If true, yikes.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31934790/new-york-mets-plan-sign-top-pick-kumar-rocker-concerns-physical-exam-sources-say

I guess they were willing to ignore the myriad of signs he flashed this year that he might have an arm issue in hopes of grabbing a top end pitcher at 10, but overall, this news is extremely unsurprising

BTW, when someone is ready to entirely walk away, you wonder if it's a shoulder vs an elbow issue.

Mets GM Zack Scott on Rocker: “This is clearly not the outcome we had hoped for and wish Kumar nothing but success moving forward. We’re excited about the players we have signed and look forward to watching them develop and contribute to the organization in the years to come.”

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 1, 2021

Rangers officially announce the signings of three other Draft picks: OF Aaron Zavala (2nd), C Tucker Mitchell (14th) and RHP Kyle Larsen (18th)

Texas signed 18 of the 20 players selected in this year's MLB Draft.

— kennedi landry (@kennlandry) August 1, 2021

DannyDuberstein said:

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"No significant damage"

LOL Boras. Okay pal. I'm sure the Mets are thrilled to wait another year and are just doing this for fun

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Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. If it's an elbow issue, he could go ahead and get his TJ surgery and get it over with and be throwing in time for the draft next year.

DallasAg 94 said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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Get out of here with this "he'll just play corner outfield" nonsense. It is not productive for those of us like DallasAg that want to wring our hands about how many 2B prospects there are. This is supposed to be an unsolvable problem

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You realize that validates exactly the issue I have.

Quote:

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Hauver isn't known for is defense, irrespective of position.

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It isn't the logjam at 2B that I'm worried about. It is the logjam of DHs that we are trying to force into a 2B role bothers me.

My issue with Foscue isn't that they have him slotted at 2B... it is that they drafted a DH and trying to force him into a field position like 2B.

Solak is a DH.

Calhoun is a DH.

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You can have 6 "DH's" on the team. As long as they can mash on the major league level you can find a spot in the field for them.

SS, 3B and CF. You cover those 3 positions with competent defensive players, the rest you can plug-and-play.

Teams draft "DH's" because they believe their hit tool is good enough to be on a big league roster. If you can hit, you'll play.

Exactly. I'd add a C that has an arm that requires a moderate amount of respect. The rest change your W-L's by hitting.

KT 90 said:

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Hello Jonah Heim.... back to back game winners for him.

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First in Rangers/Senators history to do it b2b games.

First MLB'er to do it since Pujols in 2011.

KT 90 said:

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Hello Jonah Heim.... back to back game winners for him.

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Rangers really wanted to acquire him from Oakland the last few years. Oakland said no until we gave them Elvis Andrus.

Oakland is a pretty smart team so I wouldn't be surprised if Heim actually ends up being good.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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KT 90 said:

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Hello Jonah Heim.... back to back game winners for him.

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Rangers really wanted to acquire him from Oakland the last few years. Oakland said no until we gave them Elvis Andrus.

Oakland is a pretty smart team so I wouldn't be surprised if Heim actually ends up being good.

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If they're smart then why would they trade him for a washed up Andrus?

gigem1223 said:

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Grapesoda2525 said:

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KT 90 said:

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Hello Jonah Heim.... back to back game winners for him.

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Rangers really wanted to acquire him from Oakland the last few years. Oakland said no until we gave them Elvis Andrus.

Oakland is a pretty smart team so I wouldn't be surprised if Heim actually ends up being good.

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If they're smart then why would they trade him for a washed up Andrus?

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They needed infield help badly and knew elvis could do the job in the field. Elvis has been doing better at the plate lately too.

Wow. Rangers offered Gallo a 5 year $84M dollar contract and Boras said no without a counter

I HATE Boras

Seems low but I don't think 5 years for $100 million would be a ridiculous starting point and it's not far from that. Gallo has been extremely inconsistent. This is a guy whose value this time last year was highly questionable because he absolutely sucked balls. Reality is that Gallo's performance history makes him a tough guy to peg a value on. Good Gallo is worth more than 5 for $86. ****ty Gallo is not worth even 5 for $86.

And you'll have to excuse me if I don't use Choo's contract as True North. That was a bad deal

And in the past 24 months, we've seen more ****ty or unavailable Gallo than good Gallo.

Dallas morning News is reporting it. Mlbtraderumors.com is saying they used Grant as a source. Just Google it.

Also apparently there were incentives in the contract that would have made it a $100M contract.

Everyone knew Choo was an overpay from the start - but in that scenario it was an overpay to make one last push in the current "window" -- and they won back to back division titles a year later with that roster even after Fielder went down.

It's being purposely disingenuous to chastise the front office right now with "WHY DONT YOU SPEND MONEY YOU ARE SO CHEAP!" but then turn around and critique the big money moves they made to try and "win now".

Big picture, assuming this team will finally spend when young pieces are starting to come together (big if but let's assume they will for now), you still have to ask yourself if Gallo is a centerpiece that you pay $25+ million and build the team around. Or does he need to be somewhat complimentary and in that next tier down on your payroll ($20mm guy - highly paid but not the centerpiece). Looking at his history of extreme inconsostency, I think making him the centerpiece is a huge gamble when you need to consistently win games all 6 months. I don't have a problem with seeing if he wants to be here badly enough to take that next tier down type deal. With Boras, the answer was almost assuredly no, but you put it out there and see

In hindsight, I'm at lot more at peace with the Rangers having made a token effort to re-sign Gallo & then trading him when he & Boros didn't bite.

The Rangers have a history of bad contracts for big name players (Choo and let's not forget ARod, and there's been others). I agree that having Gallo as the centerpiece that a rebuild is centered on would have been a gamble, and concerning given his inconsistency, and the fact that he plays the outfield really hard. Playing that way beat down Hamilton, and it beat down Rusty Greer. Their careers were shortened because of it IMO.

I also can't help but wonder if part of the reason they didn't try very hard to re-sign Gallo is that he doesn't fit the profile of what they want the organizational philosophy to be....more contact, less strikeouts. I get the feeling this is a total reboot, top to bottom, in the way they scout players and the decisions they make on which players to sign. I could be completely off base, but I'm just looking at the type of hitters they have drafted the past couple of years.

You won't ever get an argument or complaint from me if JD is let go. This is the worst stretch in team history, and accountability will catch up with him eventually. I think this team is for sale, albeit not overtly. Once/if it is sold, I expect the new ownership to sh*tcan JD, Woodward, Kip F, and others.

Having said that, and further saying that I don't think JD is nearly as brilliant a baseball mind as he thinks he is....just because the current approach is under JD's watch doesn't make it a bad approach. I've been saying the Rangers should be this type of team for years. One of the things I hated about the old stadium (not the original, the one we just replaced) was that because it was an extreme hitter-friendly park, it dictated that the team lean heavily on home run hitters with the understanding that it was going to be tough to sign/keep front-line pitchers.
I like the fact that the new park seems to play more neutral, and actually lends itself to gap & contact hitters with speed.

I like the current approach personally, and I try to view it without the JD bias attached to it (which is challenging, I admit).

Dallas, usually I enjoy your posts, but man you are off the deep end the past week or so.

The Rangers were in an impossible situation here, the team is absolutely wretched and an offer of 5 for 86 might be more than Gallo can even expect on the open market this off season. And really, squabbling over the numbers here is silly, he'll likely make 8-10 million in arb next year, so if the offer was to buy out his last year of arb + 4 years of FA, then if really is a 20 million AAV for his free agency years which is probably exactly his market value.

If you've been paying attention to the free agent market over the past 4 years, we're essentially seeing two groups emerge, the guys getting the big long term contracts and those getting shorter contracts with surprisingly low AAVs and opt outs/incentives built in.

That group of guys getting the 8-10 year deals are true superstar level performers and usually they have hit free agency at a younger than normal age. There isn't a team out there whose models support giving 8 year deals to 29 year old players.

Boras has been nails for his clients for the past 20 or so years, but I think he's misreading the environment a bit lately. There just isn't a big incentive for teams to push beyond 4-5 years, and at the end of the day, we've seen him lose on several guys lately playing his game of chicken. Playing on the QO like Moustakas did or playing chicken all the way into spring training hasn't benefited guys. It narrows down where they can sign, and typically shortens the deals they can get. And if you think it's hard for a 29 year old to get big money, 32 and 33 year old players are essentially being non-tendered and force retired.

All of this to say, I would have loved to see the Rangers extend Gallo, I'm on record as saying this multiple times. Tanking sucks, I hate it. But for the Rangers and for pretty much every team out there, Gallo doesn't have value beyond 5 years 86 million. He just doesn't, and if he turns down that legitimate offer, good luck to him getting more on the open market. I definitely don't blame the Rangers or ownership for not making this happen.

And Danny has it right... At $16-$18m/year Gallo is worth the investment.

At $300m like Boras floated (and was obviously going to come down on, but still)? Nah, you don't put the future of your franchise that has already had to rebuild on the back of a guy like Gallo. He's all-star caliber, but he is far, far, far from a no doubt franchise player.

And it further proves what was so obvious before -- Gallo drops the "I really want to be in Texas sob sob blah blah blah" but reportedly Boras didn't even counter the Rangers first offer?

That's how this whole dog and pony show works. Why couldn't the Rangers hammer out an extension earlier and for some reason "waited until the last minute"? Because the agent knows that the last minute creates the greatest amount of leverage for his client.

Unless Gallo walked into the front office and said "lets get an extension done now" ala Pudge Rodriguez, this was always going to come down to the deadline and it was always going to be about paying above market rate.

Whatever your thoughts on the actual return on the trade, Texas did what they had to do and didn't wait until 2:45pm to realize a deal wasn't going to happen and then scrambled. They saw the writing on the wall.

I didn't necessarily have an issue with trying to take advantage of this coming FA market, however, you are missing my point. Whether you spend sooner or later on other players, you have to decide if Gallo is a $25-30mm for 7-8 year centerpiece or not, and you have to decide that right now. Whether they add more in 2022 or if it's not until 2024, if you make that deal, he is THE guy that is your centerpiece for most of the 2020s. And I don't think his performance warrants it. I think you set yourself up for being a very inconsistent team