The Officially Official Off Season Thread (2016)

[True Rangers Fan]

I believe I just read he's got more HR than anyone in baseball over the past 4 seasons.

No doubt, he's a slugger. He turned it around and got a sweet offer. And then apparently felt "meh" about it.

 

[RevSader]

Not mad, but c'mon... no one saw 2013 or 2015 coming from Chris Davis, and to get a $150m offer on the strength of those two seasons? Dumb for not signing. Maybe he gets more from someone else, who knows. Just irritates me when a guy like that turns down money like that.

In an era where guys don't hit homers like they used do the guy who does it more than everyone else is gonna get paid.

 

[saddles]

Some notes from Scott Lucas today.

Per DFW media, Texas has reached a two-year Major League deal (plus a club option) with 32-year-old right-handed reliever Tony Barnette, who has pitched the past six years for Japan's Tokyo Yakult Swallows. After one shaky season as a starter, Barnette has shined in relief, saving 98 games with a 2.78 ERA, 266 strikeouts and 73 walks in 236.2 innings. That's a salty 28% strikeout rate. Older reports had him throwing a wide variety of pitches and adding a cutter and sinker in a relief role. More recently, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports his fastball can reach 95. Here's video of Barnette closing out the Central League championship in October, featuring his adoption of the familiar Japanese hesitation in his delivery. The Rangers themselves have made no announcement regarding Barnette.

Texas declined to make a selection in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 draft and didn't lose anyone. Hard-throwing lefty Will Lamb and 1B/2B/3B/COF Drew Robinson were the most likely losses, but I didn't expect either to depart. In its R5 preview, Baseball America also mentioned 1B Ronald Guzman, who I really didn't expect anyone to draft.

While Lamb passed through the draft unscathed, he will nevertheless spend 2016 in a different uniform. Texas traded Lamb to the White Sox for 23-year-old RHP Myles Jaye, a 2010 17th-rounder from Fayetteville, GA, who registered a 3.29 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 147.2 innings as a starter for AA Birmingham. MLB.com ranked Jaye as Chicago's #25 prospect. Jaye throws a low-90s fastball, slider and change, all of which rate close to average. The White Sox acquired Jaye in 2012 for reliever Jason Frasor, who would join the Rangers a year later. Lamb, Texas's 2nd-round selection from 2011, is a Virginia native and pitched at Clemson, so I suspect he'll be happy at Chicago's AAA affiliate in Charlotte, NC.

In the minor-league phase, Texas selected Garrett Weber from Arizona. A 22nd-rounder from Cal State Fresno in 2011, the 5'10", 165-lb Weber batted .302/.371/.455 between AA Mobile and AAA Reno last season. Weber has played everywhere but CF and catcher in his five pro seasons, but he spent the majority of 2015 at 2B and LF plus a small handful of games on the infield corners. Texas essentially assumes his contract and doesn't need to keep him on any particular roster. I've a feeling I'll be seeing him in Round Rock.

 

[donaldson79]

I have heard it said the reason he was struggling at AAA was that he was focusing on trying things out and not just production in AAA. No clue how true that is and if it's a valid excuse, but yeah he was not ready at all last year. We saw a glimpse of his power though and it was nice.

I wonder how much his foot injury affected him. He was still bothered by that when the season ended.

Solid points/observations. But I'm not talking about just his hitting. He looked lost at 3rd at times too.

Again, your points on the foot are well received, and I certainly don't won't to judge nor rush a 22 year old just b/c we thought he was going to be here sooner than later. I'm trying to be patient with our approach to him.

How horrible would it be if he showed as a polished ML player in 2018 at the ripe old age of 25?

 

[True Rangers Fan]

In an era where guys don't hit homers like they used do the guy who does it more than everyone else is gonna get paid.

True. Be interesting to see what happens with him now. Not sure how many teams are in need of 1B to the degree of more than 7/150.

 

[saddles]

I believe I just read he's got more HR than anyone in baseball over the past 4 seasons.

And yes he struggled mightily here. But bye his own admission he admitted he was very immature and conducted himself as such. And once he had a few good seasons he thanked the Rangers for giving him an opportunity, and frankly, I thought handled himself quite well.

As far as greed is concerned, I don't hold the player responsible for asking for any amount of money. Look what's just happened on the pitching market. It's up to the owners to control the madness, and instead it's only getting worse. At least more pronounced anyway.

Immature? Right now when I read what you wrote is the first time I have ever heard or read anyone say that about Chris.

As I remember, Chris was a great guy while here. He didn't have the success while here like we wanted, but eventually all he needed was everyday playing tome to accomplish that and we weren't ready to give that to him.

 

[RevSader]

Immature? Right now when I read what you wrote is the first time I have ever heard or read anyone say that about Chris.

As I remember, Chris was a great guy while here. He didn't have the success while here like we wanted, but eventually all he needed was everyday playing tome to accomplish that and we weren't ready to give that to him.

When the dude was up he played and when he played he was bad. He got close to 1000 PAs as a Ranger. Dammit...I thought I was done making that point 4 years later.

 

[donaldson79]

Immature? Right now when I read what you wrote is the first time I have ever heard or read anyone say that about Chris.

Well, your memory must be failing. I knew a guy who hung around him and Davis was drinking/chasing every night and spent more time doing this than thinking about his baseball career. But I never said once he was a bad guy. Being immature, especially while still young, makes no one a bad person.

He "admitted" he was immature while here though, and I'm surprised you don't remember him addressing it. In the article/interview I remember he stated how meeting his wife really helped him grow up.

Personally, I don't hold it against him. Part of life IMO.

 

[saddles]

"We had come to a point where it was going to be less likely for him to get everyday at-bats for us," Levine said. "We recognized when we traded him that we were giving him to a team that was going to be able to give him everyday at-bats. We always viewed him as a guy who you were going to need to let play for 500-plus plate appearances."

"Asking a guy like that to play infrequently doesn't put him in the best position," Levine said.

The most plate appearances he received there was 419 in 2009. Sure enough, last year, when he finally crossed the magical 500 plate appearances mark Texas had set for him, Davis put up career-high power numbers for the Orioles.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...atch-chris-davis-thrive-in-baltimore/2500829/

He was brought up in 2008 and did great. He was given a chance in 2009 and didn't do so well at all and was sent back down. Although overall in 2009 his numbers looked a lot like Moreland's did in 2011 and 2013 when you look at OPS and Moreland got more regular playing time in those years than Chris did in 2009.

In 2010 he was only given 120 AB here and that really isn't a fair chance. In 2011 we gave up on him and traded him after his OPS and batting average actually rebounded significantly from the two years prior. He was on the rebound when they traded him. He started only 20 games for us in the four months he was here in 2011 so that shouldn't really count as a chance either. In the last two months of 2011 while playing for Baltimore he started 31 games despite spending 2 weeks on the disabled list. Now that constitutes a chance and Baltimore was rewarded for finally giving him another chance. That was something we hadn't really done since that 2009 season.

 

[saddles]

Well, your memory must be failing. I knew a guy who hung around him and Davis was drinking/chasing every night and spent more time doing this than thinking about his baseball career. But I never said once he was a bad guy. Being immature, especially while still young, makes no one a bad person.

He "admitted" he was immature while here though, and I'm surprised you don't remember him addressing it. In the article/interview I remember he stated how meeting his wife really helped him grow up.

Personally, I don't hold it against him. Part of life IMO.

I thought you meant immature as a player. I am sure you can find a whole lot of players who act immature away from the stadium.

It isn't really a case of my memory failing me if you had to have known a guy who hung around him to know it. Since I didn't know the guy you did I never heard those things to begin with so I didn't have anything to forget. lol

I meant I never heard anyone criticize his effort or his attitude.

 

[Kelleyman]

Bennie Re Hamels trade. If Harry makes it back as remotely reported then yes that will be part of the move we regret. We did that to shed payroll. Don't disagree though. Very skeptical that he does get back to form

Re Davis. Some things just don't work out. He did have plenty of chances and of course in retrospect we should have kept him but maybe he would have never performed here and needed a chance of scenery to perhaps to get his act together. Regardless it almost sounds like you blame and accuse FO of gross negligence. But then you are huge on prospects IMO. i like to keep up but quite a bit of risk overevaluating

 

[saddles]

Bennie Re Hamels trade. If Harry makes it back as remotely reported then yes that will be part of the move we regret. We did that to shed payroll. Don't disagree though. Very skeptical that he does get back to form

Re Davis. Some things just don't work out. He did have plenty of chances and of course in retrospect we should have kept him but maybe he would have never performed here and needed a chance of scenery to perhaps to get his act together. Regardless it almost sounds like you blame and accuse FO of gross negligence. But then you are huge on prospects IMO. i like to keep up but quite a bit of risk overevaluating

No, I used Thad Levine's own words. He is the one who said they knew he had to play everyday to perform. "Gross negligence" is far too harsh of a term. They simply made a personnel mistake.

Why they chose Moreland over Davis is a whole different topic. Part of the reason they traded Chris was because Baltimore wanted him in order to give up the great Koji Uehara. You know, the same Koji who pitched so terribly for us in 2011 supposedly because he had been overworked that year prior to us getting him. Why we were unaware of his workload is beyond my understanding.

We had to make deals for bullpen help that year because the one JD started the season with was found wanting. I will give JD credit in that he has finally learned not to do that any more. He obviously believes in building a bullpen before the season starts at this point.

I am a fan of JD. That doesn't mean I don't think he makes some costly mistakes at times.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Rangers Facebook page just posted Choo, Dutch, DDJ, and Chirinos working out together at the Ballpark. Glad to see some of the bigger names stick around in the offseason.

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

Looks like JD has done a great job with the bullpen.

 

[donaldson79]

Saddles.................I am a fan of JD. That doesn't mean I don't think he makes some costly mistakes at times.[/QUOTE]

Here's one I remember a little too well.

Padres Receive: 1B Adrian Gonzalez, SP Chris Young and OF Terrmel Sledge

Rangers Receive: C Billy Killian (minors), RP Akinori Otsuka and SP Adam Eaton

 

[donaldson79]

Here are some choice words/rumors on Yasiel Puig.

"He is the worst person I've ever seen in this game," a former Dodgers player told Bleacher Report in a story published Thursday. "Ever."

In the wake of the Arizona Diamondbacks signing former Dodgers pitcherZack Greinke, the Bleacher Report article indicated that Greinke originally opted out of his contract to become a free agent at season’s end at least in part because the "some close to the Dodgers said Greinke would not even consider returning to the club unless he received a guarantee that Puig would be dispatched elsewhere."

 

[saddles]

Here are some choice words/rumors on Yasiel Puig.

"He is the worst person I've ever seen in this game," a former Dodgers player told Bleacher Report in a story published Thursday. "Ever."

In the wake of the Arizona Diamondbacks signing former Dodgers pitcherZack Greinke, the Bleacher Report article indicated that Greinke originally opted out of his contract to become a free agent at season’s end at least in part because the "some close to the Dodgers said Greinke would not even consider returning to the club unless he received a guarantee that Puig would be dispatched elsewhere."

Definitely sounds like a clubhouse cancer.

 

[Kelleyman]

 

[RevSader]

No...