That's fine, then move Peacock. I don't care which. With McHugh, you have an entire season of evidence that he excels in the pen... to the tune of a 1.96 ERA so there is an argument for him to go back regardless

Beat40 said:

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I think the offense has enough to cover him if they want him to work it out.

Pitching is KILLING us right now. Zero rhythm from the pitching staff right now.

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yep, somewhat disappointing to be 13-9...when Springer, Altuve, and Brantley are having outstanding Aprils approaching 100 plate appearances already. Plus Reddick hitting .365

Starting to smell like last season

Any chance Dallas ends up in Boston now with the news on Eovaldi?

I doubt it. BOS is off to a rough start and doubt they want to continue adding expensive pieces when already above the luxury tax.

If they continue like they are they may be sellers to get under the tax. Plus, like a lot of teams, I doubt they wanna give up a draft pick.

This is interesting...

That's encouraging. Offer him $12-13M for the remainder of this season and call it a day.

How much ramp up time will Dallas need? 3 weeks?

AggiEE said:

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Nah, I'm good. One non-awful game doesn't turn him into a decent hitter.

We have a big enough dataset to set him loose at this point.

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Aside from the first correct usage of the word "loose" I have seen in a long time on Texags, this is wrong.

When a guy shows up to spring training obese, it's easy to dislike him. Maybe it will help you to see it as something similar to alcoholism or drug abuse. It's a more visible struggle, because he is literally wearing it, and maybe it's more benign because it's not mind-altering and off the field his fat isn't hurting anyone else, but IMO it's a very similar struggle and a talented ballplayer like him should get just as much grace and support and opportunity to overcome it as an addict does.

He has not hit much or hit for power yet, but he has walked a lot and has a .395 OBP. The power will come. He's a liability on the bases, and that's obviously not good...but his body of work so far (a little over a full season, if you add it all up) shows that he's a guy that he is probably a 20-25 HR and near .800 OPS type of guy. Right now he's waddling around like a manatee, but he has positional versatility when he's in shape and even if all he does is play below average 1b or DH, that's as good as we have ever had out of that spot.

I'd love to give Alvarez a shot or even Straw, but cutting White loose would be an idiotic move. IDK that he's the long-term answer as a regular, and If he continues to gain weight and doesn't get his stroke back, that's a different discussion but he's under team control for 4 years and has the potential to be a valuable piece of the puzzle.

Personally I'd love for us to add DK back, or maybe make a trade for another started later in the season. We are good enough now to hang around the top of our division,but I personally don't think we have "it" right now. Like I said in the winter months if Cole, or Verlander struggles this team is going to have it tough which is why we need another proven arm in the rotation. Colin and Brad could be good, or that could be bad. Miley I don't trust.

It is showing now just how much of an asset it was to have Colin and Brad eat up innings in the pen. As already mentioned the season has just begun and a lot can happen, but I think we need to add another starter by July/August if not sooner to give us another push.


As far as Tyler White goes I'd rather have Tony Kemp DH'ing. He can run the bases and draw walks just as well.

I'm curious as to the positional versatility that White has.

TREX01 said:

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I'm curious as to the positional versatility that White has.

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Before Bregman came back in spring training, he was starting most of our games at 3b. He has major league starts at 2b and LF and played a good bit of SS as high as AAA.

I know it's hard to believe all of this based on the way he looks now, but it's true.

I'd be willing to sign Keuchel at this point. We need another quality starter because rolling with McHugh and Peacock is not going to cut it.

My biggest problem is that we knew we were losing Keuchel, Morton and McCullers early in the offseason. And our big splash move was Wade Miley. Yes we got Brantley, which I'm happy about... but that doesn't help the rotation.

James' horrendous start to the season is a reasonably large development for us. I think we were counting on him to be our mid-innings stopper and innings eater if a starter exits early. Someone who can keep us in a game if we're losing or maintain a lead if we're winning, or even pitch high leverage innings if our back-end guys have been working hard. Toward the end of last year he showed flashes of being that guy, but he's clearly not right now.

James needs to be sent back to AAA to get his s*** figured out asap and we need to replace the important role we thought he was going to play. Peacock seems like obvious candidate, which would mean we need a new starter. If James gets shelled again in his next outing, then I don't think this is a problem that we can punt until June after the super two deadline when Whitley will presumably get his shot. Need to get it worked out soon. If that means paying Keuchel, I'm good with that.

Deluxe said:

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James' horrendous start to the season is a reasonably large development for us. I think we were counting on him to be our mid-innings stopper and innings eater if a starter exits early. Someone who can keep us in a game if we're losing or maintain a lead if we're winning, or even pitch high leverage innings if our back-end guys have been working hard. Toward the end of last year he showed flashes of being that guy, but he's clearly not right now.

James needs to be sent back to AAA to get his s*** figured out asap and we need to replace the important role we thought he was going to play. Peacock seems like obvious candidate, which would mean we need a new starter. If James gets shelled again in his next outing, then I don't think this is a problem that we can punt until June after the super two deadline when Whitley will presumably get his shot. Need to get it worked out soon. If that means paying Keuchel, I'm good with that.

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This is why guys that throw extremely hard but don't have much command concern me.

They inevitably deal out free bases pretty regularly and are just constantly in trouble.

I personally don't think this is an anomaly with him either. While he's young and can improve no doubt, I think this is what he is...a fire baller who struggles with command.

I agree, especially now that most guys throw extremely hard. Sounds funny to say, but a 97 mph heater ain't what it used to be! Command will always be king.

The benefit of signing Keuchel is that it improves both the rotation and the BP.

And for the record I was opposed to it during the off-season but things change. His price has dropped and our need has increased.

Hope I'm wrong but I agree with you.

His fastball has been closer to 95-97 this year, which is a big difference from the 100+ he was hitting last year. Command has not been good. I think he caught some teams off guard last year but now the book is out on him.

bullard21k said:

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Deluxe said:

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James' horrendous start to the season is a reasonably large development for us. I think we were counting on him to be our mid-innings stopper and innings eater if a starter exits early. Someone who can keep us in a game if we're losing or maintain a lead if we're winning, or even pitch high leverage innings if our back-end guys have been working hard. Toward the end of last year he showed flashes of being that guy, but he's clearly not right now.

James needs to be sent back to AAA to get his s*** figured out asap and we need to replace the important role we thought he was going to play. Peacock seems like obvious candidate, which would mean we need a new starter. If James gets shelled again in his next outing, then I don't think this is a problem that we can punt until June after the super two deadline when Whitley will presumably get his shot. Need to get it worked out soon. If that means paying Keuchel, I'm good with that.

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This is why guys that throw extremely hard but don't have much command concern me.

They inevitably deal out free bases pretty regularly and are just constantly in trouble.

I personally don't think this is an anomaly with him either. While he's young and can improve no doubt, I think this is what he is...a fire baller who struggles with command.

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Vincent Velazquez esque

The last three games were just isolated crap-fests.........right?

tjholley16 said:

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I'd be willing to sign Keuchel at this point. We need another quality starter because rolling with McHugh and Peacock is not going to cut it.

My biggest problem is that we knew we were losing Keuchel, Morton and McCullers early in the offseason. And our big splash move was Wade Miley. Yes we got Brantley, which I'm happy about... but that doesn't help the rotation.

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Maybe we should just sign Kimbrel to be our 7th inning guy. We do have $12 million in reliever salary (Smith and Rondon) coming off the books after this year. Then we could slide Rondon/Harris into the middle innings.

That would be fun.

so you're not disappointed with 2-4 vs. the Rangers?

c'mon now

Part of me would not mind a losing record against the Rangers if the season ends in another WS Championship. You know some blowhard Dallasite would thump his chest over winning the Silver Boot even if the rest of their season was so-so at best.

Seriously, while all the games count in the end, with a 162 game schedule I do not get too up or down about any particular W or L.

This. Short of an extended streak of losses, I have a hard time being down on this team. They're too good to stay down.

Heading down to the game tonight. Hopefully bring a little magic to the boys tonight.

Angel Hernndez is behind home plate tonight.

Here's to Hinch giving it to him again. Going to be interesting.

I want Jake in CF, Springer in RF, and Reddick in LF with Brantley at DH

And yes I know offense isn't a problem...But Tyler White is

Are you confident Jake is an upgrade over White?

I'll say the lack of focus the past couple of games has been frustrating for me. Some mental errors, bad first innings by the pitchers, etc. Some of it has been bad luck, too- the team has hit a lot of hard shots right at fielders, homers with no runners on base, erratic strike zones, long time on the road, and such.

There may be some hyperbole in that comment, but overall I'd like to see them just play a cleaner game. If they lose, it's 1 of 162 and life goes on, but at least don't give it away. Hopefully they break out of that recent habit starting tonight.

Farmer1906 said:

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Are you confident Jake is an upgrade over White?

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I would rather have Yuli defensively at 1B and Jake in CF than White at 1B, Kemp in CF and Yuli DHing. And at the plate I don't feel like Jake is an out waiting to happen, at least not right now.