Excited for this year and this thread. Always entertaining. Opening Day is here, fellas!

double aught said:

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Hooray for opening day.

Also wanted to say that the team should be expanding payroll significantly after the deal they bullied the taxpayers of Arlington into. Resign Yu. Resign Lucroy. I don't really care if they turn into bad deals. They can just sign more players with their newfound tax dollars.

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Can you remind me what the new tax is that Arlington residents have to pay? I forgot

I thought it was just an extension on the tax increases used for Cowboys Stadium?

Also, we are starting the year with the 7th largest payroll in all of MLB, which is actually shocking to me given where we were in 2010 and prior.

Aggie_Eric98 said:

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Prediction: Gallo his a bomb today, then does not get another hit until Beltre returns.

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Sadly, I could see this being a very real possibility.

That's correct. It's an extension of the one used for Cowboys stadium. Cowboys stadium is being paid off early, and that same tax plan is being extended to the Rangers new stadium.

And to say that Arlington residents were bullied is absurd. A public vote was held (during an election year, mind you) and it was approved 60/40. Nobody was coerced. If you didn't want it, you could vote against it.

Also, it's a 50/50 deal. The financial burden of Arlington residents is capped at $500 million. The new stadium will likely cost in excess of of $1 billion. So the ownership will cover the other half and then some.

Also, why do you think the money raise from Arlington residents is going to increase payroll? That money is going to building the stadium

AccidentProne said:

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That's correct. It's an extension of the one used for Cowboys stadium. Cowboys stadium is being paid off early, and that same tax plan is being extended to the Rangers new stadium.

And to say that Arlington residents were bullied is absurd. A public vote was held (during an election year, mind you) and it was approved 60/40. Nobody was coerced. If you didn't want it, you could vote against it.

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This may be little more than semantics, but it's a new tax that the citizens' wouldn't otherwise be paying were it not for the new ballpark. That's not an extension. That's just trying to rationalize new taxes. If you pay off your car and then buy a new one, it's not the same car note. It's a new one.

There was coercion going on, probably more so by the city than the baseball club. There's the aforementioned tax obfuscation, in addition to the implied threat that the team would be leaving (basically impossible until 2022 and highly unlikely thereafter), were a new deal not struck.

AccidentProne said:

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Also, it's a 50/50 deal. The financial burden of Arlington residents is capped at $500 million. The new stadium will likely cost in excess of of $1 billion. So the ownership will cover the other half and then some.

Also, why do you think the money raise from Arlington residents is going to increase payroll? That money is going to building the stadium

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The ticket tax and the parking tax don't go toward the city's half of the deal. Those taxes are kept by the Rangers and used by the club to pay off their half.

Ag_07 said:

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So I stopped in to see how your team is looking going into opening day and I see y'all arguing about grass and taxes. Y'all need to get your shlt together.

Anyways here's to an exciting 2017 in the AL West! Cheers fellas

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Beltre starting on the DL is obviously not how we'd like to start. Lineup will be fine though. Really need Perez to take a step forward and become a legitimate #3 guy. If he does that, that should lessen the impact of the revolving door we're bound to have on the back end of the rotation.

Should be an interesting season. The West could produce 3 playoff teams this year, and honestly wouldn't be surprised if either the Rangers, M's or Astros won the division.

Opening Day Roster:

SP:
Darvish
Hamels
Perez
Griffin

RP:
Alvarez
Barnette
Bush
Claudio
Dyson
Hauschild
Jeffress
Leclerc

C:
Lucroy
Chirinos

IF:
Andrus
Gallo
Napoli
Odor
Profar
Robinson

OF:
Choo
Deshields
Gomez
Mazara
Rua

DL - 10:
Alberto
Beltre
Cashner
Nicholas
Ross
Scheppers

DL - 60:
Diekman
Fielder
Chi Chi

Any guesses as to the line-up tonight?

When are the astros on the schedule? We need some easy wins .

AgBQ-00 said:

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Any guesses as to the line-up tonight?

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1. DeShields
2. Choo
3. Gomez
4. Odor
5. Napoli
6. Lucroy
7. Mazara
8. Gallo
9. Andrus

P Darvish

AgBQ-00 said:

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Any guesses as to the line-up tonight?

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I'll take my stab at it:

DeShields LF
Choo DH
Gomez CF
Odor 2B
Lucroy C
Mazara RF
Napoli 1B
Gallo 3B
Andrus SS

My Guess:

DeShields LF
Choo DH
Odor 2nd
Napoli 1st
Lucroy C
Gomez CF
Mazara RF
Gallo 3rd
Andrus SS


Darvish P

Lineup is up. No DeShields. Outfield is Profar, Gomez, Mazara.

Gomez
Choo
Mazara
Napoli
Odor
Lucroy
Gallo
Andrus
Profar

DeShields LF
Choo DH
Gomez CF
Odor 2B
Napoli 1B
Mazara RF
Lucroy C
Gallo 3B
Andrus SS

Edit: Obviously I started this before the lineup was announced, just kept getting distracted by work...damn you work!

Hmmm, I really thought with how well DeShields played in the spring that he'd be in the lineup.

RetiredAg said:

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Opening Day Roster:

SP:
Darvish
Hamels
Perez
Griffin

RP:
Alvarez
Barnette
Bush
Claudio
Dyson
Hauschild
Jeffress
Leclerc

C:
Lucroy
Chirinos

IF:
Alberto
Andrus
Gallo
Napoli
Odor
Profar
Robinson

OF:
Choo
Deshields
Gomez
Mazara
Rua

DL - 10:
Beltre
Cashner
Nicholas
Ross
Scheppers

DL - 60:
Diekman
Fielder
Chi Chi

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Alberto is on the DL isn't he? I count 26 on that roster.

You are correct. My bad. Corrected above.

I thought he had it locked down as well. That is really surprising to me.

Could Profar over Deshields be because Kluber is a RHP, allowing Profar to hit lefty?

Either way that gives us Rua and Deshields off the bench, who at this point are both solid options to replace Profar whenever necessary.

A buddy of mine singing a song about baseball

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156000415921982&id=539806981

t-minus 7 minutes until I am on my way home for the night to enjoy the first game of the year!!

Alright fellas, one hour till the first pitch of the year.

Call your shot, which will be higher: Altuve's BA or the Astros win % against the Rangers?

The road to 93 wins and another West title starts tonight!

I don't care what kind of grass we have or what state it's in as long as we plant our opponents in it every game