Yeah, keep the powder dry unless it's a very clear upgrade at solid economics.

And don't get me wrong, I'm not excited about our chances this season. But even if Texas went out and got Darvish and Arrieta they are still not going to be favorites in this division.. and if Odor/Mazara/Gallo don't produce then they might not even be wildcard contenders.

But I don't want to go down the road of historical tank-job like Houston did. I'd much rather be in wild-card contention in August for 4 seasons and not win it then have the season be over before it even starts (Houston 2011-2014). You can make a case that it's worth punting 4 full seasons to win a World Series, but there is no guarantee that you come out of the tank-job with a World Series. I don't like the way Houston did things, but they at least got to the promised land on the other end of things -- there's plenty of teams that have gone tank and got nothing in return.

Quote:

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if Odor/Mazara/Gallo don't produce then they might not even be wildcard contenders

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This x1000000. Our playoff contention this year is much more about the guys currently on our roster than any FA acquisition we could make. It doesn't matter if we sign a TORP if Odor has another absurdly bad season at the plate or our bullpen totally collapses again.

Gallo was really underrated at the plate last year. Most fans can't look past the K's and average but his wRC+ was rock solid and he grew up a lot as a major league hitter. If he can continue to grow as a player he will be an All Star, and sooner rather than later.

Mazara had a sophomore slump but he still has tremendous upside. He'll be turning 23 right around the time the season starts, and he's younger than all but two guys on the Frisco roster right now and he'd be the 5th youngest on the Down East roster. He's basically the equivalent of someone just wrapping up his college career, except that he has two full major league seasons under his belt. He'll continue to mature at the plate and in the field and be a great asset.

Odor is Odor. He's had stretches of really good hitting but until he learns some discipline at the plate, he's gonna be a below average bat. It seemed like he was finally being more patient the last month of the season last year so hopefully he picks back up with a focus on that in spring training.

Andrus is coming off a career year and he has a player option coming up so he should be especially motivated to keep that up. Beltre is still the most consistent bat AND glove on our roster but at this point it's about keeping him healthy. We're not making the playoffs if he spends half the year hurt again.

The bullpen had an absurdly bad year last year but we still have some great arms out there. If they can stay fairly healthy we should expect improvement on that front, and in the worst case we have at least a couple guys we could flip for solid prospects if we're sellers at the deadline.

Yup... Pretty much every reason you could think of to "see how the first 3 months play out". There will be pieces available to add if we're in contention.

Banny not exactly upping my confidence level

https://instagr.am/p/BeQrBpvF6ts

Huell Babineaux said:

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Banny not exactly upping my confidence level

https://instagr.am/p/BeQrBpvF6ts

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So we went from "Never Ever Quit," to "We won't quit on you."

I agree not much confidence.

I would contend with this rotation, even if Gallo, Odor and Mazara kill it... we'll be out by the ASB.

This off-season has been painfully slow, but apparently Darvish may be signing by the end of the week. If so, hopefully that gets the free agent signings moving a bit, it's almost February and there are plenty of available players out there looking for a 2018 home.

As much as I dislike Boras and know he just dislikes it because it means less money for his clients, he has a point:

"We have to get rid of the noncompetitive cancer. We can't go to our fan bases and sell the promise of losing to win later. That is destructive to our sport because it has removed one-third of the competition."

free_mhayden said:

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As much as I dislike Boras and know he just dislikes it because it means less money for his clients, he has a point:

"We have to get rid of the noncompetitive cancer. We can't go to our fan bases and sell the promise of losing to win later. That is destructive to our sport because it has removed one-third of the competition."

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I don't think he has a point.

His point is, teams shouldn't build from within or through the draft. If teams don't build through the draft and internally, then players won't be developed and fan loyalty to players will be worse than it is now.

True... he wants as many teams chasing FA talent as possible, and trading players to contenders so they can elevate their value. Additionally, players who grow up through an organization has some loyalty, and they often become willing to take less to remain.

I think your point is Houston tanked (as others have) to get draft picks only. The thing about Houston is... while they did tank to get picks and gather players, they have a short window and need to spend now that they've had success. And for all accounts they are spending.

Teams like Oakland, Tampa, Miami/Florida/ Montreal, Milwa (is there a team still there?!), et al... never spend. They build through the draft, trading for prospects, and never spend. Those teams are removed from competitiveness and I don't know how to change that. Do you consolidate? Consolidation doesn't get rid of the weak teams (cancer)... it gets rid of other agents, by diminishing the number of players in MLB, he can get more for HIS players.

Juggle players and the players become purely focused on the most money.

There are tons of problems with MLB. They have done too much purely for the sake of revenue.

Revenue sharing and minimum spending aren't the answer. You have teams who only look at the profit.

Allowing PEDs are not the answer.

Yelich to the Brewers. I think the Rangers probably could have afforded his asking price, it would have just depleted the farm system even further.

jtstanley4621 said:

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Yelich to the Brewers. I think the Rangers probably could have afforded his asking price, it would have just depleted the farm system even further.

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Brinson headlined the deal

BarryProfit said:

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Houston has a short window?

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Kuechel is a FA after this season, Altuve is a FA after next. Verlander turns 35 next month and a lot of key utility guys like Marwin are coming up on free agency and will be much more expensive to keep around.

Brewers sign Lorenzo Cain. Rangers could've had him but decided to keep their thumbs up their asses

nice little afternoon for Brewer fans

Gonna have a great outfield up there the next few years

I wish we had somehow held on to Brinson in that Lucroy deal. We could use him right about now.

Change of pace here...

In case anyone is interested, we are on sale with all of our ticket plans now. Tons of inventory opened up during the offseason. Plus, we are selecting seats for the new stadium this summer.

Also, I'm planning on having the coupon code available again this season.

AccidentProne said:

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Change of pace here...

In case anyone is interested, we are on sale with all of our ticket plans now. Tons of inventory opened up during the offseason. Plus, we are selecting seats for the new stadium this summer.

Also, I'm planning on having the coupon code available again this season.

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When will singles go on sale/are they on sale?

TXAggie2011 said:

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AccidentProne said:

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Change of pace here...

In case anyone is interested, we are on sale with all of our ticket plans now. Tons of inventory opened up during the offseason. Plus, we are selecting seats for the new stadium this summer.

Also, I'm planning on having the coupon code available again this season.

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When will singles go on sale/are they on sale?

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March 5

DannyDuberstein said:

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In the groupthink dept, they must miss dallasag, mhayden, and Txaggie11 arguing about whether the sky is blue.

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I see you haven't been out this evening. Far from any blue I've EVER seen.

JD is cleaning up... add another one to the pile...

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/01/rangers-sign-jon-niese-to-minor-league-deal.html

Hindsight is 20/20....holy crap it's depressing to see the returns on Daniels moves and what it cost the last 6 years.

2012 - Trade Kyle Hendricks to the Cubs for a past his prime Ryan Dempster

2013 - Trade for Matt Garza. Carl Edwards Jr. played a hand in the Cubs ending their curse.

2014 - Signs Shin Soo Choo and trades Kinsler for Fielder.

2015 - Gave up Cory Knebel in the Yovani Gallardo deal.

2015 Trade deadline - traded for Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman. Had to give up Alfaro and Thompson. This Trade was a win though since it maximized the August/September 2015 AL West Run.

Here's where it starts to hurt
2016 - Trade for Carlos Beltran. Give up Dillon Tate, Nick Green, and Erik Swanson. All three are progressing nicely in the Yankees farm system. All three could be in the majors by 2019. That was a hefty price for a way past his prime DH.

2016 - Trade for Lucroy and Jeffress by giving up Lewis Brinson and Lulu Ortiz. Lucroy was underwhelming and Jeffress has to battle alcoholism. Brinson could have been the starting CF this year or at least fight for the job in Spring Training. Ortiz should get a call up to the Show this year. OUCH!

A little over ten years ago, the Rangers rebuilt their farm system by trading Mark Texeira to get Andrus, Feliz, and Harrison. All three were key pieces to 2 straight AL pennants. Now whether that trade was Daniels' or Ryan's brainchild....I don't know.

Daniels needs to pull off another Texeira type deal. Rangers fans thought it could have happened by trading Yu. Why is it when the Rangers needed trade deadline help they act like a virgin on prom night and blow their entire load for a bad lay...yet when they're dumping stars, the return has a lot left to be desired.

Daniels needs to put in some big time work...else I don't think he'll be the GM by the time the new ballpark opens.

I welcome a change at the GM spot.

Daniels is determined to give every pitcher who had success 2-3 seasons ago but got injured a shot.

free_mhayden said:

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Daniels isn't even in close to the hot seat.

This team has to been to the playoffs more times in the last 7 years than in the history of the franchise.

He's made some bad moves, but I don't think some of you really remember how bad it was in Texas. Lots of seasons that began with absolutely zero hope of competing.

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This. We have one of the best records over his tenure of any major league franchise. We were literally about a step short of a World Series win with a team that he built.

He pushed all in a few years ago to try to get us back to that level and some unlucky injuries (Darvish TJ, Fielder neck, etc) derailed that. Lucroy's underperformance wasn't JD's fault, you can probably pin that one on the coaching staff given how he turned things right back around in Colorado. Hell this year probably looks drastically different if Sam Dyson doesn't have a total meltdown on the mound.