Fuzzy Dunlop said:

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I agree with everything in this post except the last sentence. Trading either or both may have helped in 2020 but it sure could have helped long term. At this point, I think JD has to make some significant moves this off season to prove to the fans that we want to contend.

We need good right hand bats and some SP for 2021 and beyond. We need outfield help. We need a catcher until Huff gets to the big leagues. We need a 1B.

I hope AP is right in that we are looking to double payroll next year. The problem is that some of that will come through arb.

Here's to hoping for 80 wins this season. That's probably all we have to look forward to until next spring.

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Having looked at the minors, over the past few months/years... I'm not as negative on where we are. Could trading Minor and/or Lynn helped long-term? Sure.

Minor liked Texas and expressed not wanting to be traded. Sounds like a guy we can extend.
We have Lynn for 2 more years.
Choo's $21M comes off after next year.

3B we have Andy Ibanez (26-AAA) and Josh Jung. Both are RHB.
C we have Sam Huff (21-A+)
CF we have Leody Taveras (20-AA) Another RHB

All of those guys are likely 2021 guys.

SPs... we have 4-5 guys who will compete for 1 spot in 2020. Payano (24), Palumbo (24), Valdez (27), Herrera, Benjamin.

We have another 4-5 guys who will compete for 2021. Guys like Jason Bahr (24), John King (24), Jonathan Hernandez (22) and Edgar Arrendondo (22)

We have 2 SPs for 2019. We need to pick one for FA. If Jurado gets a spot, then Sampson, Chavez, Hearn...among the others for the #5.

Are we going to win a WS with that rotation? No. But we have some pieces coming.

bigcat22 said:

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Seems like a nice out to what they said previously. Hopefully he just means they're not gonna spend money to spend money.

Minor's value was not helped by the fact that he's basically sucked in every start since his last before the ASB

That quote by JD is very disappointing.

Tom Hicks overestimated his position and the blind loyalty of Rangers fans.

He kept saying, "If the fans would only come out, we'd have more money to spend on the team." We heard all about how they were going to invest around the ballpark.

JD has one more year. A lot of good-will was used up on getting that new stadium. This year was a wash... we knew that coming in. The new stadium was the mandate. Are you going to win at all costs? The only cost of not winning in 2020 will be his job and the fan's attendance.

But, if he thinks not making the playoffs next year, coming into the new is going to play well with fans... he is sorely mistaken. If he thinks a payroll of $130M is going to play well with a .500 team and the "we gotta be smart about it," things are not going to go well.

They have $85.7M committed for 2020.
They have $40.4M committed for 2021.

That window for playing for championships starts in 2020. They may be selling tons of tickets and already got a waiting list for the new park.

Hicks had a 3 year waiting list for STHs at Reunion (Stars). They moved to the AAC and pissed off half their fans, but the team was on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup. Then he took advantage of hosting the All-Star Game... and then he had to sell the team because the fans hated him so much.

Santana, Lynn, Pence... all worked out, but the hit-miss ratio when you factor, Smyly, Miller, Volq, Springs, Mathis, Cabrera, Bird, Huang, Jeanmar, Wisdom, McAllister and all the others is too great for a team entering a new stadium and significant TV revenue... and a loyal fan base. We shouldn't be a Sears or K-Mart looking for a blue light special to fill 6 or 7 spots on the roster.

Yes, this team was fun to watch... and he can justify not helping the team out a month ago, when they desperately needed help... but with the new stadium and years of tanking won't play well.

Being smart means you have to draft well and sign quality international players. And then develop them. They've sucked balls in that department for a long time and it will end up his undoing. Throw in the TJ disaster, and I think the time for a wholesale organizational change is already here.

I don't hold today as a strike against because the trade pieces they own are weak sauce.

Losing guys like Levine and Preller is what killed JD. He hasn't replaced the braintrust that he had at his disposal. The Rangers benefitted 5-10 years ago from having a really great team, JD isnt all that great by himself.

JD went after pitching, year after year... and we have most of them with TJ surgery. Many he drafted already injured and known health issues.

What Houston did was draft players and trade for pitching.

Verlander traded for in Aug 2017.
Cole was acquired via trade in Jan 2018
Miley was signed as a FA this off-season.
Greinke was just acquired.

3 via trades. 0 Developed.

Yes, the Yankees need pitching. They tried to get it and failed.

Because we drafted Pitching... we have fewer fielders at the top end. But a crap-ton of pitchers we drafted with TJ surgery.

Was Epstein really the Cubs GM for the Gagne trade? It seems like Theo has just been in Chicago a few years and the Gagne trade seems like a decade ago.

Dallasag02 said:

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Losing guys like Levine and Preller is what killed JD. He hasn't replaced the braintrust that he had at his disposal. The Rangers benefitted 5-10 years ago from having a really great team, JD isnt all that great by himself.

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That's what I don't understand.


While the rangers were good, we suffered an organizational "brain drain" from other teams across the league. It seems like the Astros front office hasn't been raided yet.

Can we stop yo-yo'ing Calhoun? Guy belongs at this level

ChipFTAC01 said:

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Was Epstein really the Cubs GM for the Gagne trade? It seems like Theo has just been in Chicago a few years and the Gagne trade seems like a decade ago.

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The Gagne trade was when Epstein was with the Red Sox. The guy was reaching extremely far back to defend JD when I specifically stated in my initial post that Epstein has taken JD to the cleaners and I don't want any part of trading with the cubs now.

Old Tom Morris said:

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Can we stop yo-yo'ing Calhoun? Guy belongs at this level

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We're probably the only organization in the league who rigidly sticks with " the plan" that was put forth before the season.

We were determined to give the " young core" millions of at bats to develop. Realistically, these last 60 games should be one big experiment instead. Woody should use the heat as an excuse while he can to not play underperformers like odor and Mazara as much. Bring up Solak, get a look at him. Let's try out the reliever we got from the rays. Let's see who actually wants to be on this damn team.

Dallasag02 said:

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Losing guys like Levine and Preller is what killed JD. He hasn't replaced the braintrust that he had at his disposal. The Rangers benefitted 5-10 years ago from having a really great team, JD isnt all that great by himself.

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I don't think that is the case.

Preller was the LATAM guy. Yes, he brought a ton of guys in from LATAM. It was pure numbers. He brought in a bunch of guys.

However, MLB neutralized that when they went to Int'l Pool money. Our last haul was like 2011, and MLB evened out players coming in from there. He did some shady things, which brought the ire of MLB, when he would produce birth certificates that were contrary to what other teams had for the same player. He has done a terrible job in San Diego.

One of the other things JD and Co was able to do... was sign players and then trade them for big prospects at the deadline, or get draft compensation the next year. That went away when MLB instituted the requirement a player had to be on a team for a full season, in order to get draft compensation... and then again with the QO.

They were a good fit, but MLB has worked really hard to drive parity into the league.

Never mind. Forgot we sent Gagne to the Sox.

Heismenberg said:

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I absolutely hate JD and the fact he ran Nolan off. Look what is happening and has already happened in Houston. JD is and always has been a cancer. What is going on now (and losing the World Series in 2010 and 2011, which I'm still not over and hurts to this day), is absolutely ridiculous.

Why is it so hard to realize that pitching should always be priority number one? Look at the Yankees. Their lineup 1-9 is stacked. But their pitching isn't elite. The Astros just won the AL and maybe the World Series today and it makes me sick. Especially with their ******* fans.

JD needs to quit watching Moneyball and be proactive. After what happened the. Last month and now being under .500 and 7.5 games out of WC2, we should have been sellers at the deadline. I would have dealt Odor, Elvis, Pence, and even Gallo for some up and coming prospects.

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Amen.

You guys are giving the Astros front office way too much credit.

Is it better than the Rangers front office? After the aforementioned "brain drain", yes.

But losing 100+ games for 4 years and then using the prospects gained and money saved to field a championship caliber team isn't some work of magic. Nearly every major piece they've had the last 3-4 years save for Altuve was centered somewhat around the talent they amassed during the tank years.

Now you can certainly make a case that Texas should have taken the same approach, but when? 2017 is when it should have started, but in '17 and '18 you had "the Adrian Beltre situation" that prevented the team from doing a complete rebuild.

Should Texas have drafted better the last decade? Absolutely. Should Texas have developed better the last decade? Absolutely. Should Texas have made better trades the last decade? For the most part, yeah.

But right now you're seeing the result of averaging 90-wins from 2010-2016 and then not being able to firesale while one of the best players to ever don your uniform is playing his final seasons.

Based on what I saw today, I'm starting to wonder how much the new stadium is hindering his ability to go full rebuild.

Heismenberg said:

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I absolutely hate JD and the fact he ran Nolan off. Look what is happening and has already happened in Houston. JD is and always has been a cancer. What is going on now (and losing the World Series in 2010 and 2011, which I'm still not over and hurts to this day), is absolutely ridiculous.

Why is it so hard to realize that pitching should always be priority number one? Look at the Yankees. Their lineup 1-9 is stacked. But their pitching isn't elite. The Astros just won the AL and maybe the World Series today and it makes me sick. Especially with their ******* fans.

JD needs to quit watching Moneyball and be proactive. After what happened the. Last month and now being under .500 and 7.5 games out of WC2, we should have been sellers at the deadline. I would have dealt Odor, Elvis, Pence, and even Gallo for some up and coming prospects.

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Except this isn't MLB The Show.

Dealing Odor is going to return you nothing of value.

Elvis has a partial no-trade that essentially acts as a full no-trade as the teams he can't block wouldn't be trading for him.

Pence might have returned you a bag of batting practice balls.

Gallo isn't a free agent until 2023. Unless you're trading for A-ball "prospects" then trading the one valuable asset that might actually be here when you are wanting to be competitive makes little sense.


Minor should have been moved for the best available package. Lynn should have been moved if someone knocked our socks off.

MSFC Aggie said:

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Looks like Ibanez may be coming to Arlington, and if IKF isn't coming off the IL, then Trevino may be joining Ibanez.

Let the youth movement begin.

Proposition Joe said:

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Based on what I saw today, I'm starting to wonder how much the new stadium is hindering his ability to go full rebuild.

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We have one of the best Offenses in the AL. We need some RHB. Probably a $20M SP. And a bunch of RPs, that can be had for a couple Mil.

We do not need a rebuild.

I don't think Kiner hits enough to be a legit 3b. Heinaman has been killing it at AAA, should have brought him up for a look. He's been working at 1B lately too, plus OF

KT 90 said:

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I don't think Kiner hits enough to be a legit 3b. Heinaman has been killing it at AAA, should have brought him up for a look. He's been working at 1B lately too, plus 1B

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Does IKF play decent defense at 3rd? and he's been extremely awful at the plate this year.

Hopefully the catcher experiment was the main reason. I'm sure it took up most of his time trying to learn that position,

I want to see what we got in Trevino

Most of his WAR value last year came from playing 3B. I'm not advocating for the belief in dWAR, i'm just reporting the facts.

KT 90 said:

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I don't think Kiner hits enough to be a legit 3b. Heinaman has been killing it at AAA, should have brought him up for a look. He's been working at 1B lately too, plus OF

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Heineman (26) doesn't play 3B. He was an OF, and (to your point) I see he has 9 GP at 1B, this season.

Not sure what his long-term position is. He is on the 40, so I have to expect he'll get a look soon.

We have so many players at AAA that are "in their prime." JD stacked AAA with guys to help slow the promotion of younger players. It hasn't helped the younger guys achieve inflated numbers... so, it is time to cut loose the placeholders and let the young guys sink or swim.

Quote:

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the new stadium, which will help attract FA as well.

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Wishful thinking at best.

Proposition Joe said:

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DallasAg 94 said:

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Proposition Joe said:

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Based on what I saw today, I'm starting to wonder how much the new stadium is hindering his ability to go full rebuild.

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We have one of the best Offenses in the AL. We need some RHB. Probably a $20M SP. And a bunch of RPs, that can be had for a couple Mil.

We do not need a rebuild.

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Is that $20M SP going to buy you put up a 7 WAR season? Great, that gets us in contention for the wildcard.

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If we added a SP a month ago... and legit SP, we'd still be in the hunt for the WC2. If we had a legit BP, we wouldn't have had to run Leclerc out there 4 of 5 games, pitching 3 in a row.

Let's look.
Miller: -1.0
Smyly: -0.7
Volquez: 0
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Biddle: -0.3
Dowdy: -0.4
Fairbanks: -0.3
Jeanmar Gomez: -0.3
Guerrieri: -0.1
Hearn: -0.3

So, we got... -3.4. So, there is that. Add Mathis and his -1.3, and we're at -4.7.

Where as,
Jurado: +1.1
Sampson: +1.8

So, there is some addition by subtraction and one SP doesn't have to be the only benefit.

You get a $20M SP that replaces -1.0 Miller and that rotation spot is a +2.0, and you are 3G improved.

Improvements by Odor, Guzman and Mazara will be critical. Replacing Cabrera and maybe DD... it is a pretty easy tweak. You also have to expect Jurado and Sampson to be better, as both are just entering the grind.

wbt5845 said:

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I realize some of you just flat hate JD. I agree that him misplaying that fly ball in right field in St. Louis...

wait

I think yesterday means the Rangers are not as far away as some think. I see "holes all over the field" comments - I only see two big ones - 3B and CF. Perhaps catcher, which us why I want to find out what Trevino has.

We have probably 3 starting pitchers for next year already. We can assemble a bullpen. One SP FA signing changes the whole complexion of this staff.

In 2021, we probably get Jung and Taveras. Maybe Rouse and Winn. Maybe even the great Sam Huff.

I am much more sanguine than you guys. And I've put my money on it with season tickets in the new stadium, which will help attract FA as well.

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I compiled my post, before having read yours. Eerily similar.