powerbelly said:

---

Quote:

---

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

---

Wishful thinking at best.

---

I do not understand how some think building a billion dollar stadium that gets players out of the heat and away from the jetstream can be anything but a positive.

And if you just say "muh turf" then you have no idea what grass was going to be like in the new place nor have you read the reviews of how this B1K turf is playing in Arizona.

Grass was a big disaster in Arizona and was going to be one at Globe Life Field too. There was gojng to be bare spots and brown spots painted green to account for lack of light.

And the reviews of the B1K have been good in Arizona. This is not Riverfront Stadium astroturf. The infield is slower than most grass fields and very easy on the knees. The ball plays off the turf at same bounce angle and.rate as grass. Players will always say they prefer grass because they are loathe to change. Once they play on this, that'll change.

I know we have to have pitchers for 2020, but I would have traded Minor and possibly Lynn for the simple fact that I think their value will never be higher than it was a couple weeks ago.

I have always like Minor, but not sure he can duplicate his first half again

but if they couldn't get a great return, it was best to hold on for now

powerbelly said:

---

Players don't really give a **** about a billion-dollar stadium and absolutely care about turf. We are all glad that the fans no longer have to sweat, but it won't impact free agents enough to matter.

Not to mention both gallo and mazara hated the Arizona turf because it was hard on their bodies:

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rangers/rangers/2019/04/10/cause-concern-rangers-acknowledge-playing-arizonasartificial-turf-little-different

Quote:

---

"It was a bit concerning," Gallo said. "I thought it would a little different than it was, but it felt just like any other turf. We talked to some of [the Arizona] players, and they said to be ready to ice your legs."

---

---

Odor went on the IL with a sprained right knee, following the 2 game series in Arizona.

Coincidence? I don't know, but it sure was a cause of concern for me.

DallasAg 94 said:

---

KT 90 said:

---

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

---

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.

---

I was putting Forsythe and Santana on 3B, leaving 1B for Heinaman, at least on a platoon basis. We need to see what he can do at the MLB level and figure out if he has a future at this level. I am operating on the assumption that Kiner doesn't have the bat to stick as a legit MLB 3B. We'll see though, he did hit better prior to the catching experiment.

powerbelly said:

---

Players don't really give a **** about a billion-dollar stadium and absolutely care about turf. We are all glad that the fans no longer have to sweat, but it won't impact free agents enough to matter.

Not to mention both gallo and mazara hated the Arizona turf because it was hard on their bodies:

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rangers/rangers/2019/04/10/cause-concern-rangers-acknowledge-playing-arizonasartificial-turf-little-different

Quote:

---

"It was a bit concerning," Gallo said. "I thought it would a little different than it was, but it felt just like any other turf. We talked to some of [the Arizona] players, and they said to be ready to ice your legs."

---

---

And I counter with:

https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/mlb/texas-rangers/article229055109.html

Quote:

---

"It wasn't bad," shortstop Elvis Andrus said. "The infield was slow. I thought it was going to be fast. I kind of liked it."

The grounds crew is continuing to experiment with upkeep, and Gallo said that it felt a bit soft. The balls, though, were bouncing true.

"I don't want to put too much into it, but it felt all right," Gallo said. "It's not grass, but I guess it's as close as it can get."

Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall said that the reviews from Arizona players, as well as from Boston Red Sox players, was favorable. The hops on the turf have been true, though with perhaps minor tailing, and the surface will continue to get better with more games.

---

DallasAg 94 said:

---

Proposition Joe said:

---

DallasAg 94 said:

---

Proposition Joe said:

---

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

---

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.

---

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

---

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.

---

So we have two 30-something pitchers having career years and had we added another stud pitcher we'd be in the hunt for WC2?

That doesn't exactly bode well for 2020. It means if everything falls right for 2020 we might be a wildcard team. Thats 80% of the league.

New stadium will have very little impact on our ability to nab free agents.

Heismenberg said:

---

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.

---

Seriously, this **** again... I love Nolan as much as the next guy, but he wasn't much more than a figurehead. It was definitely cool to see him sitting by the dugout with W and I'm sure the pitchers liked having him as a resource, but his "moves" were terrible, ie Berkman, Oswalt, against signing Yu...

Lets not forget JD was brought in after the 2005 season and Nolan came in in 2008, right before the big run with a lot of the pieces already in place from JD. Now JD is far from perfect and has definitely made some questionable moves, but he put us in the best situation to win for several years and made the big all or nothing moves when we were in the heart of our window. Its frustrating that Cruz misplayed a fly ball and Darvis & Hamels disappeared in the postseason.

We are in a weird situation right now where we don't need a total tear down & rebuild, but are also far from legit WS contenders. I think JD is being very pragmatic and allowing for a possible wild card run the next two seasons, while also trying to add guys to the pipeline that will be "ready" in 2022 and beyond.

I also get that Houston is in the middle of a big run and made a splash trade, but lets not forget the 2011 Phillies rotation that fizzled out in the divisional round of the playoffs (Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt, Blanton).

Alright... Let's talk SP...

Coming into 2019, we had 1 SP (Minor) and 1 SP we had confidence in (Lynn) but still iffy. Then 3 guys that were never going to get past 150IP. IMO, we were hoping they'd make it to the ASB.

If I'm JD, I talk to Minor and see if we can get an other couple years. Add 2 more years? I think we absolutely have to add 1 SP. A guy no worse than a #3, but could be an innings guy. That would make Jurado our #4 and only the #5 to fill internally.

MLB:
Minor (31-LHP): 22 GS, 3.21 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 140.0 IP, 141 SO <- Lock for 2020
Lynn (32-RHP): 22GS, 3.83 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 141.0 IP, 160 SO <- Lock for 2020 and 2021
Jurado (23-RHP): 13 GS, 4.92 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 86.0 IP, 64 SO <- Lock for 2020 and 2021? I think so.

Sampson (27-RHP): 14 GS, 5.32 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 108.1 IP, 86 SO <- He will be fighting for a spot.

These guys will likely be in the mix for the #5.
Phillips Valdez (27-RHP): 9G, 3.86 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 13K
Pedro Payano (24-RHP): 3G, 3.18 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 11.1 IP, 11K

Kolby Allard (21-LHP-#16): @AAA - 20GS, 4.17 ERA, 1.409 WHIP, 110.0 IP, 98 SO <- I think he is the darling to fill the #5. Projects as a back-end rotation guy.

AAA - Some of these guys have been seen in Arlington. They will be in mix for 2020.
Wes Benjamin (25-LHP): 20 GS, 6.15 ERA, 1.624 WHIP, 101.0 IP, 86 SO
Tim Dillard (35): Don't really consider him a prospect
Seth Maness (30): Not really a prospect either
Phillips Valdez (27-RHP): 18G, 13 GS, 5.40 ERA, 1.620 WHIP, 66.2 IP, 53 SO
Pedro Payano (24-RHP): 7GS, 4.34 ERA, 1.517 WHIP, 29.0 IP, 36 SO
Taylor Hearn (24-LHP-#26): 4GS, 4.05 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 20.0 IP, 26 SO <- Likely a BP guy?

AA - They will have role in 2020. Burke and Palumbo have been in Arlington
Edgar Arrendondo (22-RHP): 15GS, 4.24 ERA, 1.413 WHIP, 74.1 IP, 59 SO
Jonathan Hernandez (23-RHP-#12): 15GS, 5.59 ERA, 1.494 WHIP, 87.0 IP, 88 SO <- Project mid-rotation'ish... maybe
Brock Burke (22-LHP-#7): 8G, 3.43 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 39.1 IP, 42 SO <- Project mid-rotation
Joe Palumbo (24-LHP-#6): 10GS, 3.19 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 53.2 IP, 69 SO <- Project mid-rotation
Tyler Phillips (21-RHP-#15): 12 GS, 5.86 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 58.1 IP, 50SO

A+ - Maybe late 2020?
Sal Mendez (24): 22G, 12 GS, 97.2 IP, 2.03 ERA
Reid Anderson (23): 19 GS, 3.70 ERA, 1.459 WHIP, 97.1 IP, 80 SO
Alex Eubanks (23): 80.1 IP, 2.80 ERA
John King (24): 62.0 IP, 2.03 ERA
Jason Bahr (24): 58.0 IP, 1.71 ERA
Jake Latz (23): 51.0 IP, 1.76 ERA
Noah Bremer (23): 47.2 IP, 2.83 ERA

A - Not likely before 2021.
Tyree Thompson (22)
Yerry Rodriguez (21-#21)
Hans Crouse (20-#3) <- Projects as an Ace-Hopeful. Projected 2021 to reach MLB.
Ronny Henriquez (19- #19)
Cole Winn (19-#4)

We need to get a legit SP that can be a #1-3 and get over 150IP. Minor and Lynn are cost-effective... Jurado will be serviceable at worse, and we can burn through the other guys for the #5... using an Opener, etc.

It's not even bragging about making it to the Cotton Bowl -- it's saying if this, this and this happens we MIGHT make the Cotton Bowl.

The only way Mike Minor (and to a lesser extent Lance Lynn) still being on this team after the deadline this year makes sense is if we spend like crazy in the off-season on either a frontline starter or a no-doubt 900+ OPS bat.

Otherwise we are going to walk into 2020 with the same "well we like the team we have and if some players step up we'll be in a position to make some moves at the deadline" position which loosely translated means "0.500 at best".

I'd have to know the offers before I can indict them for not trading Minor or Lynn. Again, Minor has pitched like crap for a month. I do think the entire league had him pegged as a guy returning to the mean. Barely grinding out 5 innings per start now with a 6.6 ERA for the month of July, yet everyone is laboring over why they didn't trade him for some delicious prospects.

Old Tom Morris said:

---

I'd have to know the offers before I can indict them for not trading Minor or Lynn. Again, Minor has pitched like crap for a month. I do think the entire league had him pegged as a guy returning to the mean. Barely grinding out 5 innings per start now with a 6.6 ERA for the month of July, yet everyone is laboring over why they didn't trade him for some delicious prospects.

---

The whole "extra rest" they gave him in conjunction with the all-star break was probably a red flag that there may be some issues they are trying to cover up. He sure hasn't pitched the same since then. Even his last start prior to the all star break if I recall correctly.

From The Athletic's Twins reporter:

Quote:

---

The team also lost interest in Texas Rangers All-Star Mike Minor, who had a 6.04 ERA in four starts this month.

---

That's what I fear. Overnight they went from a plan to pitch him Sunday before the ASB to not only pushing him after the break, but even giving him a few more days beyond that. Seemed very weird and his performance since has been somewhat concerning. He's still taking the ball and grinding through 100 pitch outings, so maybe all is good and it's just a returning to the mean kind of thing with possibly a bit of fatigue. But regardless of the underlying reason, the entire month of July sent up some major red flags about his value to other teams.

Old Tom Morris said:

---

That's what I fear. Overnight they went from a plan to pitch him Sunday before the ASB to not only pushing him after the break, but even giving him a few more days beyond that. Seemed very weird and his performance since has been somewhat concerning. He's still taking the ball and grinding through 100 pitch outings, so maybe all is good and it's just a returning to the mean kind of thing with possibly a bit of fatigue. But regardless of the underlying reason, the entire month of July sent up some major red flags about his value to other teams.

---

I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. He was VERY vocal about wanting to stay a ranger and he seemed to be legitimately pissed off about the trade talk. It seemed like this whole team was "on edge" after it was leaked by someone that JD was planning to sell as many pieces as he could. The team played like **** in July.

Minors last start was on July 31st, the same day as the trade deadline. I'm going to try and be open minded about it and think the guy was just really paranoid and pissed off about the prospect of uprooting his family. If his next start is terrible then I will start to be concerned, but I wouldn't be surprised if he looked good his next outing.

Agreed. Something happened over the ASB to the whole team. Before, looked great, pushing for a WC spot. After, tank job.

What happened is a combination of Gallo going out and Texas playing the best team in the league 7 times.

Yeah, they mostly played better teams is what happened. They came out on fire in the first two vs. the Astros but then not surprisingly hit the skids. We all said going into the break, as well as they were playing, that those games against the Astros coming out of the break would be huge as far as telling contender vs. pretender. We got out answer, and yeah, the injury situation hasn't helped.

Minor hasn't gone more than 5IP at home in July when game temps have been in the 90s and feeling much hotter. But yeah, a new stadium with A/C won't do anything to help attract SP free agents....

I don't think it is the heat.

Maybe Minor, who only pitched 157 IP last year... may not have the stamina to reach 200 IP this year.

The chatter about trading pieces likely had an effect, lots of injuries and shuffling around.

OH... and the fact we only have 2 SP, things just started to break down all around. Jurado and Sampson have not pitched 150 IP at the MLB level.

What are 4 of our RPs rookies?

Old Tom Morris said:

---

Yeah, they mostly played better teams is what happened. They came out on fire in the first two vs. the Astros but then not surprisingly hit the skids. We all said going into the break, as well as they were playing, that those games against the Astros coming out of the break would be huge as far as telling contender vs. pretender. We got out answer, and yeah, the injury situation hasn't helped.

---

It doesn't help that we played gallo in every game against the Astros ( who was hurt and an automatic out) and condor too.

We pretty much played the Astros 7 vs 9, but they still beat us fair and square for sure.

The lineup has looked immensely better since gallo was diagnosed and injury listed, in addition with condor going down and Calhoun coming back.

Heineman called up....

KT 90 said:

---

---

Major changes.

I like it tho. Let's evaluate some guys and see who wants to actually be on this damn team.

Yet another reason I'm glad we do not have the Angels front office. Yikes...

They DFA'd him for Max Stassi? Has he been that bad behind the plate or something because Stassi is an awful hitter.

FIRE SCIOSCIA.

Oh wait

I remember back when Pudge was coming up on free agency with Texas and there was the whole debate about catchers hitting a wall after 800 games caught and whether it made sense to give Pudge a big payday. Pudge ended up defying that trend, but Lucroy has exemplified it.

Has Lucroy even played since he got plowed over down in Houston? I think he had a previous concussion or two, maybe he is just ready to hang'em up.

KT 90 said:

---

Has Lucroy even played since he got plowed over down in Houston? I think he had a previous concussion or two, maybe he is just ready to hang'em up.

---

I remember how excited we all were when we traded for him a few years ago. He was the second coming of pudge, almost. Would be interesting to pull that thread back up

Rumor on the radio one of the OF: DD, Calhoun or Mazara could be headed down... lot's of speculation it was Mazara's turn.

Looks like Valdez: