I hope the Astros paid dearly prospect wise at least.

I'm a big dodger fan the next few months at this point.

Martin - had to be traded

Pence - should've been traded

Forsythe- should've been moved

Cabrera - probably couldn't move

Minor- I guess the offers sucked

Lynn- they probably didn't consider moving him

Santana - very grateful they kept him. We still don't know how good he could be.

Overall it's a lackluster deadline. I was hoping we would get rid of more guys than we did and bring back more prospects.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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I hope the Astros paid dearly prospect wise at least.

I'm a big dodger fan the next few months at this point.

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Edit: for Greinke
Right-handers Corbin Martin and J.B. Bukauskas, first baseman Seth Beer and infielder Josh Rojas

dvldog said:

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Grapesoda2525 said:

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I hope the Astros paid dearly prospect wise at least.

I'm a big dodger fan the next few months at this point.

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Right-handers Corbin Martin and J.B. Bukauskas, first baseman Seth Beer and infielder Josh Rojas

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I don't know how good those guys are honestly.

I don't think anyone thought trading Minor and Lynn would have helped 2020. Not trading them, however, is pointless if they don't follow through with increasing payroll drastically to compete in some regard. It will be more than disappointing if they held them to find a similar end result as this year.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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I hope the Astros paid dearly prospect wise at least.

I'm a big dodger fan the next few months at this point.

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They gave up quite a bit and pretty much assured they aren't resigning Cole. Hard to see them not winning it all though with that rotation. They now have 3 of the top 5 in WHIP starters in JV, Greinke and Cole.

Keeping Minor and Lynn gives you a decent 1 & 2 starter and will allow for the team to be more aggressive in filling holes this winter. Problem is, there are many holes...

DallasAg 94 said:

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Calhoun/Gallo-DeShields-Mazara
Santana-Andrus-Odor-Guzman
IKF/Mathis/Fed

SP: Minor-Lynn-Jurado-Sampson-Allard
RP: Leclerc, Kelley

I could see us signing Pence and Forsythe.

That's a sub-.500 Club, right there.

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So I'm hoping that ISN'T what we plan to roll with.

I see Minor, Lynn and Allard as very likely starters - and there are several very good FAs this coming year. Add just one to that starting pitcher lineup and it looks a lot better real fast.

I think the Rangers kinda have to count on Odor and Guzman getting better.

A FA center fielder and/or catcher would be good - but there are options in the minor that may be ready later in 2020.

This was a WC contender just a few weeks ago - with the above tweeks, it could be better in 2020.

bigcat22 said:

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Keeping Minor and Lynn gives you a decent 1 & 2 starter and will allow for the team to be more aggressive in filling holes this winter. Problem is, there are many holes...

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The problem is having them as the 1&2 this year doesn't even get us close to where we need to be and I don't think it is possible to fill the gaps in free agency. The Rangers window isn't next year.

Guess we are targeting free agency for next year

Keep in mind there is one GIANT difference in FA signings for 2020.

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.

I guess the cubs just couldnt do a deal this year like most other years.

It's not going to make that big of a difference, especially with turf.

Why is Pence still here? That one makes absolutely no sense. Same with Forsythe.

I'm not so much worried about our ability/willingness to spend in free agency this off-season -- the worry is that there's just not that many targets that are difference makers.

The biggest issue FA pitchers have had with coming here is :

1. Heat
2. Jetstream home runs

Both those issues will be non-existent next season. Don't let the grousing by sports writers influence your opinion of the new park before it opens.

Not, i cant stand the astros...just frustrating to see whats happened to this team these past couple of years. We need way more than pitching, we need major league hitters, which we lack

wbt5845 said:

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The biggest issue FA pitchers have had with coming here is :

1. Heat
2. Jetstream home runs

Both those issues will be non-existent next season. Don't let the grousing by sports writers influence your opinion of the new park before it opens.

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It is the players statements on turf being harder on their joints that influences my opinion, not what any sportswriter says.

Dallasag02 said:

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I guess the cubs just couldnt do a deal this year like most other years.

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Are you referring to a trade with us?

Epstein always owns JD so I was hoping we would avoid the Cubs this year at the deadline.

rsf0626 said:

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Not, i cant stand the astros...just frustrating to see whats happened to this team these past couple of years. We need way more than pitching, we need major league hitters, which we lack

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That's what is baffling.

Right now :

Offensively we have holes at 1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base ( Cabrera will be gone by opening day next year), right field and catcher. We also have a log jam in the outfield. We also have too many lefties.

Pitching : bullpen is a dumpster fire. Minor and Lynn have been good. 3,4,5 have been woefully inconsistent all year regardless of who has occupied the slots.

We need good hitters, we need good pitchers, we have a lot of holes and 1 offseason can't fix all of that. I'm just kinda wondering what the front office's plan was and is going forward. I like all of the mini trades we did, but they're just that mini trades.

Quote:

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Epstein always owns JD so I was hoping we would avoid the Cubs this year at the deadline.

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Yeah, he really killed him in that Gagne trade.

It's not surprising at all that they didn't make any moves. The returns were likely not great, and they have a chance to be decent in 2020.

As far as Greinke goes, it'll be interesting to see what they had to give up for him. He's also 35, Verlander is 36. I can't imagine those guys pitching for too many more years, certainly at an elite level. I'm not totally certain of the details, but I would imagine that they've got some money decisions coming up involving Cole and probably Springer at a minimum.

Adding to my post above.


A wildcard pursuit is a bit of a stretch as well. The schedule is not kind to this team. We have to play the Astros 19 times next year. The angels and A's are tough customers as well. 60 games guaranteed against teams with good lineups and decent pitching staffs.

The AL central has 2 teams that are good and the royals are terrible, White Sox are slightly below average, tigers are awful.

The AL east has 3 good teams. Both the orioles and blue jays are automatic wins for the aforementioned 3 teams.

We really don't have a viable path to the division or the wild card with this roster next year.

Unfortunately for us, the American League is very top heavy. There are 7 good to great teams. We seem to be an average team. There are lots of dog crap teams who are tanking and can't beat anyone.

We seem to be running on some treadmill of mediocrity. JD and the ownership can't seem to decide what they want to do it looks like.

jtstanley4621 said:

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It's not surprising at all that they didn't make any moves. The returns were likely not great, and they have a chance to be decent in 2020.

As far as Greinke goes, it'll be interesting to see what they had to give up for him. He's also 35, Verlander is 36. I can't imagine those guys pitching for too many more years, certainly at an elite level. I'm not totally certain of the details, but I would imagine that they've got some money decisions coming up involving Cole and probably Springer at a minimum.

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The one good thing about the Greinke acquisition is that it means Cole will be going elsewhere.

Disco Stu said:

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Quote:

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Epstein always owns JD so I was hoping we would avoid the Cubs this year at the deadline.

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Yeah, he really killed him in that Gagne trade.

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You're really reaching if you're going all the way back to Epstein's tenure with the Red Sox.


He's owned us since he's been with the cubs. We gave them Kyle Hendricks, Pedro strop. All of the guys they sent our way didn't perform well for us. We even got owned in the Cole hamels trade, none of those guys panned out for us.

Quote:

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We even got owned in the Cole hamels trade, none of those guys planned out for us.

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Rollie Lacy was a part of the trade that netted Brock Burke, one of the Rangers' top pitching prospects. Way too early to judge Alexander Ovalles, the PTBNL as in that trade, but he did hit .377 in Rookie ball before being promoted to short season ball at the age of 18.

JD was just on with Ben & Skin, I wasn't able to listen but sounds like there just wasn't much of a market for what the Rangers had to offer.

While I do wish we would have gotten some young talent, I am glad that we weren't buyers as I think we are still a few years away from truly competing.

Proposition Joe said:

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DallasAg 94 said:

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How is what the Rangers did being satisfied with mediocrity?

They weren't doing anything this year. If anything selling.

We go into 2020 with a legit #1 and a #2.

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They had the same #1 and #2 this season -- and they are 7.5 out of WC2.

So unless some major acquisitions are made in what looks to be a pretty barren free agent market, this is still a middling WC2 team in 2020.

Basically putting all of our eggs in the "sign Gerrit Cole" basket -- and the "well if we sign the one frontline starter everyone will try to be signing we'll be in good shape" strategy has rarely worked for us in the past.

And all of that centers around Mike Minor and Lance Lynn pitching as well next year as they did this year -- which is very unlikely.

Another bad trade deadline for Texas.

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I might argue that I had less confidence in "2019: Minor and Lynn" going into the season than I will have in "2020: Minor and Lynn" going into the next season.

But, it isn't about the #1 and #2 we now have.

We went with Miller, Smyly and Volquez. We considered the season a throw-away based on that rotation. And we now have Jurado (23), Sampson (27) and Payano (24). 3 Guys that were so low coming into 2019, that we put Miller, Smyly and Volq ahead of them.

Will any of those 3 be worth anything in 2020? I don't know. It would be my expectation JD gets 1... maybe 2 SPs.

Gerrit Cole is not the only SP. Had the Rangers dumped Minor or Lynn... would you not agree the rotation for 2020 would look even more abysmal?

There are a number of pitchers.
Brett Anderson (32-Oak): 21 GS, 4.05 ERA
Bumgarner (30): 23GS, 3.74
Hamels (35-Cubs): 17GS, 2.98
Miley (32-Hou): 22 GS, 3.06
Odorizzi (29-Min): 21 GS, 3.73
Ryu (32-LAD): 20 GS, 1.74

We need a #3.

If payroll goes up to $150M (I'm skeptical), we'll be able to sign a SP and fill at least 2 holes in the field. And get some RP.