Grapesoda2525 said:

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I wonder if Beltre knew the lineup was going to be this good that he would've stayed another year. Most of the upswing has been due to coaching I think, so of course he had no way of knowing. Losing him sucked in general, but he was also our best right handed bat. Cabrera hits LH most of the time at 3rd. I'm thinking next offseason, we need to bring in a really good right handed third baseman to balance things out a bit.

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Beltre played in 94 and 119 G the last 2 years. I think he knows his body is breaking down and that preparing for another year would be too challenging to maintain the level of play he expects of himself.

jtstanley4621 said:

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94chem said:

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Pence throws almost as poorly as Deshields.

I know Santana isn't young, but why does that matter? I'm thinking more in terms of Alex Rios or Ian Desmond. If he's one of the top 3, he should be playing. And man, I hate OF who can't throw.

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Santana has been an important part of the team this year. IMO he has earned some type of starting spot in this roster.

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Woody has said he is an everyday player...so, it will be interesting to see how that relationship progresses.

Lots to really like about Santana.

Quote:

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So that leaves either Mazara or Calhoun as tradable options.

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Mazara is untouchable, as far as I'm concerned. He looks like he's about to go Victor Martinez.

DallasAg 94 said:

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jtstanley4621 said:

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94chem said:

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Pence throws almost as poorly as Deshields.

I know Santana isn't young, but why does that matter? I'm thinking more in terms of Alex Rios or Ian Desmond. If he's one of the top 3, he should be playing. And man, I hate OF who can't throw.

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Santana has been an important part of the team this year. IMO he has earned some type of starting spot in this roster.

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Woody has said he is an everyday player...so, it will be interesting to see how that relationship progresses.

Lots to really like about Santana.

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Will be pissed if they trade him like the idiots on LSB want to do. His stats for the month of June have been comparable to what manny machado and Javy Baez have put up this month.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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KT 90 said:

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Somehow this team needs to address the glut of LH bats on the roster. And we also have too many outfielders, and unfortunately all of them except for Gallo aren't very good defensively.

One option is moving Gallo to 1B, but sounds like the team plans to leave him in the outfield. Plus moving him to 1B would further diminish our outfield defense.

Somehow one of the LH bats needs to be traded. A few posts above someone posted a projected OF for 2020 as: Calhoun-Gallo-Mazara, and then we'd still have Choo at DH. Then throw in Odor at 2B and Guzman at 1B. Even Santana hits better from the left side.

You have to assume we will commit to Gallo and give him an extension before too long. So that leaves either Mazara or Calhoun as tradable options. Do to their contracts, Choo are Odor are pretty much untradable at the moment, unless we eat most of their contracts.

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Calhoun seems like he could be way too good of a player to trade. The guy gets a hit in almost every game he plays and barely ever strikes out. You don't find players like him too often.

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I don't necessarily want to trade him, but somebody needs to go. He will be affordable for several more years to come, so that's another reason to keep him to balance out the payroll. But just throwing out options, somebody needs to go to clear the logjam.

Roster related info

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Kyle Bird optioned, Joey Gallo likely returning
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The Rangers have optioned Kyle Bird to AAA Nashville, opening up a roster spot that will likely be filled by Joey Gallo on Tuesday
By Adam J. Morris Jun 23, 2019, 6:53pm CDT

Texas Rangers transactions: Kyle Bird has been optioned to AAA Nashville, the Rangers announced today. No corresponding move was announced today, but will be announced on Tuesday.
Most likely, the corresponding move will be Joey Gallo being activated from the injured list on Tuesday. He has been on a rehab assignment with the AZL Rangers, and Tuesday has been the day pointed to for some time as the day he was expected to return. With an off day tomorrow, I expect that Asdrubal Cabrera's appeal of his four game suspension will be heard on Monday, which will mean that whether it is four games or a lower number, Cabrera will begin serving his suspension on Tuesday.

Because the Rangers cannot replace Cabrera on the active roster while he serves his suspension, the Rangers will be effectively playing with a 24 man roster while he is out. Texas isn't going to want to go with a two man bench, which is what they would be left with if a position player is sent down to make room for Gallo, so Bird, who was called up when Drew Smyly was designated for assignment, goes down instead.

I had assumed that Locke St. John, the other lefty reliever called up at the same time as Bird, would be sent down, but one of those two was the obvious move. A player who is optioned cannot be recalled until 10 days after he is sent down, unless he is replacing someone going on the injured list, so by sending Bird down now, rather than waiting until Tuesday, the Rangers are starting the 10 days running today, meaning he can return two days earlier than he could if they waited until Tuesday to send him down.

Cabrera will likely either have his suspension kept at four games, or will have it lowered to three games, meaning he will most likely return either Friday or Saturday of next week. Once he is back, if the Rangers decide they need to go back to an eight man bullpen, they will then have to make the difficult decision on who to send down, waive, or otherwise remove from the 25 man roster among their position players. Delino DeShields and Ronald Guzman appear to be the most likely candidates at this point, but a lot can change in the next 5-6 days.

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Hans Crouse pitching through bone spurs
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Rangers pitching prospect Hans Crouse will have surgery after the season to remove bone spurs from his elbow
By Adam J. Morris Jun 24, 2019, 9:30am CDT

Hans Crouse, one of the Texas Rangers top pitching prospects, returned to action yesterday after being shut down for almost a month with what has been revealed to have been bone spurs in his elbow. In the linked piece, Crouse says "[t]he plan is to get them removed when the season is over," and he will limit his slider usage to 5-10 sliders a game for now, given that it exacerbates the pain the spurs cause in his elbow.

Crouse's 3 inning start yesterday was, per the article, by design, and he was up to 96 mph on his fastball, which is good news after the layoff. Bone spurs in a pitcher's elbow aren't uncommon, and Amazin Avenue had a good write-up on the issue a couple of years ago when Steven Matzand Noah Syndergaard were both dealing with the issue.

Assuming all goes well for Crouse the rest of the way, he would presumably have surgery in September to remove the bone spurs, which would put him on track to be 100% when spring training starts in 2020.

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bullpen help otw...

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Reliever Bush nearing return
The Rangers are close to bringing righty Matt Bush back to the Majors after he underwent surgery last season to repair a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. Bush has been on a rehab assignment with Double-A Frisco, tossing 6 1/3 innings over six appearances without allowing a run. He is essentially ready to return, Woodward said, but the club wants to proceed cautiously.

"If we were to do something really soon, we would have to monitor him and keep him on a program where he'd pitch every other day or couldn't pitch back-to-back, couldn't pitch multiple innings," Woodward said. "But if we wait a week or so he's ready, he's pitching and it's coming out good. We probably need to see a few more outings just to make sure before we get him back. But the earlier we call him up, the more careful we have to be."

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The case for Peter Fairbanks.

The 25 yo RH-RP was drafted in the 9th round in 2015.

He was out in 2018, but in 2019, he was 14.1 K/9IP in the minors and the same at the MLB level.

His WHIP at MLB-level is 1.304. Not terrible... but not good either. Especially as a RP, that you want to close things down.

He gives up 5.9H/9IP. The same 5.9BB/9IP.

So, situationally, you are looking at a guy who is just as likely to give up a H and issue a BB. He is 2.4 times as likely to strike the guy out, as he is to issue a W.

He is 1.2 times more likely to strike the guy out, as give up a H+BB.

If he can eliminate the HRs, you are looking at a guy who reduces ABs to mostly either a K or a BB.

12 of his 23 outs have been via a K, at the MLB-Level. 36 of 69 (52%), in the minors.

Don't bring the guy in with the bases juiced, but if you a guy at 2nd or 3rd, with less than 2 outs, if the outcome is either a K or a BB, it is almost like intentionally walking the batter, if you don't strike him out. Either way, the guy on 2nd doesn't advance.

His minor league numbers are just plain gaudy. Improve the BB rate at the MLB level and he could be a guy that shortens the game by an IP.

DallasAg 94 said:

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The case for Peter Fairbanks.

The 25 yo RH-RP was drafted in the 9th round in 2015.

He was out in 2018, but in 2019, he was 14.1 K/9IP in the minors and the same at the MLB level.

His WHIP at MLB-level is 1.304. Not terrible... but not good either. Especially as a RP, that you want to close things down.

He gives up 5.9H/9IP. The same 5.9BB/9IP.

So, situationally, you are looking at a guy who is just as likely to give up a H and issue a BB. He is 2.4 times as likely to strike the guy out, as he is to issue a W.

He is 1.2 times more likely to strike the guy out, as give up a H+BB.

If he can eliminate the HRs, you are looking at a guy who reduces ABs to mostly either a K or a BB.

12 of his 23 outs have been via a K, at the MLB-Level. 36 of 69 (52%), in the minors.

Don't bring the guy in with the bases juiced, but if you a guy at 2nd or 3rd, with less than 2 outs, if the outcome is either a K or a BB, it is almost like intentionally walking the batter, if you don't strike him out. Either way, the guy on 2nd doesn't advance.

His minor league numbers are just plain gaudy. Improve the BB rate at the MLB level and he could be a guy that shortens the game by an IP.

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Didn't he throw a couple of devastating changeups his first outing? Where was that pitch yesterday?

Hopefully yesterday's game was not a sign that the league has already figured him out. His WHIP before the game was 0.82, his BB/9 was 3.68 and his K/9 was 14.73

In regards to Fairbanks outing yesterday, I think it had everything to do with lack of control of his fastball. He threw more offspeed yesterday than I've seen and couldn't locate his fastball. Not too worried about him yet.

Matt Bush coming back would be awesome. I still think he has the best closer stuff in the system.

Cabrera's suspension reduced to 3 games.

Scoreboard Watching:
1 KC
0 Cle
Rain Delay (B4)

2 CWS
1 BoSox
B3

2 BJs
0 NYY
T3

wbt5845 said:

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Matt Bush coming back would be awesome. I still think he has the best closer stuff in the system.

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Bush struggles with locating his high fastball. He is great low in the zone, but he had trouble elevating the batter's eye when ahead in the count. I think it's why he gives up hits on good pitches when he's ahead in the count. This is why I wanted him to be a starter, because the control is good, but the HR ball would be a problem. Anyway, he's a pen arm now, so I hope he is successful.

DallasAg 94 said:

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Scoreboard Watching:
1 KC
0 Cle
Rain Delay (B4)

2 CWS
1 BoSox
B3

2 BJs
0 NYY
T3

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More interested to see if we can get to 55-45. If they're 10 over at the 100 game mark, it doesn't matter what anyone else is doing. They'll be in it.

94chem said:

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More interested to see if we can get to 55-45. If they're 10 over at the 100 game mark, it doesn't matter what anyone else is doing. They'll be in it.

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(42-36) That'd be 13-9
3 @ Detroit (26-47)
3 @ Tampa (45-33)
4 v LA Angels (39-40)
3 @ Minn
------ ASB ------
4 v Houston (49-30)
2 v Az (39-40)
3 @ Houston (49-30)

If we go 7-3, it's only .500 from there.

Honestly didn't even consider Cabrera but after reading that it makes sense

We have a log jam. I think guys like Calhoun, Santana, and even forsythe who is half coach / half player provide more value to the team by being on the roster than trading them. If Cabrera needs to go, then so be it. I think he was seen as merely a stopgap anyway.

gigem1223 said:

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Honestly didn't even consider Cabrera but after reading that it makes sense

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Ditto. Thought he was safe but it does make sense if they release him. Santana/Forsythe can hold down 3B.

Yeah, he got off to a hot start at home, but has sucked on the road all year and has been sucking at home now too. So discarding him soon is definitely something to consider if it means alleviating a jam and helping get Santana and Pence in the lineup more.

It's hard believe , but amazing, we have so many tough personnel decisions to make.

KT 90 said:

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gigem1223 said:

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Honestly didn't even consider Cabrera but after reading that it makes sense

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Ditto. Thought he was safe but it does make sense if they release him. Santana/Forsythe can hold down 3B.

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Forgot to add IKF, he was a utility infielder who played 3B before moving to catcher only role. So he could surely slide in at 3B in a pinch if needed. Not sure when he'll come off the IL though.

KT 90 said:

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KT 90 said:

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gigem1223 said:

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Honestly didn't even consider Cabrera but after reading that it makes sense

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Ditto. Thought he was safe but it does make sense if they release him. Santana/Forsythe can hold down 3B.

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Forgot to add IKF, he was a utility infielder who played 3B before moving to catcher only role. So he could surely slide in at 3B in a pinch if needed. Not sure when he'll come off the IL though.

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His bat probably isn't big enough for 3rd base full time.

Interesting tidbit about Santana:

A rival executive said recently of Rangers infielder/outfielder Danny Santana, "Regression is coming, and it will be a hard fall." The exec cited Santana's .390 batting average on balls in play and 26.9 strikeout percentage indicators that he might end up closer to his career .667 OPS entering this season than his current .883 mark.

Statcast measures, though, offer a more favorable portrait. Santana, 28, is above league average in exit velocity and hard-hit percentage. His expected .289 batting average and .474 slugging percentage numbers derived from his quality of contact and strikeout totals are below his current marks of .309 and .536 but still above league average.

This is why I feel like analytics is overused in baseball. Some of the metrics are pretty good indicators of performance. However, some are complete BS. Had the "rival executive" cited Santana's career 2nd half performance vs. His current performance, I might would take heed. But, just to say he's having a career season now and will regress is speculative at best based on the given information.

Another thing is expected average, blah, blah, blah. Maybe he is in a better system for him. Maybe the hitting coach has connected with him better than others in his career. Maybe he has a better sense of camaraderie with his teammates. it could be anything. I think Texas management saw something in him at Spring Training and knew they could work with him.

He regressed a little in May but has come on strong in June. I'll eat my words if he comes crashing down this season but until then I hope he keeps doing what he is doing.

Completely agree Fuzzy. Those intangibles are almost never taken into account in today's analytics and we take the "expected" as fact. I hope you are right too!

Fuzzy Dunlop said:

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This is why I feel like analytics is overused in baseball. Some of the metrics are pretty good indicators of performance. However, some are complete BS. Had the "rival executive" cited Santana's career 2nd half performance vs. His current performance, I might would take heed. But, just to say he's having a career season now and will regress is speculative at best based on the given information.

Another thing is expected average, blah, blah, blah. Maybe he is in a better system for him. Maybe the hitting coach has connected with him better than others in his career. Maybe he has a better sense of camaraderie with his teammates. it could be anything. I think Texas management saw something in him at Spring Training and knew they could work with him.

He regressed a little in May but has come on strong in June. I'll eat my words if he comes crashing down this season but until then I hope he keeps doing what he is doing.

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He had a great rookie year than 3 really bad injury plagued years riddled with perhaps too high expectations of him. I think he had a stint with the Braves that was a disaster. They thought he was going to be a bad ass lead off hitter and it didn't work out for him or the team.

It could just be that he's finally healthy and he's doing well here because of how he fits in with the team and coaches. They also don't expect too much of him, they just send him out and let him play.

He's cheap and controllable until the end of 2021 season so I'm crossing my fingers that he's not traded.

The stat geeks always look at what a player has done. He doesn't seem like the same player that he was tho.

KT 90 said:

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I figured the first man outta here would be Cabrerra - no way he is part of this thing long term. Someone will need a veteran third baseman. We won't get much, but we'll get something.

I don't see Cabrera on the hot-seat.

Neither Forsythe nor Santana can play 3B. They can fill-in as a Utility guy who plays 3B if necessary... say during a suspension... or maybe to give a breather to Cabrera, but there is no way I want them play 3B every-day.

Just a note from the article about Odor's arm, which Grape seemed to think was a problem:

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Neither of the Rangers' middle infielders, Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor, has been charged with a throwing error this season. Part of the credit must go to them, but Guzman's wingspan and willingness to stretch for balls must also be factored in.

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If EG's argument is to keep Guzman because of the necessary Defense... then you don't replace Cabrera at 3B, for the same reason.

In 9 seasons, Forsythe has 121 G at 3B, 11 this season.
Santana has 6 G at 3B... 0 this season, and his last appearance was in 2017, where he had 2 Games. What has made Santana successful so far this season, is that Woody puts him in places to succeed. In areas where Santana has been stretched, the team has worked to make sure he is prepared. You cannot prepare a player to be a 3B while in-flight during the season.

3B is about reaction. It is about instinct. The ball is on you before you have the ability to think.

I mentioned earlier on this thread (1 or 2 pages back) that Santana may be an option at 3B in 2020. I could see that, and if Santana is handed that role for 2020, I believe he could get there.

Hey - I agree Cabrerra is the best 3B we got. But we could trade him and still claim we're in the hunt since he's not controllable past this season AND there are other options.

KT 90 said:

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KT 90 said:

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gigem1223 said:

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Honestly didn't even consider Cabrera but after reading that it makes sense

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Ditto. Thought he was safe but it does make sense if they release him. Santana/Forsythe can hold down 3B.

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Forgot to add IKF, he was a utility infielder who played 3B before moving to catcher only role. So he could surely slide in at 3B in a pinch if needed. Not sure when he'll come off the IL though.

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IKF is expected back in July... early part. Dislocated middle finger, IIRC. If on his catching hand, I wonder if that changes his future as a catcher? He has been groomed as the heir apparent to C, for which Mathis is signed through 2020. With finding Federowicz (controlled through 2021, I believe), and him doing well, it causes additional questions.

Sam Huff (21-A+, 6'4"/230lbs) is tearing it up... .278, 5HR, .327 OBP, in 40 Games. However, at A, he was....333, 15 HR, 4 SB in 30 Games.

Projected to be ready in 2021.

Is it possible to move Mathis?

But thanks for bringing up ANOTHER log-jam.

DallasAg 94 said:

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I don't see Cabrera on the hot-seat.

Neither Forsythe nor Santana can play 3B. They can fill-in as a Utility guy who plays 3B if necessary... say during a suspension... or maybe to give a breather to Cabrera, but there is no way I want them play 3B every-day.

Just a note from the article about Odor's arm, which Grape seemed to think was a problem:

Quote:

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Neither of the Rangers' middle infielders, Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor, has been charged with a throwing error this season. Part of the credit must go to them, but Guzman's wingspan and willingness to stretch for balls must also be factored in.

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If EG's argument is to keep Guzman because of the necessary Defense... then you don't replace Cabrera at 3B, for the same reason.

In 9 seasons, Forsythe has 121 G at 3B, 11 this season.
Santana has 6 G at 3B... 0 this season, and his last appearance was in 2017, where he had 2 Games. What has made Santana successful so far this season, is that Woody puts him in places to succeed. In areas where Santana has been stretched, the team has worked to make sure he is prepared. You cannot prepare a player to be a 3B while in-flight during the season.

3B is about reaction. It is about instinct. The ball is on you before you have the ability to think.

I mentioned earlier on this thread (1 or 2 pages back) that Santana may be an option at 3B in 2020. I could see that, and if Santana is handed that role for 2020, I believe he could get there.

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We probably shouldn't go all in on "defense". I know it's important, but you could make the argument that we're already choosing defense over good offense at second base and at first base. We are definitely picking defense over offense at catcher.

Cabrera would be the easiest one to get rid of out of the 3. I still think demoting condor wouldn't be a bad idea tho.