Daniels has made a lot of questionable moves, but as long as Darvish, Arrieta, Cobb and Lynn are still out there and we're approaching P&C reporting, then waiting out this market has been the right move.

As for spending on a team for the new stadium -- it opens in 2020. If you're spending for that, why would you be handing out contracts in 2018 that will at best be at the halfway mark when the park opens? If you're just going to create a roster to a make a splash, you'd at least wait until you're selling seats for the stadium.

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I'd rather not sign Colon because I think it is dumb to sign a known PED user... and sign him at 44.

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It's a minor league deal. It doesn't mean anything.

Right. Minor league deal. He was terrible in Atlanta early, but if you look at the 15 games that Minnesota picked him up for, he was an arm that could eat some innings and keep you around .500 in his starts (they went 7-8). He had 2-3 ugly starts out of the 15. The other dozen or so were serviceable 4 ER or less while going 5-6+ innings. Nothing pretty about him, but he could eat some starts at the bottom and keep things respectable.

Now the Eagles have a Super Bowl. **** this year of sports.

The Astros win the World Series.
The Eagles win the Super Bowl.

The Winter Olympics couldn't have come at a worse time.

NBA title to rockets
And Texas tech wins final four

North Korea gonna win the whole damm thing

NBA doesn't rate real high on my give-a-damn meter. And I'll take Tech winning over say the sips any day of the week.


And damn, the lack of signings across the MLB this late in the game is crazy. Need somebody to break the ice and get it going. The teams have finally smartened up a bit (I think) and are being more hesitant to give the long guaranteed deals to players beyond their prime playing years. But the players and agents are still looking for and expecting those deals. It'll all come to a head when the next agreement with the players comes due. They will push for free agency to start sooner, i.e. not as many "cheap" controllable years if this trend of of smartness by the teams continues.

free_mhayden said:

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Daniels has made a lot of questionable moves, but as long as Darvish, Arrieta, Cobb and Lynn are still out there and we're approaching P&C reporting, then waiting out this market has been the right move.

As for spending on a team for the new stadium -- it opens in 2020. If you're spending for that, why would you be handing out contracts in 2018 that will at best be at the halfway mark when the park opens? If you're just going to create a roster to a make a splash, you'd at least wait until you're selling seats for the stadium.

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They start selling season tickets for the new stadium soon. I was told I would have my seat selection date sometime this summer.

wbt5845 said:

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free_mhayden said:

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Daniels has made a lot of questionable moves, but as long as Darvish, Arrieta, Cobb and Lynn are still out there and we're approaching P&C reporting, then waiting out this market has been the right move.

As for spending on a team for the new stadium -- it opens in 2020. If you're spending for that, why would you be handing out contracts in 2018 that will at best be at the halfway mark when the park opens? If you're just going to create a roster to a make a splash, you'd at least wait until you're selling seats for the stadium.

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They start selling season tickets for the new stadium soon. I was told I would have my seat selection date sometime this summer.

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Yeah... they gotta start selling those seats... LONG BEFORE the new stadium opens.

If it opens to start the 2020 season... they better have a pretty solid 2019, IMO.

If Andrus threatens FA. After 2018, you could find yourself without:
Andrus and Beltre
1 year left on Hamels

Choo and Mike Minor as your two Big-Ticket players.

If you think Choo and Mike Minor will be the two big ticket players for the Rangers in 2019 then I have to wonder if you've paid attention to any roster the last 7 years?

free_mhayden said:

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If you think Choo and Mike Minor will be the two big ticket players for the Rangers in 2019 then I have to wonder if you've paid attention to any roster the last 7 years?

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A little fatalistic?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

Rangers To Sign Seung-hwan Oh

By Jeff Todd | February 6, 2018 at 9:16am CDT

The Rangers have struck a deal with free agent reliever Seung-hwan Oh, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). If Oh passes his physical, he'll stand to receive a $2.75MM guarantee, per Devan Fink of Beyond the Box Score (via Twitter). The deal also includes a $4.5MM option ($250K buyout) and $1MM in available incentives for the Rosenhaus Sports Representation client.

This makes for an interesting match given the open questions at the back of the Texas pen. Oh, a veteran Korean hurler, took over the closer's role for the Cardinals during his debut MLB season of 2016. He opened the ensuing campaign with the same job after spinning 79 2/3 frames of 1.92 ERA ball, with 11.6 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9, but was not able to repeat his dominance.

It's tough to say what to expect. Given Oh's background, though, it's certainly fair to wonder whether the 35-year-old is slated to close for the Rangers. The team still employs several pitchers who have featured prominently in the late-inning mix in recent seasons, including righties Matt Bush and Keone Kela as well as lefties Alex Claudio and Jake Diekman. But Oh has fairly earned his memorable nickname, Final Boss, by closing down 396 total contests over his 13 seasons of action in the KBO, NPB, and MLB. He'll likely at least have a shot at earning the closer's nod in camp.

Oh Sh***********t

It seems as though Jon Daniels is buying into the bullpenning strategy for 2018. He wants cheap starters that can go 4-5 innings then turn it over to the bullpen for a ton of innings throughout the year.

I think it looks like he has a certain amount of money to spend and wants\needs to reach a certain threshold, so he is signing all of this crap for more than they should, in order to get 1 yr deals.

Almost $3M to a 35 year old RP who went 4.10 ERA and 1.4 WHIP?! 8.2 K/9IP.

I'm missing something.

DallasAg 94 said:

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I think it looks like he has a certain amount of money to spend and wants\needs to reach a certain threshold, so he is signing all of this crap for more than they should, in order to get 1 yr deals.

Almost $3M to a 35 year old RP who went 4.10 ERA and 1.4 WHIP?! 8.2 K/9IP.

I'm missing something.

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Look at Oh's 2016 numbers and you wouldn't be surprised at the cost. He dominated in Japan for so long before 2016 so there is more history supporting him being much better than last year. Also, it's possible he is older, the league has figured him out and he is declining which is why it's only a 1 year deal.

The average relieve pitcher salary is $2.1MM, which is brought down by young pre-arb serfs. The bullpen is one area where I like seeing small deals thrown at a quantity of arms, and then seeing who has their stuff this year. I just don't sweat deals like this as I do not see them precluding other moves.

Rossko said:

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DallasAg 94 said:

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I think it looks like he has a certain amount of money to spend and wants\needs to reach a certain threshold, so he is signing all of this crap for more than they should, in order to get 1 yr deals.

Almost $3M to a 35 year old RP who went 4.10 ERA and 1.4 WHIP?! 8.2 K/9IP.

I'm missing something.

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Look at Oh's 2016 numbers and you wouldn't be surprised at the cost. He dominated in Japan for so long before 2016 so there is more history supporting him being much better than last year. Also, it's possible he is older, the league has figured him out and he is declining which is why it's only a 1 year deal.

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That is more likely the case.

35.
He has 1 good year in MLB.
His most recent year was crap.

Moving from the NL to the AL might give him some life.

You know who else had a really good 2016? 28 year old Sam Dyson. He had a pretty good 2015, as well.

DannyDuberstein said:

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The average relieve pitcher salary is $2.1MM, which is brought down by young pre-arb serfs. The bullpen is one area where I like seeing small deals thrown at a quantity of arms, and then seeing who has their stuff this year. I just don't sweat deals like this as I do not see them precluding other moves.

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Where is this $2.1M reference?

You know what inflates it? Guys like Chapman ($17.2M), and David Robertson ($13M).

When you get beyond the "closer" I would suspect the average is quite low.

If Oh is our Closer for 2018, it will be even MORE depressing than I've already prepared for.

Saw it on ESPN.com. It was something like $2.1 or $2.2, but it may have been from 2013-14, so a bit dated. My guess is that it's probably in the $2.5+ ballpark at this point.

Bullpens are year-to-year propositions, which is why I like a quantity to pick from.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Saw it on ESPN.com. It was something like $2.1 or $2.2, but it may have been from 2013-14, so a bit dated. My guess is that it's probably in the $2.5+ ballpark at this point.

Bullpens are year-to-year propositions, which is why I like a quantity to pick from.

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Thanks. You are probably right... I was just curious if you had a source.

I agree they are year-to-year. I also like quantity.

I just don't like getting nickled-and-dimed by quantity where there is no quality.

7-8 SP from the scrap heap.
4-5 RPs from the reclamation pile.

2-3 OF who are retreads.

I've always felt your #5 SP should be a Serf from without, whom you are transitioning to the MLB roster. Your long-reliever, similar.

Your 6th and 7th RP should be internal guys whom you are trying to learn to pitch at the MLB BP. They shouldn't be a mid-30s guy making $2.5M after a terrible previous season.

If you are getting Oh for $1M... Million-Five... fine.

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I've always felt your #5 SP should be a Serf from without, whom you are transitioning to the MLB roster. Your long-reliever, similar.

Your 6th and 7th RP should be internal guys whom you are trying to learn to pitch at the MLB BP. They shouldn't be a mid-30s guy making $2.5M after a terrible previous season.

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I think having an iron clad rule that 4 of your 25 roster spots are going to be developmental spots is a good way to find your otherwise competitive team missing the playoffs by a game or two.

And yes, I understand there is doubt around how well this Rangers team will compete, but I take it from "always" you're speaking about more than the circumstances of the 2018 Texas Rangers team.

TXAggie2011 said:

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Quote:

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I've always felt your #5 SP should be a Serf from without, whom you are transitioning to the MLB roster. Your long-reliever, similar.

Your 6th and 7th RP should be internal guys whom you are trying to learn to pitch at the MLB BP. They shouldn't be a mid-30s guy making $2.5M after a terrible previous season.

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I think having an iron clad rule that 4 of your 25 roster spots are going to be developmental spots is a good way to find your otherwise competitive team missing the playoffs by a game or two.

And yes, I understand there is doubt around how well this Rangers team will compete, but I take it from "always" you're speaking about more than the circumstances of the 2018 Texas Rangers team.

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By "always," there are some assumptions.

I'm not talking about a AA player. I'm talking more the Nick Martinez... Tommy Hunter... a guy who could be a season away or less. I'm also assuming you don't have a full rotation. The point is, I'd rather have a guy like YoMen, Jurado, AJG, than a FA signing.

The other assumption is that you have a legit Ace and at least 2 other solid SPs. The 4th SP I like see to see a high risk/reward. A Matt Moore... or any of the other heap pile players.

The problem with the this rotation is we don't have anyone I trust.
Hamels - Is he fading or just a bumpie 2017?
Perez - Possible DL to start the season.
Fister?
Moore?
Mike Minor?

Fister/Moore/Minor should all be fighting for the #4 spot. Not all expecting a rotation spot.

But that is where we are, I suppose.

I'm excited for the Bartolo Colon era to begin! If we can add CC Sabathia, David Wells, and Rick Reuschel...

Going to Surprise for Spring Training for the first time this year. Anything I need to know? Places to visit? How to get access to the players? Things to do? Tickets?

Huell Babineaux said:

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Going to Surprise for Spring Training for the first time this year. Anything I need to know? Places to visit? How to get access to the players? Things to do? Tickets?

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I would be interested in this info as well. I'm thinking about going for the first time myself.

Member that time when Matt Moore threw 98 and shut out Texas in game 1? Can we have that one again, please?

Just saw Russel Wilson was acquired by the Yankees, so there's that

Well, no Darvish

6 years for $126 million? Loved his time with the Rangers and best of luck in Chicago, but that's a lot more money than I would want to pay...

I am ok with that. Darvish seemed to lose his mojo against AL West foes. I enjoyed his time here, but it is time to move on. We can use that money on other guys. Perhaps we can pick up Arrietta or another pitcher that was not going to move until Darvish picked a team.

Good deal for the Cubs.

Contract is fine, but Texas just not in the position to make that deal right now. You're paying for Years 1-4 of that deal, and Texas isn't going to be in a position to win the division in Years 1-2 so just doesn't make sense for them.

Yeah, the per year number is not too shabby and that's a solid arrangement for where the Cubs are at. But with the post-season bed-crapping + where Texas is at right now, I would not have been interested in seeing them offer that same deal. I just don't get the sense that Yu is going to age that well.