Nm

bigcat22 said:

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apologies if this has been discussed earlier, but with nothing left to really play for these last few weeks, why hasn't Calhoun started every game? Might as well plug him into the line up to get him MLB experience and see what he's got

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Have wondered the same. But we keep splitting the ab's amongst all the outfielders, which is quite a few with Rua, Robinson, Tocci getting starts as well as Calhoun, Mazara, Gallo, and DeShileds. Choo is anchoring down the DH spot.

Watching a bit of the game tonight, and still shocked to see Rua in the line up over Calhoun. It makes zero sense to me, we already know Rua sucks, let's see if our big "get" from the Darvish trade can play a little

bigcat22 said:

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Old Tom Morris said:

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11th in the AL in Slugging %. 19th in the AL in OPS. Top 50 in OBP.

The BA isn't pretty. The K's aren't pretty. But the guy is an extreme version of how teams are looking to play the game these days.

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These kinda stats are why it still baffles me that Banny had him hitting 2nd in the opening day lineup. He's an all or nothing hitter that should be further down in the order, not a get-on-base guy. But, alas, that ship has thankfully sailed. Not JD must work some magic and get a good manager, while also rebuilding entire system.

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Would it cause the shift to be less pronounced if a high OBP guy bat's ahead of him?

Him fielding the ball with runners on 1st and 2nd and waiting on the runner to come to him was classic

Gosh I'll miss him

Such a great dude. Loved watching him play.

On a different note, LOL at the 162nd game only taking 2:14. The golf course is awaitin'!

So great. Absolutely perfect.

Back from my self-imposed hiatus.

Curious what the early opinions of the "Opener" role has been for:

• Opener
• Traditional SP
• Overall BP impact

TIA.

As ready as I am for Banny and Brocail to be dumped, I think it is terrible how JD handled the dismissal of Banny.

Isn't that typical of how JD handles these things. For Banny, 3-4 different publications all published the same story about players not liking him and that he may not be back for next season. Provokes a confrontation between the two, which results him have ultimately having to dismiss the employee because they were no longer tenable. JD then looks like the good-guy who was compelled to get rid of a contentious employee that was no longer worth keeping.

Sad to see Beltre may have played his last games. I hope not, as I abandoned watching the Rangers about a month ago. It was the 1st time since I was in 2nd... maybe 3rd grade that I didn't finish the season.

Glad to see the Rangers got Memphis for AAA... I was hoping San Antonio would work out with a fresh stadium, however with the way the Rangers are handling the roster for the new stadium in Arlington, it almost makes the point of support for not getting a new stadium in San Antonio. We'll see.

Not 100% sure what the off-season will bring. If a 6-Man rotation or the "Opener" is pursued... I may not have interest in 2019. I need to see how the young SP guys did the past month. I confess I might have looked at a boxscore once or twice... but more out of habit/compulsion, than insight.

Any good rumors on player personnel for 2019? Hopes? Dreams?

Honestly, I'm not sure what to think of the opener idea. I know Tampa used it quite a bit with success. They played well the second half of the season and almost made the playoffs.

I know we did a few times. I know it was successful some of the times. Pretty sure Jurado had a couple good outings where he came in to start the second inning.

I "think" the idea with the opener is that you might do it for one or two of your starters, and the other spots in the rotation would be the traditional starting pitcher in the first inning. And at this point, there is no telling what our rotation will be next year. Minor and ??? Mendez and Jurado would be candidates, then it's a crapshoot. Probably will sign a retread or two. Edison Volquez should be ready, but no telling what he will be like coming back from surgery. Maybe we pull somebody from AA.

free_mhayden said:

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JD didn't retain a manager that was under-performing. Any more you've read into it at this point is your own speculation, as this has been about the quietest firing any major media market has seen.

And for as overly meticulous some of your statistical rambling have been, having the use of a 6-man rotation or an "opener" being the hill you've chosen your baseball fandom to die on is quite odd.

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As we get deeper into the off-season more of the backstory on Banister and whatever the issues were will leak out. It always does. I'd imagine the beat writers already know (or have a pretty good idea), but it'll come out at some point.

When players want a guy gone, he's gonna be gone. And it's pretty clear that there are key guys in that room that wanted Banny out of there. And player unhappiness is not something the GM is going to be able to keep quiet.

I actually find it somewhat refreshing that they didn't try to go with the "we evaluate at the end of the season" bull*****

According to an article in the Morning News, as of September 17, 2018, Tampa was 30-20 using the opener and 32-24 not using the opening in the time span since they unveiled the opener in mid-May. At the time, they had a league best 3.30 ERA during that time span...

But they also ended up with a higher 2nd half ERA than 1st half, because July was their worst ERA month (4.88 ERA) and their pitching fell apart a bit over the last few weeks (3.99 ERA in Sept/Oct., 2nd worst of the season behind July.)

So, I think you can say there were some mixed results but there was enough success to be intrigued.


We will know a lot more if they allow Ryan Yarborough and Yonny Chirinos to make traditional starts next year. They were both rookies and the primary two "starters" they used openers for.

I guess I would be a lot more intrigued about the Bannister thing if either of the last two seasons had significant success (or if the previous seasons had deep playoff runs).

Even ignoring the players liking or disliking him, you could make a very easy case that he got let go because of performance.

As far as any drama that has yet to be reported... what really could it be that's any more significant than he heard rumblings and wanted to know if his job status was secure or not and turns out it wasn't. I mean, even if JD did leak something to the press I imagine he's smart enough to cover his tracks, but what would be the point? To gain a week or two on the decision?

_lefraud_ said:

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Memphis is about a 3 hour drive from Nashville.

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Well, just remember... you've got a friend in Memphis.

Goes to show how much learning I have to do.

Daniels: Pitching's our missing link to postseason

Rangers GM says he might not go 'all in' this winter, but he'll find ways to win

By T.R. Sullivan MLB.com @Sullivan_Ranger
Oct. 2nd, 2018

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ARLINGTON -- The Rangers believe they have a strong group of young position players who are ready to win and compete in the postseason.
The overwhelming issue facing the Rangers this winter is how to line up those players with the necessary pitching. That will be a daunting task.
"I don't think this is the winter we are going all in on the top free agents necessarily," general manager Jon Daniels said Tuesday. "That doesn't mean we can't find a number of ways to improve and we will.
"We are very aware of the competitive landscape. Our belief is we can take steps forward next year. I don't believe in the thought of tanking. That's not in our mindset. There are a lot of areas we can get better. We will get after it this offseason."
The Rangers appear to be on a rebuilding course. But Daniels is not ruling out the possibility of competing for the postseason next year.
"We want to give the team a chance to demonstrate at midseason and allow us to make decisions, one way or another," Daniels said. "If the team is in the mix in July if your team has played well, we would always look to [upgrade through trade]. We are going to look to get better internally and externally in the offseason and see where we are in the summer."
Daniels admitted the Rangers were in a better situation with their pitching at the end of last season than they are this year. They went into last offseason able to build a rotation around Cole Hamels and Martin Perez, and had a group of proven relievers, including Keone Kela, Jake Diekman, Alex Claudio, Matt Bush and Tony Barnette.
This offseason, the only two pitchers guaranteed spots on next year's staff are starter Mike Minor and reliever Jose Leclerc.
The Rangers are back to buying bulk. Rookies Yohander Mendez, Ariel Jurado and Adrian Sampsonmade progress this year, but they will still have to compete for a job in Spring Training.
"All three guys will be in the mix for jobs but not guaranteed," Daniels said. "We will have some internal pitching ready to contribute, but more midseason and second half than guys really prepared to jump in on Opening Day."
The Rangers have pitching in the Minors, but Cole Ragans, Joe Palumbo, Kyle Cody, Alex Speas and Ronald Herrera are in various stages of recovery from major arm surgery while others like A.J. Alexy, Tyler Phillips, Hans Crouse, Jason Bahr and Yerry Rodriguez haven't advanced beyond Class A.
"We have to develop the group we have down below," Daniels said. "A lot of real positives, but that group is several years away. We are not going to rush them. To line things up with this group of position players, we are going to have to look outside."
There will be interesting names on the free-agent market, including Patrick Corbin, Dallas Keuchel, Charlie Morton and others, but it remains a difficult and expensive way to building a rotation. The top free-agent starting pitchers last winter were Jake Arrieta (10-11, 3.96), Yu Darvish (1-3, 4.95), Lance Lynn (10-10, 4.77), Jason Vargas (7-9, 5.77) and Alex Cobb (5-15, 4.90) and they all went through struggles.
"It's a challenge," Daniels said. "It's risky, but at the same time, you can make quality signings. There have been very productive pitching acquisitions. Minor for instance. Charlie Morton for the Astros, Jon Lester on a higher scale for the Cubs. You have to dig in, do your homework and make good evaluations."
Oakland won 97 games this season with a rotation that included Sean Manaea, Trevor Cahill, Edwin Jackson, Brett Anderson and others. Their pitching strength was in an outstanding bullpen.
"It is clearly a priority for us, both in traditional starting pitching and looking at the best way to build a staff," Daniels said. "In years past, teams were built with five strong starters. Look at some of the teams in postseason, they have advantages elsewhere. Starting pitching is still a priority. I don't want to downplay it, but there are multiple ways to go about it. We'll look at all of it."
Rangers beat
The Rangers have told assistant hitting coach Justin Mashore that he will not return next season. All other coaches are on hold until the Rangers complete the managerial search.
Daniels said the Rangers have not finalized a list of candidates to interview for the manager's job. He made it clear that the ability to communicate with players will be a high priority.
The Rangers have extended their working agreement with Class A Short Season Spokane in the Northwest League for two more years.
Daniels said the Rangers are looking for a senior director of baseball operations to add to the front-office staff. There is a possibility that assistant general manager Jayce Tingler could go back to the Major League coaching staff.
Nomar Mazara had his right thumb examined by Dr. Thomas DiLiberti on Tuesday. DiLiberti reported that the ligament in the thumb is a little swollen but fully stable. That slight swelling should subside with rest in the next few weeks. No other treatment is necessary at this time.

gomerschlep said:

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Had sportscenter on in the background getting ready for work and they were talking about the Cubs possibly parting ways with Joe Madden. Man, if that happens, GO GET HIM.

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Seriously

gomerschlep said:

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Had sportscenter on in the background getting ready for work and they were talking about the Cubs possibly parting ways with Joe Madden. Man, if that happens, GO GET HIM.

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Why would they do that? Cubs tired of Madden, or Madden looking to leave?

KT 90 said:

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gomerschlep said:

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Had sportscenter on in the background getting ready for work and they were talking about the Cubs possibly parting ways with Joe Madden. Man, if that happens, GO GET HIM.

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Why would they do that? Cubs tired of Madden, or Madden looking to leave?

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MLB Network has been talking since last night about Madden going to the Angels because of past experience there.

In other news, Buck Showalter was let go by the O's today.

Can Madden communicate with the players?

TR Sullivan has a fairly lengthy FAQ for the Ranger off-season that is worth a read:

https://www.mlb.com/news/rangers-2018-2019-offseason-faqs/c-296999384

Did Beltre veto a trade to Boston? Would be fun rooting for him.

Alex Bergman is now whining that they played day games and how the champs are being disrespected.

Red Sox/Yankees >>>>>>> any other matchups in baseball for prime time. Cards/Cubs and LA/SF can certainly be ones that can draw the rivalry.

I can't help but laugh at these sulking babies.

Corndog gonna corndog

PDEMDHC said:

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Alex Bergman is now whining that they played day games and how the champs are being disrespected.

Red Sox/Yankees >>>>>>> any other matchups in baseball for prime time. Cards/Cubs and LA/SF can certainly be ones that can draw the rivalry.

I can't help but laugh at these sulking babies.

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He is a tool. I read an article a few months ago where he is one of the most disliked by fans across MLB. Its kinda funny how he gets into little fights with people on twitter, such a snowflake.

A lot like Roger Clemens. Always some imaginary enemy he has to vanquish. "Look at me. I got picked 2nd. Nobody can disrespect me like that!" We get it. You're persecuted.

Good news on the stadium.

Stadium cost upped to $1.2B. The extra $200M will come from ticket sales, among other things... NOT taxes.

That cost is not final, and likely to go up.

At $200M, let's pretend it costed out over 10 years, so $20M/yr. With attendance at 2.1M (26K/game) in 2018, that is an increase of about $10/ticket.

We all know with the enclosed stadium, we'll likely have higher attendance, but we also know with $133M payroll, we'll need additional attendance, if we plan to have a higher payroll.

I'm really looking forward to how the Rangers manage expectations between costs, talent, payroll and Wins.

I'm seeing Tom Hicks flashes right before me. Hicks did silly things like taking the parking and separating it from the team, showing lower revenue, in order to justify lower payroll. In the case of the new stadium, parking from what I heard on the radio, will be shared between JerryWorld, the City of Arlington and Tarrant County. If Cowboys parking is already shared that way, it explains why the cost is like $50.

Captured my sentiments in the article:

Quote:

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Customers typically loathe change, including in the face of improvement; even though old Turnpike Stadium was a glorified landfill when the team moved out of that stadium into the Ballpark in 1994, there were complaints.

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