World Series Champions, Texas Rangers 2023-2024 Offseason Thread

[saddles]

Evan Grant brought up the question, when are the Rangers going to develop pitching?

To that point, they developed Ragans, but used him incorrectly and then traded him all for the same reason. The reason he was used correctly and then traded was because they failed to fix the bullpen a year ago.

They have developed Bradford. They have also had to use him in the bullpen for the same reason they put Ragans there. Now, they need to trust him, let him take some lumps at times, and thereby finish the development process.

They cannot develop any starting pitchers if they are going to put them in the bullpen to cover up offseason mistakes regarding the pen. They also have to trust young starters and be willing to accept that they will struggle at times. They have to show a lot nore patience than they have, and they have to start waiting until guys have failed at starting before putting them in the bullpen.

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

First Scherzer and now Seager. Who is next? It has not exactly been a healthy offseason.

 

[scotsman#1948]

Probably.

Belt played 9 seasons under Bochy

 

[scotsman#1948]

First Scherzer and now Seager. Who is next? It has not exactly been a healthy offseason.

both were attempts to minimize surgery agreed on by staff and player. it didn't work

 

[saddles]

both were attempts to minimize surgery agreed on by staff and player. it didn't work

Yeah, I was thinking about that. It seems like healing without surgery evades the Rangers a lot. Seems like it started with Profar.

 

[Nightcrawler]

First Scherzer and now Seager. Who is next? It has not exactly been a healthy offseason.

smith needs the reps

 

[Duane1952]

Wonder why he waited to have the surgery.

 

[scotsman#1948]

smith needs the reps

with Seager out for ST, Duran needs the reps and we also need to see Foscue and Wenzel get sufficient reps to determine their place on the 26 man bench. Smith will probably get minimal time

 

[scotsman#1948]

Wonder why he waited to have the surgery.

the multiple physicians he saw thought there was actually a chance of it healing without surgery

 

[Nightcrawler]

with Seager out for ST, Duran needs the reps and we also need to see Foscue and Wenzel get sufficient reps to determine their place on the 26 man bench. Smith will probably get minimal time

Smith’s bad reeks and needs to improve.

 

[Kelleyman]

They say he will be ready OD but maybe he DHs if progress is slow

 

[saddles]

 

[Nightcrawler]

For some reason, his last name always made me think of the pit in Star Wars return of the Jedi.

 

[saddles]

Evan Drelich had a column in The Athletic this morning about the Diamond/Bally/Amazon plan in the bankruptcy court. Here are some excerpts;

Amazon wants to invest in Diamond Sports Group, the embattled regional sports network operator, so Diamond can continue operating after this year. A bankruptcy judge ultimately has to approve that plan, which likely couldn’t happen any earlier than May or June.

Regardless of the outcome, three MLB teams that potentially were not going to be carried by Diamond in 2024 — the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers — are expected to remain with Diamond this season on one-year deals, a person briefed on the league’s thinking told The Athletic.

It’s been unclear if Diamond would carry three MLB teams in 2024 that it carried in the past: the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers. What’s going to happen with those three teams if this plan goes forward?​

All three teams are expected to remain with Diamond for 2024 on one-year deals, according to the person briefed on the league’s thinking. The deals are highly unlikely to include any streaming rights for those teams, which Diamond didn’t carry before either. Perhaps as early as this week, those deals will move closer to official — Diamond said in court it wants to know whether the teams will accept the terms that have been offered by Feb. 1.

As a technical matter, the Guardians and Rangers were in the same boat: both teams were under contract with Diamond for 2024, but Diamond was threatening to drop them unless they re-negotiated their rights fees. The Twins’ deal with Diamond expired after 2023, so they’ve been working on a new deal.

With those three teams expected to be in the fold, Diamond would be carrying 12 MLB clubs in 2024. That trio joins the Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis
Cardinals, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers.

It’s unclear just how much the Guardians and Rangers will have their 2024 rights fees reduced, but the person briefed on the league’s thinking said it would be 15 percent or less.

 

[saddles]

14 More Days

 

[Kelleyman]

Yeah looks like one more year and no streaming options other than Bally. Saw that article earlier

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

From Jeff Wilson:

The Rangers have depth, and it starts with Ezequiel Duran.

He blossomed early last season as Seager mended a pulled hamstring and stayed in the lineup after Seager returned. Duran’s production petered off when he was filling in for third baseman Josh Jung, but the Rangers were impressed with how hard Duran worked while traveling with the team in the postseason.

If Seager isn’t ready for the opener, Duran should be. Josh Smith and Jonathan Ornelas should also be available. Duran could be in the lineup if Seager is healthy, as the Rangers mull their options at designated hitter.

Duran might be first on the list, ahead of a host of others that includes 2023 first-rounder Wyatt Langford. Justin Foscue, the 2020 first-rounder, is ready for big-league at-bats and is a strong DH candidate.