Really hope the Astros pull it out. They have the pitching and big bats to match the Jays.

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

Tim Lincecum (32)

Kyle Lohse (37)

Shaun Marcum (34)

Justin Masterson (31)

Brandon Morrow (31)

Hector Noesi (29)

Sean O’Sullivan (28)

Bud Norris (31)

Mike Pelfrey (32)

David Price (30)

Jeff Samardzija (31)

Alfredo Simon (35)

Ryan Vogelsong (38)

Jerome Williams (34)

Chris Young (37)

Jordan Zimmermann (30)

So we have starting in April:

Hamels, Perez, Holland.

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.

Coaches Magadan, Hawkins will not return

http://m.rangers.mlb.com/news/article/154685690/dave-magadan-andy-hawkins-wont- coach-texas

Time to talk Rudy out of retirement to straighten out the bats...

I can see JD looking hard at Cueto or Masterson.

The first one will probably be too expensive to sign (he already makes 10M per year and will probably be looking for 20M) the other one has close to a career 5.00 ERA...

To sign Cueto you will have to get rid of salary somewhere else on the payroll. I can think of a player you could trade to free up salary for a bunch of prospects and a bag of used pucks!!! I'm pretty sure you know who I'm referring to...

Now if they decide not to bring Gallardo back then you just freed up at least 13M or close to 16M depending on how you look at it...

Colby and Gallardo FAs this off season.

Gallardo gets a qualifying offer. If he's smart he will take it.

Same with Colby.

Qualifying offers this year will be almost $16 million, not sure either one is worth that much especially when they've been paying Colby around 4-5 million...

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25333950/qualifying-offer-set-at- 158-million-which-free-agents-will-get-one

Wondering where Maddux fits in? Banny will no doubt have a heavy hand in who gets hired to replace Mag and Hawkins.

Maybe Mike's brother should take over pitching coach.

I can think of a player you could trade to free up salary for a bunch of prospects and a bag of used pucks!!! I'm pretty sure you know who I'm referring to...

Man don't make me laugh that hard. Still have 5 sets of stitches:)

Yeah there is only one organization inept enough to pick up the Evis contract. I'm pretty sure you know which organization that is? Starts with an A and ends with an S.

Then again, we owe Boston a PTBNL for Napoli. Wonder if we could offload Evis there and promise to pay half. Evan Grant already said no one wants Elvis and his toxic contract. If he was playing like Correra maybe. But not even close.

I saw the article at the DFW site that the Rangers will try to part ways with L. Martin. He is eligible for arbitration and don't see meeting him half way. How you dump an arbitration player I don't remember.

Another question that needs to be answered is what to do about Napoli, he's a FA, and some would like to keep him but what do you do with him??

I think it was Sherrington who suggested Morelands stock is high. Time to trade him for a power RH bat. If that goes through they make a deal with Nap to switch with Fielder at 1B and DH.

Then what do you do with Hammy? Is he at the point of being a platoon OFer?

I think DD has the full time CF job. So many games were won when he got on base early in the game.

So two starting pitchers needed and we have a hole of no power RH OF bat. What's Cruz up to?:)

Colby Lewis pitched second half of season for Texas Rangers on bad knee

Yeah there is only one organization inept enough to pick up the Evis contract. I'm pretty sure you know which organization that is? Starts with an A and ends with an S.

I'm not so sure that is the case anymore they have a new GM in Billy Epler and looks like he's already making some changes, Baylor and Butcher are gone...

Besides that they already have a SS that is better than EVIS and at 1/2 the price so doubt you will find a dance partner here, especially with what they are paying Hammy to play elsewhere...

What's Cruz up to?:)

On a 4 yr 57M contract with Seattle...

He is eligible for arbitration and don't see meeting him half way. How you dump an arbitration player I don't remember.

Just non-tender him and release him...

You can do the same thing with EVIS just release him...

I think it was Sherrington who suggested Morelands stock is high. Time to trade him for a power RH bat. If that goes through they make a deal with Nap to switch with Fielder at 1B and DH.

Can't get DMN website to load this morning for some reason so can't check.

I know I brought up that possibility about 2 or 3 mos ago trading him for a good defensively RHed OF that can drive in some runs... And depending on what position he plays what do you do with DD (who needs late inning Defensive replacement) and Hammy??? If it were me I would go after a CFer move DD to LF and bring Hammy in to play 1st and platoon with Napoli (that's if they decide to keep him)...

Then the next issue is who do they keep as backup OFers Stubbs or Martin, as of this moment Martin is cheaper or some of the younguns and none of them can really hit... BTA that was a big theme this year not many people could hit the ball and the reason Mags is gone. Depending on who they get as a hitting coach and can do over the winter may determine who stays and who goes...

Man don't make me laugh that hard. Still have 5 sets of stitches:)

Why not, keeping you in a good frame of mind will get you up off your butt sooner... :)

Then again, we owe Boston a PTBNL for Napoli. Wonder if we could offload Evis there and promise to pay half.

Don't think that will happen either they have Bogaerts as their SS and he drove in 81 runs...

You are gonna have to find someone who is in desperate need of a SS that has aspirations of the playoffs next year to make a trade. Which I don't think is going to happen I have a sneaking suspicion we're stuck with him or will just have to release him outright. (That's if Alberto or Profar shows he can handle playing everyday)... I would imagine both of them will be playing Fall and maybe Winter ball although I suspect they won't want Profar to throw very much if at all so you're looking at 1B or DH for him...

Hey there...

What are friends for... :)

I saw the article at the DFW site that the Rangers will try to part ways with L. Martin.

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...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/texas-rangers/20151014-jeff-banister-rangers-culture-needs-work-after-decisions-by-leonys-martin-ryan-rua.ece

Banny will no doubt have a heavy hand in who gets hired to replace Mag

Here is an excerpt I read that should shine a little light on the subject- "In one memorable moment in early May, before Odor's demotion, Banister tried to work one-on-one with Odor on his approach, an indication that perhaps the manager had different ideas than the hitting instructor."

Some names mentioned so far to fill the hitting instructors position, Justin Mashore, (Rangers AAA hitting instructor) Jason Giambi, (who worked with Joey in the off season) Ivan Rodriguez (can't seem to remember this guy refresh my memory) /s :) and Michael Young (doubtful he will even interview)...

From what I understand all of the other coaches have been asked to return next year...

Wondering where Maddux fits in? Banny will no doubt have a heavy hand in who gets hired to replace Mag and Hawkins.

Whom we predicted would be gone at the end of the season back in May/June time frame...

Had a thought. Mets are heavy on RH starting pitching. Rangers heavy on LH starters. Perhaps a deal is in order.

They have 2 LHed starters (Matz and Niese) so if they are running a traditional 5 man rotation I would think that is about right. Now if they want an upgrade over Niese then you might get them to bite but I would think they would want you to take Niese which we wouldn't want...

I would think you would want to do business with someone who has none or only 1 LHed SP, that's if they have anybody worth trading for...

If Gallardo does not sign (he likes being home) and Lewis gone, our rotation is then rounded out by Gonzalez and Martinez.

About the only RHed Free agents out there that are an upgrade over Gallardo are Greinke, Cueto, Zimmerman and maybe Fister if he can get his act back together...

Greinke is currently at 25M, Cueto at 10M, Zimmerman at 16.5M and Fister at 11.5M...

If Gallardo could get at least another inning in each of his starts I think it would be a no-brainer to resign him. That means he would have pitched 217 innings this year which is better than most of the other starting RHers...

With both Gonzalez and Martinez neither one of them seem to get to or thru the 3rd time thru the order. Which means you would have to carry an extra reliever all season (just like 2015) unless they get their act together...

I think you seriously have to think about resigning at least one of the 2. They both have their drawbacks (high ERA and not enough innings) but I don't think you can afford to let both of them walk unless you get one of the Free agents listed above. That would leave you with the young'uns to be the 5th starter and 6th man spot starter/long reliever or back to AAA to learn some more...

You have to be able to get to the point where Yu comes back from his TJ surgery... BUT, he will have an arm that he and the team can't trust I think it makes it imperative you keep one of the 2 or bring in someone else and run a 6 man for part if not all of the season...

we have a hole of no power RH OF bat.

You aren't going to find a CFer that fits that description unless you give up half your body appendages, 1st born child and 1/2 the farm system. So that basically leaves it up to being a LFer...

Now if you are looking towards FA to fill that slot then Cespedes and Upton are the big boys on the block, and suppose both could play CF in a pinch but seem to be better suited to the corners...

If you decide to go the trade route then you have to find someone that wants a LHed 1B/DH or a LHed LF/DH that has health problems and 25M salary...

At the present time there doesn't seem to be anybody in the minors that is ready for primetime that fits the bill...

You have to be able to get to the point where Yu comes back from his TJ surgery... BUT, he will have an arm that he and the team can't trust I think it makes it imperative you keep one of the 2 or bring in someone else and run a 6 man for part if not all of the season...

Good points. Even when Darvish is back I seriously doubt he will pitch on 4 days rest. So the 6th pitcher is critical for next season. I see Darvish pitching once a week for a few weeks.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/afl/club.jsp?team_id=542

I think Brinson may make the team before Gallo.

He's definitely trending upwards he played in A, AA and AAA last year. And from looking at his numbers he could be the RHed OF you are looking for, in maybe another year or so...

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...

The morning buzz from Grant is Mitch Moreland as a trading piece.

But they didn't even speculate on what he might be traded for like maybe a RHed SP or maybe a C or maybe a RHed OF bat. Just that trading Mitch would open up more possibilities for Joey when "we" don't think he's ready yet...

Now they are saying all of the other coaches were invited back next year but no word yet on their status... I thought it was already a done deal, guess not...

One team who overpays is looking for another LH bat. That would be the Dodgers. I bet we could rob their farm system:)

That's because you aren't going to get a decent starter from them, they don't have any other than Greinke and Kershaw...

The farm system you really want to rob is the Cardinals, theirs is really deep and has good players...

The morning buzz

Now out comes the "annual" catcher upgrade article, same article for the last 10 years just insert current names... :)

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/texas-rangers/headlines/20151020-rangers- offseason-issue-no.-3-one-catcher-texas-might-pursue-to-improve-position.ece

The morning buzz from Grant is Mitch Moreland as a trading piece.

And when did we first discuss this July or August??? And then I mention it again yesterday and up pops the devil from Grant about an hour later... LOL...

My guess is 110%!! LOL...

Oh before I forget what do you think the odds are that Bautista gets drilled with a 98 MPH heeter the first time the Rangers see him again??

I can think of two pitchers who might do that? Chi Chi or Luke Jackson. Or Kela.

Then again the only way to guarantee Bautista gets drilled is to let Odor pitch a game against them:)

That boy has moxy.

This is what Bautista did against Darvish:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yWwHkyBxGo

Or Kela.

Then again the only way to guarantee Bautista gets drilled is to let Odor pitch a game against them:)

That boy has moxy.

Kela has an attitude just like Rougie, he'll do it without being asked and smile while doing it... :)

But I have a sneaking suspicion Dyson will beat him to it and the dugouts will empty, that is if he's still in Toronto next year. He has a buyout on his 2016 contract and might take it to get the chance for some bigger bucks, he's making 14.5M now...

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...

Evan Grant already said no one wants Elvis and his toxic contract.

The Rangers have other recourses if it really comes to that, which might not be that far down the road if Profar comes back and is playing really well...

They can always flat out release him or do a buyout on his contract which in either case wouldn't cost them that much considering Profars lower contract will offset it for most of what is left of "EVIS's" contract...

Receiving the bag of used pucks would be nice but it's not a deal breaker when you are fixing a mistake like that one...

There is a video on ESPN (under MLB and then go to Texas Rangers, scroll down about 1/2 the page) where Rick Sutcliffe is opining that EVIS will never recover from his 7th inning debacle...

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:13892070

When Yu throws the "screwgy" to RHed batters it has a way of making them look that way.

And that's the thing about TJ surgery. Will Yu have his arsenal of pitch selections when he gets back?

Or will he surprise all and come back as a LH pitcher? Maybe a switch pitcher?

And that's the thing about TJ surgery. Will Yu have his arsenal of pitch selections when he gets back?

Yeah I was wondering the same thing...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/texas-rangers/headlines/20151020-fraley-the- first-two-moves-i-d-make-this-offseason-as-rangers-gm.ece

Oh before I forget what do you think the odds are that Bautista gets drilled with a 98 MPH heeter the first time the Rangers see him again??

Looks like Holland is volunteering to drill Bautista... chuckle...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/texas-rangers/headlines/20151020-derek-holland- not-a-fan-of-jose-bautista-on-the-field-and-personally-i-don-t-like-him- either.ece