whirlwind” rookie year.

He was the Opening Day starter in left field, but then got hurt the first week of the season and finished the year struggling at Round Rock. In the off-season, Rua got married and bought a house.

“The way things went I knew it would benefit me to play but on the other hand I thought it would benefit me just to clear my head and kind of let that season go from an individual standpoint,” he said.