The Officially Official Off Season Thread (2016)

[Kelleyman]

I'm not sure either. That's why I inquired. ha ha ha

Come on Bennie, we count on you to know this sorta thing. ha ha

Rangers sign Gimenez, non-tender Tepesch, Jones

Article states out of options but fact it is a split contract to me means he can be sent down without a DFA. IMO

 

[saddles]

I wonder if they are planning on redoing Beltre's contract and give him less in 2016 and roll the money forward. That would free up some money to use this offseason.

 

[Hambombs]

Those kinds of trades are only for teams on the brink of greatness. Let's hope Houston feels they are on the brink and hands over tons of young talent for one guy. The D'Backs just gave up a shit ton for Wade Miley of all people. Please Astros get desperate.

Would love Fernandez but that is never happening

 

[RevSader]

Would love Fernandez but that is never happening

I want him to stay in the NL forever so I don't have to hate him. But if Houston was dumb and handed over crazy talent to get him it would hurt them long term.

 

[donaldson79]

Man I would love Jose Fernandez

You've made this abundantly clear. And I can see where you see his upside.

But I posted an article several, several pages ago about him being considered a total diva by his current teammates, and he's already had serious arm problems at 23.

Not saying your enthusiasm is unwarranted, but for me, I'm a little more tempered in my desire for him.

 

[Bmurph]

Those kinds of trades are only for teams on the brink of greatness. Let's hope Houston feels they are on the brink and hands over tons of young talent for one guy. The D'Backs just gave up a shit ton for Wade Miley of all people. Please Astros get desperate.

THE STROS MAY BE GETTING STARTED

Astros Close To Acquiring Ken Giles

By Steve Adams | December 9, 2015 at 6:19pm CST

6:19pm: A source tells Salisbury that a trade sending Giles to Houston is “close” but not done yet (Twitter link).

5:15pm: Major League lefty Brett Oberholtzer, whom the Astros have reportedly been shopping, is also being discussed in talks, tweets Salisbury.

4:16pm: Stark reports that talks currently center around well-regarded right-hander Vincent Velasquez and two other prospects (Twitter link).

2:57pm: Salisbury tweets that the Phillies have pushed back their media session for the day, which could be in relation to talks centering around Giles. ESPN’s Jayson Stark tweets that Lance McCullers won’t be included in a deal for Giles, as the Astros are set on keeping him.

2:28pm: Trade talks between the Astros and Phillies centering around brilliant young closer Ken Giles are “heating up,” reports CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury (Twitter link). Houston has long been linked to top-flight relief arms, and Giles would not only give the club a dominant arm to slot into the ninth inning but also a controllable option for that role, as he’s not eligible for free agency until after the 2020 season.

Giles, who turned 25 in late September, took over as closer in Philadelphia following the trade of Jonathan Papelbon and continued to display the dominance he’s exhibited since breaking into the Majors upon being moved to a more prominent role. In 115 2/3 career innings, the former seventh-round pick has a masterful 1.56 ERA with 11.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 44.6 percent ground-ball rate. Giles’ fastball has averaged just a shade under 97 mph in the Majors (96.8), so he’d satisfy Houston GM previously stated interest in adding a hard-throwing arm that the back end of the Astros’ bullpen presently lacks.

The asking price on Giles, one would imagine, is exceptionally high. The Red Sox paid the substantial price of Manuel Margot, Javier Guerra, Carlos Asuaje and Logan Allen for three years of Craig Kimbrel. While Giles doesn’t have Kimbrel’s lengthy track record of dominance in the Majors, he’s delivered comparable results and comes with two more years of control than did Kimbrel, two of which figure to be near the league-minimum in terms of salary. Giles should narrowly fall shy of Super Two status (he currently has one year, 113 days of Major League service time) and won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2017 season.

 

[Bmurph]

LMFAO at O.Shithole

What a Dump!

LOOK: Raiders stadium is so decrepit, team uses paper cups to fix leaks
By John Breech | CBSSports.com

December 9, 2015 7:36 pm ET

If the decision to move an NFL team to Los Angeles comes down to a pity vote, the Raidersmight win unanimously.

Of the three teams looking to move to LA, the Raiders easily have the worst stadium. As a matter of fact, things are so bad at O.co Coliseum that they don't even bother calling the plumber to fix leaks anymore -- they just tape paper cups over holes and pray.

That picture was taken by Kendall Gammon, a reporter for the Chiefs Radio Network, who was in Oakland on Sunday for Kansas City's 34-20 win over the Raiders. Besides the cups, Gammon was also impressed with the television situation in the press box.

As for the cups, Pepsi probably loves the free publicity. "Look at our cups: You can drink out of them AND plug holes!"

Anyway, the cups aren't even the worst part about O.Co.









Power Ratings: Contenders should fear Pittsburgh








Back in 2013, the Oakland A's dugout became flooded with sewage, which is as bad as it sounds. Just over a year later, the stadium became flooded by sewage againand since then, it's basically become a regular problem.

Raiders owner Mark Davis has been saying for more than a year that he wants to stay in Oakland. He just wants a new stadium. Now you know why.










Paper cups can solve a lot of problems. (Twitter/KendallGammon)

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Why so?

Well, let me preface this by saying that I fully acknowledge Beltre as one of the greatest players to ever wear a Texas Rangers uniform. A tougher player you won't find on a baseball diamond.

However, next year will be his 19th MLB season and those legs - in my opinion - are a ticking time bomb. And that's not to speak of the various injuries that most guys go through. And also - does this mean they're expecting Gallo to not be ready until 2018 or beyond? Because according to this article:

Texas Rangers rumors: Adrian Beltre contract extension in the works?

they're considering a 2/40 extension through 2018. Again - all due respect to Beltre and everything he is - that's $20m a year for 2017 & 2018, and I'm not sure that doesn't hamper things from a payroll perspective at a time when I thought it was understood Gallo would be taking over. Unless maybe Beltre goes to DH or 1B? Or Gallo goes to 1B? I don't know, it just seems like this changes the landscape quite a bit versus what I figured the plans were.

Look, I would absolutely love Beltre to close out his career as a Ranger. And for him to get his 3,000 hit here too. But there's the overall state of the organization to always consider, and I just don't want to lose any progress or strength in order for those to happen.

 

[RevSader]

Well, let me preface this by saying that I fully acknowledge Beltre as one of the greatest players to ever wear a Texas Rangers uniform. A tougher player you won't find on a baseball diamond.

However, next year will be his 19th MLB season and those legs - in my opinion - are a ticking time bomb. And that's not to speak of the various injuries that most guys go through. And also - does this mean they're expecting Gallo to not be ready until 2018 or beyond? Because according to this article:

Texas Rangers rumors: Adrian Beltre contract extension in the works?

they're considering a 2/40 extension through 2018. Again - all due respect to Beltre and everything he is - that's $20m a year for 2017 & 2018, and I'm not sure that doesn't hamper things from a payroll perspective at a time when I thought it was understood Gallo would be taking over. Unless maybe Beltre goes to DH or 1B? Or Gallo goes to 1B? I don't know, it just seems like this changes the landscape quite a bit versus what I figured the plans were.

Look, I would absolutely love Beltre to close out his career as a Ranger. And for him to get his 3,000 hit here too. But there's the overall state of the organization to always consider, and I just don't want to lose any progress or strength in order for those to happen.

Adam Morris pulled that number out of his ass. I see no mention of where he got that figure from the Evan story he linked or otherwise.

 

[RevSader]

More reason to laugh at the A's. They traded Brett Lawrie for two minor league arms J.B. Wendelken and Zack Erwin from the White Sox. Keep in mind Lawrie was the headliner for the Donaldson deal last year with Toronto.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Adam Morris pulled that number out of his ass. I see no mention of where he got that figure from the Evan story he linked or otherwise.

Oh, then I guess all the other stuff I mentioned is inconsequential. Good point.

 

[RevSader]

Oh, then I guess all the other stuff I mentioned is inconsequential. Good point.

Part of your worry is about the price, when the number was made up it is inconsequential. And I don't worry about his ability, because he's the kind of player that would walk away if he wasn't able to hack it.

And Gallo isn't ready so there is no real reason to rush him if you have Beltre. He's one of the rare players you pay for their impact on and off the field. If he wants to stay then you extend him. Keeping him around is worth any associated risk.

 

[saddles]

That is not good.

 

[RevSader]

That is not good.

It's not anything, because it all remains to be seen. (just doing my part of the cycle)

 

[romeo212000]

That is not good.

Not even gonna respond to this. There's no point. We've done this I don't know how many times in the last two years.

 

[Hambombs]

Take what Daniels says with a grain of salt. He wants to improve the team

 

[Hambombs]

Where has terps been? Haven't seen that guy in forever

 

[saddles]

Well, let me preface this by saying that I fully acknowledge Beltre as one of the greatest players to ever wear a Texas Rangers uniform. A tougher player you won't find on a baseball diamond.

However, next year will be his 19th MLB season and those legs - in my opinion - are a ticking time bomb. And that's not to speak of the various injuries that most guys go through. And also - does this mean they're expecting Gallo to not be ready until 2018 or beyond? Because according to this article:

Texas Rangers rumors: Adrian Beltre contract extension in the works?

they're considering a 2/40 extension through 2018. Again - all due respect to Beltre and everything he is - that's $20m a year for 2017 & 2018, and I'm not sure that doesn't hamper things from a payroll perspective at a time when I thought it was understood Gallo would be taking over. Unless maybe Beltre goes to DH or 1B? Or Gallo goes to 1B? I don't know, it just seems like this changes the landscape quite a bit versus what I figured the plans were.

Look, I would absolutely love Beltre to close out his career as a Ranger. And for him to get his 3,000 hit here too. But there's the overall state of the organization to always consider, and I just don't want to lose any progress or strength in order for those to happen.

I think this has a chance of being close to as bad as the Michael Young last years without the whining part. Father Time always wins. We have seen Beltre decline for awhile and when he continues it will hurt the team more every year. If they were planning on raising the payroll to a better level then I would be all for a move like extending Beltre, but this team is hampered already budget wise. When he declines they will not sit his contract on the bench. I have all the respect in the world for Adrian, but this move could very well backfire.

 

[saddles]

Take what Daniels says with a grain of salt. He wants to improve the team

Yes, he wants to improve the team. He wants to improve them on a budget that has remained close to static for 3 years now and on a budget that he is planning on keeping that way while other smaller market teams spend $20-30 million more per year. That can be done, but it takes a whole lot of very good and very cheap young players that we don't currently have. Some of the ones we do have close to coming up will likely be traded for stop-gap veterans to help us tread water in the 80s win range.

Maybe I will be wrong and JD will suddenly become a liar and spend more money. We can always hope.

 

[saddles]

Where has terps been? Haven't seen that guy in forever

I have been wondering what happened to Winding.