Epstien was really the one who made that show work.

A.J. Griffin, Nick Martinez, Chi Chi Gonazlez and Hanser Alberto all non-tendered by the Rangers and are now free agents. LINK

So, about 100 of their starts last season aren't with the organization anymore.

Half of the remaining starts come from Martin Perez, with a 4.82 ERA and 1.535 WHIP.

Maybe some guys end back up with the Rangers, but, to say they're in rebuild mode with the rotation...seems like an understatement.

I don't know how we think we can compete next season

Ryno01 said:

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I don't know how we think we can compete next season

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Whom out of that list changes the 2018 outlook? I think that was just cleaning some house before moves really start to get made.

AJG (29) has been someone I've hoped for, but I think the reason Oak let him go is the same reason we let him go. He isn't reliable enough.

Nick Martinez (27) is at the end of the road, IMO.

I'm sure they expect to be able to bring most back on minor league deals, with terms of release if they start the season in the minors and another team is interested. As many spots as the Rangers already had available on the roster... you have to wonder if they don't see some Rule V guys.

They've picked up a couple guys. So, I believe they now have 35 on the 40. I could see them signing 2 or 3 guys and then picking 2 off of Rule V.

In case any of you have spent any time on the Newberg forum over the years...

KT 90 said:

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A.J. Griffin, Nick Martinez, Chi Chi Gonazlez and Hanser Alberto all non-tendered by the Rangers and are now free agents. LINK

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I know there's still a long way to go this offseason, but in the meantime, I can't decide which part of this paragraph from the article you linked makes me want to vomit more:

Quote:

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The Rangers have signed free-agent starter Doug Fister and he is now No. 3 in the rotation behind Hamels and Perez. Rookie right-hander Ronald Herrera and left-hander Yohander Mendez are the leading internal candidates for the remaining rotation spots, although the Rangers are considering moving reliever Matt Bush into a starter role.

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J.P. 03 said:

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KT 90 said:

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A.J. Griffin, Nick Martinez, Chi Chi Gonazlez and Hanser Alberto all non-tendered by the Rangers and are now free agents. LINK

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I know there's still a long way to go this offseason, but in the meantime, I can't decide which part of this paragraph from the article you linked makes me want to vomit more:

Quote:

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The Rangers have signed free-agent starter Doug Fister and he is now No. 3 in the rotation behind Hamels and Perez. Rookie right-hander Ronald Herrera and left-hander Yohander Mendez are the leading internal candidates for the remaining rotation spots, although the Rangers are considering moving reliever Matt Bush into a starter role.

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There is plenty to vomit over...

Think that confirms that his motivations aren't money or a desire for the spotlight.

Sounds like he wants West Coast. Gonna suck if he ends up in the division.

Yeah, per Newberg this got real interesting:

Specifically, according to a handful of national and team-local sources on Twitter, the following teams have been told they're out of the race (alphabetically aside from the first team, which I feel #behooved to list first):

• Yankees
• Athletics
• Blue Jays
• Braves
• Brewers
• Cardinals
• Diamondbacks
• Marlins
• Mets
• Pirates
• Rays
• Red Sox
• Twins
• White Sox

Rumor is it's down to the Dodgers, Giants, Padres, and Mariners. Sounds like he is adamant about staying on the west coast

I guess he can look forward to pinch hitting?

Wanted to get this guy

Article on MLB says the Yankees were eliminated for not being on the West Coast or a small market.

Dodgers and Padres are both capped at $300k per signing player. IIRC, Padres had like $15k left in pool money. I need to check the current balances that remain, but Mariners were at like $2M left?! Don't recall SF.

Dodgers hardlynplay on a small market, and Seattle is a zoo. I can't imagine him living in SF without a HUGE pay.

This is really bizarre.

Looks like SF is at $300k, as well.

https://sports.yahoo.com/rangers-can-offer-shohei-otani-money-not-much-may-think-230357634.html

Seattle is the only of the 4, that has $$$

bigcat22 said:

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Rumor is it's down to the Dodgers, Giants, Padres, and Mariners. Sounds like he is adamant about staying on the west coast

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Have you seen someone say that it is who it is down to, or is that just who the twitter-sphere has mentioned as "finalists"? I think some of the limited-character-twitter reporting is making it sound like that there has been some announcement of "finalists" when it is more just certain teams coming out and saying they haven't been eliminated.

I don't expect Texas to land Ohtani, but I'd be very surprised if they did not get to partake in the "finalists" interview process that seems to be coming in the next week or so -- I think the history and connections between Ohtani and the Rangers front office means they are going to get an extended shot at landing him if for nothing else because of the relationship.

And a few minutes after I post, this breaks:

"Texas Rangers rumors: Shohei Ohtani has the Texas Rangers on his meeting list, per Evan Grant on Twitter, who says the Rangers and the Chicago Cubs are the only two teams that aren't on the West Coast who have made it to finalist status. Evan says that the Rangers have things on lockdown and aren't saying anything."

Why would it not be legitimate? My post was in response to the rumored "finalists" -- pointing out that I don't think the Ohtani camp has released any list of "finalists" to the public, just that the teams we are hearing have made it public themselves. In other words I didn't believe Dodgers/Giants/Padres/Mariners were the full list of "finalists", but rather the teams who have acknowledged publicly they have futher meetings setup.

The Evan Grant article that came out shortly after confirmed that. Texas was a "finalist", they just hadn't made that public yet.

I like the sound of that

Ag2012 said:

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I like the sound of that

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It is worth noting... MLB Min Wage for 2018 is $545K and 2019 is $555K.

In California, you are looking at a 9% Income Tax.

I don't know how much he has socked away playing in Japan and Taxes/Net Income may not be relevant to him, but it just seems odd, at the list of teams.

Income tax for athletes is more complicated than that and I think athletes have shown they don't pay it much attention, anyways. There is nothing odd about a professional athlete or any other person wanting to ply their trade in California, or Chicago under the Illinois tax system, for that matter. And there definitely isn't anything odd about a Japanese star wanting to play in Seattle, either.

If Otani was counting every last dollar, he wouldn't bother with clubs that only have $300,000 bonuses to give.

The Rangers are the glaring odd-duck on that list, really.

That's not saying he won't ultimately choose the Rangers in part because they can offer him more money, but it seems rather clear maximizing his income isn't his top priority.

Why not just sign a big time free agent, promise to trade him to a contender for minor league assets, and build the club that way. That's what the big market clubs should be doing to rebuild.

94chem said:

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Why not just sign a big time free agent, promise to trade him to a contender for minor league assets, and build the club that way. That's what the big market clubs should be doing to rebuild.

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One of the things JD did in rebuilding was to sign high-risk guys like Gagne. He then traded them at the deadline for prospects. The market was much higher then.

It used to be you could get compensation for FAs. So, if you traded someone like Gagne to Boston... Boston still got compensation. Now, if you trade a player in their final deal, they have to be on your roster for the season, to get any compensation.

That weakens the drive for your premise. Teams are less willing to give up as many prospects if they don't get anything.

Compensation as in draft picks? That's nothing compared to a "proven" minor leaguer. Teams inclined to "win now" won't balk over a draft pick, will they?

Good guys just signed KC reliever Mike Minor

94chem said:

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Compensation as in draft picks? That's nothing compared to a "proven" minor leaguer. Teams inclined to "win now" won't balk over a draft pick, will they?

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Well... so it was touted and the reason it changed... was exactly what JD did with Gagne.

They signed him in Dec 2006, trying to come back from an injury. TJ?

Boston gave up Engel Beltre, Kason Gabbard and David Murphy.

Gagne essentially did what you suggest. Signed with a team he knew would trade him to a contender.

When Gagne left, Boston got the #45 pick.

It was the same argument many made for not trading Darvish. If we get a compensatory/sandwich pick if we keep him... a trading team has to offer at minimum what you would get.

Ag2012 said:

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Fister
Bush?

I hardly even know her!

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Minor... Fister Bush...

I just don't understand why anyone would think Bush would make a good starter.