A) It looks as if the bullpen has a chance to be the strongest part of the pitching staff.
B) We still need another bat or two.
C) I'm not sure we are keeping pace with the rest of the division.

Tyson Ross' injury is weird. Sidelined with a shoulder problem from the beginning of the season, then underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in October. Almost feels like they shrugged their shoulders after 6 months and just said, "well, let's see if this works".

I was surprised he is 6'6 240

Y'all see the new stadium renderings? Not overly impressed...

Looks a lot like Minute Maid, but to be honest i don't know there's a whole lot I could say you could do with a stadium to make it look significantly better. There's gonna be a field and seats around the field in multiple levels... Aside from the outfield backdrop and the outside, what can you really design?

So who wants to pony up for one of the Founder's suites??

Certainly plenty designing that can be done so that it doesn't look a lot like another existing ballpark, especially one 200 miles down the interstate.

Anyways, that issued aside, the design looks really sterile. Kind of boring looking. I hope they mix in some bar areas with good field views and what not that I didn't see in the rendering.

TXAggie2011 said:

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Anyways, that issued aside, the design looks really sterile. Kind of boring looking. I hope they mix in some bar areas with good field views and what not that I didn't see in the rendering.

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There will be

There will be plenty of bar and club areas -- that's one of the big selling points of a new stadium.

Interesting thing will be what % of seats have multi-year licenses and how they will handle re-seating in a smaller stadium.

Not talking club level stuff so much as talking Nationals Park Red Loft style kind of stuff. I don't remember having much of a view but I remember the grill and tequila bar that's open to everyone down at...Minute Maid, was a good place.

free_mhayden said:

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There will be plenty of bar and club areas -- that's one of the big selling points of a new stadium.

Interesting thing will be what % of seats have multi-year licenses and how they will handle re-seating in a smaller stadium.

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Re-seating is going to be so much "fun" to deal with. There will be a lot of emphasis placed on current tenure, what type of plan you have, and where your current seats are located.

Glad to see it doesn't look like the outfield seating will be too towering. There are some ballparks, current Rangers one includes, with some seats a looooong ways from home plate.

I don't think there is much wrong with the "old" park. But one improvement they could make is open concourses for the new place.

AccidentProne said:

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free_mhayden said:

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There will be plenty of bar and club areas -- that's one of the big selling points of a new stadium.

Interesting thing will be what % of seats have multi-year licenses and how they will handle re-seating in a smaller stadium.

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Re-seating is going to be so much "fun" to deal with. There will be a lot of emphasis placed on current tenure, what type of plan you have, and where your current seats are located.

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Yeah, I imagine the reps that get to handle first 30 or so people on "the list" will enjoy it... After that, everyone is gonna have a complaint. Hopefully it's done after a World Series winning year and people are just happy to have a seat.

Any idea if there is going to be some kind of virtual seat selection process used like A&M did for football/hoops?

free_mhayden said:

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AccidentProne said:

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free_mhayden said:

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There will be plenty of bar and club areas -- that's one of the big selling points of a new stadium.

Interesting thing will be what % of seats have multi-year licenses and how they will handle re-seating in a smaller stadium.

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Re-seating is going to be so much "fun" to deal with. There will be a lot of emphasis placed on current tenure, what type of plan you have, and where your current seats are located.

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Yeah, I imagine the reps that get to handle first 30 or so people on "the list" will enjoy it... After that, everyone is gonna have a complaint. Hopefully it's done after a World Series winning year and people are just happy to have a seat.

Any idea if there is going to be some kind of virtual seat selection process used like A&M did for football/hoops?

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That would be an interesting idea. Assign a date for each tenure level, then give them access to the seating chart to pick out their seats. I'll propose that idea to my boss.

We don't currently have any software that allows us to do that, but shouldn't difficult to procure if we wanted to go that route.

EDIT: We'll probably have a virtual center at Texas Live where current STHs can come out and select their new seats. Similar to our current select a seat event we do every year. Only difference is they won't be able to go into the new stadium

I thought I remember one of the selling points being that it would be trying to keep a lot of the elements of The Temple.

I like the big arches (and old school red brick style of the current park, which this appears to have too. In the drawing, I don't like how the bullpens look in this first cut with the mesh fence style and with the fans set back away from most of the OF fence. I think the current ballpark has a nice balance and look with how the bullpens work.

With the roof, I do think they have to build it less towering than the current ballpark - which is a good thing. And they overbuilt the current park. This stadium does not need 49,000 seats. Most of the seats in the upper OF corners were a complete waste that just look like an empty mess many nights.

I like being able to see the bullpens from all over the park. But the new drawings look terrible. Basically 2/3rds of the outfield wall will be a clear fence between the bullpen and field?

Terrible. Looks like a amateur baseball field.

And let the fans actually have most of the front row seats. Not the bullpen pitchers.

You get the sense the Rangers will land a SP.

You have Hammel:

Then, Tyson Ross and Quintana still lingering.

The Rangers are going to have to have a great season, if the new Ballpark is going to be make returns.

The fact Hammel and Quintana are still available is a bit of a surprise. I would think teams are ready for certainty going into ST. Pitchers and Catchers report in less than 6 weeks.

Maybe Hammel isn't getting the multi-year offers thought. I'd like to see Tyson Ross on a minor league deal. Along with Colby Lewis.

Quote:

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The fact Hammel and Quintana are still available is a bit of a surprise. I would think teams are ready for certainty going into ST. Pitchers and Catchers report in less than 6 weeks.

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I don't know that I am surprised, but I think the Sox was wanting a Sale-like deal and are willing to wait until teams start to lose SP during the season to get it. Hammel had a pretty insane drop in performance by the end of the season to lose his playoff spot. I felt awful for him during the WS celebrations because they kept interviewing him. He's also probably better served waiting until injuries take their toll during the season if he is insistent on a multi year deal.

Did I miss something or is Napoli still sitting out there as a free agent? I would have thought we would have signed him, especially since EE is on the Indians now. I get that he's older, but he'd make a lot of sense at this point.

Supposedly they're still going back and forth on terms. Doesn't seem like there is a glut of interest from other teams so I'd imagine that's driving the time frame. I know he's been tied to the A's and O's, but I don't see him signing with a team with no chance of winning and I'm not sure the O's are a great fit.

Napoli, Bautista, Trumbo are all still out there. Bautista needs to can his agent for totally misreading the market. Pretty sure he turned down a big multi-year deal and now will likely end up on a one year deal and get to do it all over again next year. But do I feel sorry for him... nope

Also what about Mark Trumbo? Do we just value the pick we'd have to give up too much? Seems like he could be signed to a multi-year deal.

KT 90 said:

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Napoli, Bautista, Trumbo are all still out there. Bautista needs to can his agent for totally misreading the market. Pretty sure he turned down a big multi-year deal and now will likely end up on a one year deal and get to do it all over again next year. But do I feel sorry for him... nope

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Not at all. I think the lack of interest shown for him tells you just about all you need to know about how he was viewed outside the Blue Jays locker room despite what some Astros fans may tell you about Odor being the most hated player in the MLB.

jtstanley4621 said:

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Also what about Mark Trumbo? Do we just value the pick we'd have to give up too much? Seems like he could be signed to a multi-year deal.

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I thought I read somewhere that Trumbo doesn't want to come to Texas

Maybe I'm off-base, but I'm starting to kind of wish the Rangers had ponied up about $2 million and signed Jhoulys Chacin.

He pitched well enough in this division to close out last season***, and also now has some experience in the bullpen if he's not in the rotation. Worst case is you buyout whatever is left on that contract and let him go somewhere else.

***He helped sink the Astros, shutting them out for 13 innings over his last two starts of the season. Gave up 2 earned runs over 11 innings in his two preceding starts against the Rangers and Mariners.

Just seems like it would have been a low-risk, potential reward deal given how thin the pitching market had become.

I'll be watching him in San Diego to see about trying to sign him next off-season.

Lots of noise today saying the Rangers are looking hard at Trumbo.

Lone Star Ball: Trumbo "Of Interest" to Rangers

MLB Trade Rumors: "Rangers 'Check-in' On Trumbo"

Seems like they're checking back in now that it looks like Baltimore isn't going to try to sign him. Word before was he wasn't even interested in hearing an offer. Guess it just depends on whether or not that changes his view.

I can live with Trumbo on a 1-year deal... 2 if the AAV isn't bad.

If we end up signing Trumbo to a 3-year deal or Napoli to a 2-year deal then we really blew it not getting EE.

I'm wondering if kicking the tires on Trumbo is just a negotiation strategy to weaken the asking price for Napoli

bigcat22 said:

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I'm wondering if kicking the tires on Trumbo is just a negotiation strategy to weaken the asking price for Napoli

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That is my thought.

Yeah, it seems to have shifted to a little more of a buyer's market on these last couple of 1B options. No harm in playing them against each other a bit instead of vice versa.

I'm really surprised at the lack of talk about Profar. I know JD is good about no leaks, but surprised I haven't seen nothing surfaced.

A scenario. The LAD have been pressing for Minnesota 2B'er Dozier.

Some scenarios within the trade have been Dodger LHP Urias straight up for Dozier.


Another scenario would be LAD Jose De Leon (RHP-23) plus... say Bellinger (20-1B\OF)

I could see Profar to LAD.

Until we solidify either Trumbo or Napoli, I suspect Profar will remain off the table. Once that position is done, I could see him popping up in rumors. St Louis?!

The Dodgers are on the hook for about $212M for 2017 with 14 guys under contract. They have Arbs and Serfs.

Yes the Dodgers believe they have all the money to spend, but apparently MLB is concerned that they are approaching $1B in debt.