I'd trade Darvish if not in the playoff race.

Absolutely. No reason not to if not in the race. Darvish is going to test free agency, so having an extra 3 months of "courting" him in a losing season isn't gonna do us any good.

While I'm not a Rangers fan, I live in DFW and thus my office baseball talk includes a lot about the Rangers as well. As an outsider, if you're more than 5-6 out by the deadline, I think Gomez, Darvish, and Ross are no-brainers if you can recover some prospects from the Beltran/Lucroy trades. Issue is going to be if Gomez reverts to his Astros numbers, you won't get anything for him.

I think y'all should hang on to lucroy and push to sign him long-term. But if you're truly in the tank as in under .500 and 10+ games out (unlikely, IMO), then he comes into play.

At one point was talk that with the new stadium coming that the Rangers would put a priority on signing Darvish, as he will help with attendance and drawing an international crowd. Is that still the thinking, or have his injuries put a damper on that a bit? Whether Darvish is involved or not, I'd expect them to up the budget and look to make a splash for the startup of the new stadium.

Tolleson may be headed to the Rays:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/01/rays-nearing-deal-with-shawn-tolleson.html

KT 90 said:

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At one point was talk that with the new stadium coming that the Rangers would put a priority on signing Darvish, as he will help with attendance and drawing an international crowd. Is that still the thinking, or have his injuries put a damper on that a bit? Whether Darvish is involved or not, I'd expect them to up the budget and look to make a splash for the startup of the new stadium.

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I think it's less putting a priority on signing Darvish and more making sure that any "rebuild" that is required isn't still occurring in the 2019 season.

When Texas starts trying to move those season tickets and seat licenses, they do not want to be be an 70-80 win team pointing towards "next year".

Excellent news!

Elected with Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines.

Pudge! What a show he put on. Just a pleasure to watch play.

Stupid question, but he's gotta go in as a Ranger right? He spent the vast majority of his career here and still works for the organization, but did win a WS with Florida/Miami

bigcat22 said:

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Stupid question, but he's gotta go in as a Ranger right? He spent the vast majority of his career here and still works for the organization, but did win a WS with Florida/Miami

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Absolutely zero question as to what cap he wears. 13 seasons in the Rangers uniform.

Now, Beltre is a little more questionable, but even then, I think it's a no-brainer he wears the Rangers cap. This is where he went from a really good baseball player to a 1st ballot lock.

RetiredAg said:

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bigcat22 said:

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Stupid question, but he's gotta go in as a Ranger right? He spent the vast majority of his career here and still works for the organization, but did win a WS with Florida/Miami

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Absolutely zero question as to what cap he wears. 13 seasons in the Rangers uniform.

Now, Beltre is a little more questionable, but even then, I think it's a no-brainer he wears the Rangers cap. This is where he went from a really good baseball player to a 1st ballot lock.

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First-ballot lock? Not yet. But sure fire HOF.

RetiredAg said:

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Absolutely zero question as to what cap he wears. 13 seasons in the Rangers uniform.

Now, Beltre is a little more questionable, but even then, I think it's a no-brainer he wears the Rangers cap. This is where he went from a really good baseball player to a 1st ballot lock.

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I agree but thought I'd throw it out for arguments sake. Beltre will be interesting, but I'm optimistic he will go in as a Ranger

Buck Compton said:

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RetiredAg said:

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bigcat22 said:

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Stupid question, but he's gotta go in as a Ranger right? He spent the vast majority of his career here and still works for the organization, but did win a WS with Florida/Miami

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Absolutely zero question as to what cap he wears. 13 seasons in the Rangers uniform.

Now, Beltre is a little more questionable, but even then, I think it's a no-brainer he wears the Rangers cap. This is where he went from a really good baseball player to a 1st ballot lock.

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First-ballot lock? Not yet. But sure fire HOF.

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He'll reach 3,000 hits this year. Will retire with 475-500 homeruns. He'll be 1st or 2nd all-time in every offensive category for 3B. Plus he's already viewed as one of the elite defensive 3B in history.

Only way he doesn't waltz in on the first ballot is if he walks away today, or spends his last 2 years on the DL so much that he doesn't reach any of the major milestones. Even then, I think he still goes in on his first ballot. Also helps that he is universally respected across the league and media, and doesn't have the taint of PEDs.

Pudge

Great read

cdowl38 said:

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Rangers fans: established 2010

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I give it a 10 for originality!

Agree that was a great read.

I was taking a business trip to Germany a day or two after the Rangers 1990 season had ended. I was walking around the international terminal and spotted this guy that looked so familiar but I just couldn't place him. He noticed me looking and kind of half smiled like he knew I was trying to remember his face. But he was getting on a flight to Puerto Rico and I didn't know anybody from there so I walked on. About halfway across the Atlantic I realized that he was none other than that rookie phenom catcher that the Rangers had found making his way to the PR Winter League.

Apologies for the "cool story brah" post, but I probably could have gotten his autograph or at least had a brief conversation with him if I had only pulled his name up before I walked away.

Hearing that Trumbo resigned with Baltimore, sounds like a 3 year deal. Wonder how that changes the Napoli talks, if at all

Okay, this is great!

The Wedding Was Set For Home Plate:
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/22/sports/sports-of-the-times-the-wedding-was-set-for-home-plate.html

Quote:

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Stupid question, but he's gotta go in as a Ranger right? He spent the vast majority of his career here and still works for the organization, but did win a WS with Florida/Miami

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...and Jim Sundberg won a WS with the Royals. But like Pudge, both guys are 100% Rangers.
Pudge going in as a Marlin would be like Emmitt Smith going as an Arizona Cardinal.

As for Beltre, he is one of the all-time fan favorites, only a tick behind Nolan and Pudge. Hard to imagine him in a different cap at this point.

There have been other great players who were fan favorites, but none were HoF level - Bell, Sundberg, Hough, Young, Oliver, Gonzalez

Other greats who either didn't play long enough for Texas or who had baggage - Jenkins, Palmeiro, ARod, Perry, maybe Kinsler

...and then a whole host of guys who were just good for a long time - the "Rusty Greer" category.

cdowl38 said:

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Rangers fans: established 2010

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This is an excellent and original post. I look forward to more of your high quality banter.

We signed James Loney

Huell Babineaux said:

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We signed James Loney

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Interesting, minor league deal. I still prefer Napoli.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/rangers-james-loney-signs-minor-league-deal-with-rangers/amp/?client=safari

Just saw Dae Ho Lee signed with a Korean team. That dude seemed to always be a pain against the Rangers. I can't say I'm sad to see him make that move.

Lucky #007 said:

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Just saw Dae Ho Lee signed with a Korean team. That dude seemed to always be a pain against the Rangers. I can't say I'm sad to see him make that move.

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Thank goodness. He was quickly becoming a Rangers killer.

Is profar gonna play first?

So is the whole Brady Dragmire outrighted a new thing from today or did he just clear waivers from the last time we claimed him and sent him down? Are we done bouncing that poor dude back and forth from the Pirates to us?

Lucky - According to MBTR, he just cleared waivers and no longer requires a 40-Man spot. He'll be a MLB invitee for ST.

Ryno - As for Profar... I've seen very little new info on him. In December, JD and Banny were talking about players. There was mention of lots of possibilities, with Profar kinda in limbo. JD mentioned Drew Robinson as a player they've moved around, whom he'd like to see if he fits there. His Winter League numbers might have frozen that hope. I'm looking for the rabbit to be pulled out of a hat. Hamilton, Loney, Profar, Gallo *ack*, Rua, Robinson, Guzman...no clue.

DallasAg 94 said:

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Lucky - According to MBTR, he just cleared waivers and no longer requires a 40-Man spot. He'll be a MLB invitee for ST.

Ryno - As for Profar... I've seen very little new info on him. In December, JD and Banny were talking about players. There was mention of lots of possibilities, with Profar kinda in limbo. JD mentioned Drew Robinson as a player they've moved around, whom he'd like to see if he fits there. His Winter League numbers might have frozen that hope. I'm looking for the rabbit to be pulled out of a hat. Hamilton, Loney, Profar, Gallo *ack*, Rua, Robinson, Guzman...no clue.

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I'm having a hard time believing the don't ultimately sign Napoli. He doesn't seem to fit anywhere else and makes the most sense for the Rangers on the field and in the clubhouse at this point in my opinion. The other options are just not particularly attractive be it in house or going and grabbing someone else. If you sign Carter, you better hope Gomez doesn't revert to Astros numbers or you're looking at two guys with epic strike out tendencies.

Napoili struck out 194 times last year, so he wouldn't exactly be off-setting anyone else's strikeout tendencies either.

Looking at it financially, I think getting Lucroy and Darvish signed are a priority over Nap\1B, if you think you can get them done. One article had JD approaching Darvish's agent. The article was very positive about Darvish's experience with the Rangers, but that only goes so far. As a SP who has had TJ... At 30, as much as a big pay day from FA looks attractive, having Cashner (30), Griffin (29) and Ross (29) in ST has to be a reminder that the bottom can fall out of the market quickly.

With all of the Arbs settled, we're sitting at 19 signed players and $151M, according to COTS.

Add 6 more on the 25 out of... Odor, Kela, DeShields, Alberto, Faulkner, Bush, Claudio, Gallo, along with the 40... without adding anyone, we're looking at $154-$160M?!

I'm not interested in Carter. If you sign Napoli, what happens to Profar?!

JD's ToDos before the season starts:

• Sign Lucroy to 3-4 year deal
• Sign Darvish to a 4 year deal, 5th year option
• Sign Napoli to a 1 year deal, vesting 2nd year.
• Trade Profar for 2-3 prospects

The question now is how long until Profar is traded? Are we shopping him now, or do we wait until the trade deadline to see who is selling? Will we be buyers or sellers at the deadline?

What can we expect to get in return for Profar? You said 2-3 prospects. What kind of prospects? Top end?

Would love for Darvish to stay, but damn that is going to be expensive

AccidentProne said:

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The question now is how long until Profar is traded? Are we shopping him now, or do we wait until the trade deadline to see who is selling? Will we be buyers or sellers at the deadline?

What can we expect to get in return for Profar? You said 2-3 prospects. What kind of prospects? Top end?

Would love for Darvish to stay, but damn that is going to be expensive

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Asking for a friend?!

All valid questions. I think we are buyers at the trade deadline.

Some have said the market for Profar is largely unknown.

Then this...

http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/mlb/texas-rangers/article128932354.html