Rangers have some decisions to make on Lewis and Gallardo. If not it could be another down April. They basically have three LH starters.
This is more appropriate over here... Take your pick of Free agents in the off season, if you want someone else then you will have to make a trade... I'm not sure about this list cause it doesn't have Colby on it...
Starting Pitchers and their ages...
Brett Anderson (28)
Scott Baker (34)
Brandon Beachy (29)
Chad Billingsley (31)
Joe Blanton (35)
Clay Buchholz (31) – $13MM club option with a $245K buyout
Mark Buehrle (37)
A.J. Burnett (39)
Trevor Cahill (28)
Chris Capuano (37)
Wei-Yin Chen (30)
Bartolo Colon (43)
Johnny Cueto (30)
R.A. Dickey (41) – $12MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Marco Estrada (32)
Doug Fister (32)
Gavin Floyd (33)
Yovani Gallardo (30)
Jaime Garcia (29) – $11.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Dillon Gee (30)
Zack Greinke (32) – can opt out of remaining three years/$71MM
Jeremy Guthrie (37) – $10MM mutual option with a $3.2MM buyout
J.A. Happ (33)
Aaron Harang (38)
Dan Haren (35)
Rich Hill (36)
Tim Hudson (40)
Hisashi Iwakuma (35)
Scott Kazmir (32)
Kyle Kendrick (31)
Ian Kennedy (31)
John Lackey (37)
Mat Latos (28)
Mike Leake (28)
Cliff Lee (37) – $27.5MM club option with a $12.5MM buyout
If Gallardo does not sign (he likes being home) and Lewis gone, our rotation is then rounded out by Gonzalez and Martinez.
If Gallardo or Lewis signs (think Colby bolts or retires) then we have 4 with either Gonzalez or Martinez.
So a 5 man rotation.
To get to your 6 man rotation I believe we need another veteran arm. Either a Cueto or Masterson. When Yu comes back we keep the best of the RH pitchers for the remainder of the season.
You might want to add Rua to the list of departing players... Guess he decided not to go play Fall ball kinda like Martin refused to go to Arizona to stay in shape in case he was needed...
Now they clarify the situation with Rua, somewhat... Says he declined the Fall League because of a wedding, but they didn't say if it was his or someone else's... Hmmmmm...
Maybe we need to post the pitfalls of marriage and hope he reads it before it's too late... LOL...
Also remember Donaldson used to get lippy with Yu when playing for the A's. Yu used to pitch him a bunch of off speed stuff and made him look like a little leaguer.
Yu used to pitch him a bunch of off speed stuff and made him look like a little leaguer.
When Yu throws the "screwgy" to RHed batters it has a way of making them look that way.
Start it out slightly above the knees out over the middle of the plate and it will run back inside about 12-15" and end up about ankle height, nothing Donaldson is gonna do with that pitch except look wayyyyyyyy overmatched...
Yeah Sherrington the guy who spoke of Hamels as a bad deal.
So he wants to drain the farm for an even bigger risk.
Plus there are questions if Sonny Gray is healthy. Interesting how the A's limited his outings in the last month. Probably to keep his trade value up.
Who knows. Fraley seems to think the Rangers are now a big market team and have money to burn. I thought different.
Saw a piece on MLB trade rumors on Crush Davis and his FA value. Yes the Ks really hurt but he bats around .256 and crushed the ball well against LH and RH pitching. He also has power to all parts of the field. So if one is looking for a power bat that can play corner OF and corner INF Crush may be who the Rangers want back. He's 30 and in power prime. If Fraley is right and the Rangers have $ then taking on another $100+ million 6 year deal is no problem:)
So that leaves Mitch trade fodder to get the RH pitcher we need.
And if I remember correctly you said they signed a big TV deal just last season and now that they are winning again the stadium should be full on a regular basis.
ARLINGTON -- The Rangers' catching depth was reduced on Monday when Carlos Corporan refused outright assignment and opted for free agency. Texas still has Robinson Chirinos, Chris Gimenez and Bobby Wilson on the 40-man roster. All three are eligible for arbitration.
Catching could be an area that the Rangers look to upgrade in the offseason. It is also a position that is relatively weak all through the Major Leagues and the arrangement that helped win an American League West title in 2015 may be as good as the Rangers can put together for next season.
"We need to be careful not to covet something that may or may not be out there," general manager Jon Daniels said. "It's tough a position in the industry to fill. At the same point, we'll look at make sure we're coming to camp with the best set up as we can."
Chirinos goes into the offseason as the Rangers' No. 1 catcher. He was that for the first four months and again in the postseason after playing most of the final two months of the season with a torn muscle in his left shoulder.
Chirinos batted .232 with 10 home runs, 34 RBIs, a .325 on-base percentage and a .438 slugging percentage. He also threw out 23.7 percent of attempted basestealers after leading the league at 36.2 percent in 2014.
Gimenez played in 36 games with the Rangers after being called up at the end of July and hit .255 with five home runs, 14 RBIs, a .330 on-base percentage and a .490 slugging percentage. He also threw out just one of 19 attempted basestealers, but he had shoulder "cleanup" surgery immediately after the season.
Gimenez, who turns 33 on Dec. 27, has never had a full season in the Majors, but the Rangers were 25-7 in his starts. He was also the personal catcher for starter Cole Hamels and emerged as a clubhouse leader down the stretch.
Wilson shared the catching duties with Gimenez in the final two months while Chirinos and Corporan were sidelined. Wilson hit .221 with one home run, 10 RBIs, a .291 on-base percentage and a .325 slugging percentage, although club officials also consider him the best defensively of the three.
The most interesting name on the list of potential free-agent catchers is Matt Wieters, a three-time All-Star with the Orioles who played in 75 games last season after being out from May 11, 2014 to June 5, 2015 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The other potential free agents include Alex Avila, who was an All-Star for the Tigers in 2011 and their starting catcher for five years before falling off in '15. Also eligible for free agency are veterans Chris Iannetta, Dioner Navarro, A.J. Pierzynski, Geovany Soto and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
On the trade front, the Brewers may try to trade Jonathan Lucroy, who was an All-Star in 2014 and is signed through next season with a club option for '17. But new general manager David Stearns said Lucroy is the type of player they may want to build around. Other potential trade possibilities include Wilson Ramos of the Nationals, Tyler Flowers of the White Sox, Carlos Ruiz of the Phillies, Christian Vazquez of the Red Sox and A.J. Ellis of the Dodgers.
The Rangers' own catching depth took a bigger hit on July 31 when top prospect Jorge Alfaro was included in the trade with the Phillies and Tomas Telis was sent to the Marlins for reliever Sam Dyson.
Triple-A Round Rock finished the season with Brett Nicholas and Patrick Cantwell sharing the catching duties. Nicholas is a converted first baseman with left-handed power who is still learning the position. Cantwell, a third-round pick in the 2012 Draft, is excellent defensively, but he hit just .178 this past season. The Rangers still have hopes for Kellin Deglan, a first-round pick in 2010 who has the defensive ability and left-handed power at the plate. But he has played in just 17 games at Double-A Frisco.
T.R. Sullivan is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Postcards from Elysian Fields, follow him on Twitter @Sullivan_Ranger and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
And the latest on the catching situation for next year...
Having Wilson in RR would be a good thing for the young pitchers, but for himself earnings wise not so much... I'm pretty sure he's out of options so if you need him he has to clear waivers when he's not needed anymore and thus open to someone to claim. Now if you can convince him to be a teacher to the younguns (both Pitchers and Catchers) and adequately compensate him then he might go for it. But he would have to be making as much as Chirinos/Gimenez I would think to be happy doing it. And not mind riding a damn bus everywhere he goes!!!
It's surprising and yet it's not surprising at the same time.
They invited him back and when he didn't answer right away it signaled that maybe he wasn't wanting to come back. And that also gave the team the chance to realize how bad some of the pitching was against the Jays when they could have closed them out in 3 or 4 games...
If he would have accepted in the first week after the last game $5 says he would already have a contract in hand, "ya snooze ya lose"...
Yep. Plus Banister has no doubt leaned quite a bit about how the Army shakes up leadership every few years to keep ideas up to date and fresh.
I found out over the summer that an officer I used to serve with is in the Pirates organization. Been there for a few years and works closely with the players and managers. Good troop and know why he is there.
looks like they are offering the pitching coach job to Doug Brocail and BP coach to Doug Holman... Don't really have much of an opinion about either person so will just have to wait and see if they are hired...
Can't really see them making a play for Grey cause he would cost too much to land in the way of prospects. BTA I have seen Oakland trade players for next to nothing before so you never know, offer 2 prospect and go from there. I think JD isn't a very good horse trader he offers way too much for so little, still think he could have gotten the Hamels trade done for less...
A couple of the players I could see the Rangers making a play for would be pitchers Fister and Carrasco. Fister has proven he can pitch effectively in the AL and can throw 200 innings, Carrasco hasn't yet but seems to be looking like he might be ready to breakout and do it...
Lucroy well unless he can handle the staff better than what we already have then I would say that would be a waste of money...
Steave Pearce would be a waste of time he's more a utility player that has only had 1 decent season. Cheaper yes proven no...
Yeah I see then making a fast move for Fister if Gallarodo refuses the qualifying offer. Of course he would be crazy to not accept the offer. This off-season is deep on pitching and Gally is middle of the row 4-5 rotation type.
Do you receive the MLB Channel? They have been showing some of the Arizona Fall League games. Profar looked pretty good the other day 2 singles, 2 walks and a LO...
2. When Jurickson Profar starts throwing from a position, it will be shortstop. GM Jon Daniels said the club believes that Profar will be more suited to make throws from shortstop than second base, based on the angle and the stress placed on his throwing arm. Profar wanted to continue to play after his stint in the Arizona Fall League ends, but the Rangers said he was so close to a clean bill of health there was no point in taking any risks in a winter league.
An interesting development in Profar's recovery and also a hint to "EVIS" that he might be getting a new zipcode... :) :) :)
2. Based on his defensive contributions and potential trade value, Leonys Martin will be tendered a contract by the Rangers before the Dec. 2 salary arbitration date.
"We will 100 percent tender him," Daniels said.
Martin made $4.75 million in 2015 in the last year of the initial contract he signed after defecting from Cuba.
Daniels also indicated that Martin has been one of the players in which the Rangers have received the most interest, based on his defensive abilities and offensive potential. The Rangers could tender him a contract and then deal him to another club, which would then pick up the arbitration case.
Looks like they plan on keeping Martin around, as trade bait at a minimum or maybe give him one last chance in Spring Training to get his schitt together...
Use him as a piece in a trade for Carrasco the Indians could use a LHed CFer...
Looks like we won't have to worry about the Angels getting any better they just traded away their SS and best pitching prospects for an overrated over priced SS...
Yeah LOL. They do double down on stupid. They traded their best SS prospect for a Grenke rental a few years ago. Now he is the starting SS for the Brewers.
We got a #1-2 starter for a #3-4 replacement. I think we got the better deal with Hamels.
My point was Eickhoff should have never been included in the Hamels deal, they could have added an "A" ball pitcher with "supposed" high upside and not looked back... What are the odds the "A" ball pitcher would have ever made it to the majors anyway, 1-100 or more???
Now they have to spend a whole lot of money to get both #3 & 4 pitchers for next year and maybe even further into the future because they traded the future away. A much cheaper future by the way...
Remember what I said way back in the Spring about the Rangers had one of the top 3 farm systems in MLB and only had to sit tight for a year or 2 and then they would be set for a looooongggg time?? Don't see that anymore just another disaster waiting to happen if 1-2 key players get hurt..... again....
Remember what I said way back in the Spring about the Rangers had one of the top 3 farm systems in MLB and only had to sit tight for a year or 2 and then they would be set for a looooongggg time?? Don't see that anymore just another disaster waiting to happen if 1-2 key players get hurt..... again....
Hard to look at the unknowns coming from the minors. The Rangers don't have any "generational" type talent right now and probably have not since ARod.
We have to take into consideration the core starters we have and look at age and contract length. The Rangers have a window of 2016- 2018, three seasons to do what they need to get done. Within that timeframe minor leaguers like Profar, Gallo and a few pitching prospects will either make it and fill in or not.
Remember most thought we sold the farm to get Dempster. We gave up Justin Grimm and Mike Olt. Grimm pitched out of the BP for the Cubbies and Olt is still in the minors passed over several times.
What I can't figure out is the Cardinals farm system. They seem to keep getting well above average results from their system. Could be better scouting of draft picks.
The Astros got great quick by being bad for so long. That's another way to do it, but very bad for selling tickets.
