Soto is an amazing player, a generational talent.

So were Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, Tony Gwinn, Rod Carew, Ernie Banks, Ty Cobb, Robin Yount and a substantial number of other great players who never won a world series.

Looking back at their two AL champions, the 2010 team was 4th in the AL in runs scored per game scored and 4th in runs surrendered per game. In 2011 they were 3rd in scored and 5th in surrendered. Gotta build both. People remember the offense and guys like Hamilton, but those teams were balanced. Solid offense, solid starters, solid pen.

All ARod did was put up MVP type numbers (and winning one). He earned his contract before we chickened out. Those teams weren't very good because we didn't have a single major league quality starting pitcher. We also didn't have the patience to wait on Teixeira and Blalock to protect him in the lineup.

So when does Kole start riding the pine for Hernandez or Solak? His slash lines are abysmal minus May.

April: .164/.193/.182
May: .326/.382/.630
June: .198/.255 /.302
July: .159/.243/.333

thegoodolag15 said:

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Great teams beat great individuals all the time.

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Exactly my point

Sure, great teams beat one great player. But why can't we have both? Great teams are usually made up of a few great players sprinkled in with some good players and some role players.

Semien and Seager are both really good. We have a few decent players but we are several lacking pitchers. If all we need to win the world series then sure go after Soto but we need a lot more than just him.

I'm assuming we sign him long term if we do trade for him. There are several young good players on this team and some prospects that have the potential to be good to great. Yes I realize we'll have to give several of those up in the trade but pitching help is still right around the corner. And whose to say the owners don't spend more money and get a big money pitcher and extend Perez? Gotta imagine they'd go for broke if they break the bank for Soto, along with already doing so for Seager and Semien.

The idea is to hit on a couple more drafts to where you can give up 2-3 studs and not set your team back.

We're simply not close enough to a title or prospect heavy for this to be a trade that makes sense for us.

gigem1223 said:

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Sure, great teams beat one great player. But why can't we have both? Great teams are usually made up of a few great players sprinkled in with some good players and some role players.

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Right, but if you look at how teams that consistently win over long period of time it is by taking things one step at a time and not by trying to shorten the process. I genuinely believe the Rangers best plan of action is patience right now. Soto will cost at least two of Winn, Leiter, and Owen White, as well as Josh Jung, Evan Carter, and probably Ezequiel Duran/Justin Foscue. I just don't think a trade dealing away that much upper level talent is worth it for where the Rangers are at as an organization.

Do we know how much the owners are willing to spend?

Even if we sign Perez I think he should be our #2 at best and not our ace. We also need bullpen help.

If we can get Soto for a good price then of course I say we do it unless it takes away from pitching. I just don't see that happening.

We're getting to that point in the season where the Calhouns' and Richards of the world need to be riding pine and guys like Bubba Thompson, Steele Walker, Ragans, and Winn should be playing regularly, or at the very least rotational or bullpen pieces.

I'm with ya. Guess I should've said the max I would give up is 2 of our top 5 pitching prospects. Would hope we could utilize our glut of infield depth to make it happen. May be false hope but the CY/ Boras relationship has got to help in this scenario, seeing how they pulled the Rocker/ Porter deal off. Probably wishful thinking but wth else we gonna talk about?

Tksymm7 said:

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We're getting to that point in the season where the Calhouns' and Richards of the world need to be riding pine and guys like Bubba Thompson, Steele Walker, Ragans, and Winn should be playing regularly, or at the very least rotational or bullpen pieces.

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Agreed. I like what I've seen out of Hernandez. Ready to see Bubba and Ragans.

Keuchel will go to Round Rock later this week. https://t.co/i2uLnfkMx0

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) July 26, 2022

Tksymm7 said:

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We're getting to that point in the season where the Calhouns' and Richards of the world need to be riding pine and guys like Bubba Thompson, Steele Walker, Ragans, and Winn should be playing regularly, or at the very least rotational or bullpen pieces.

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Walker is a stiff and will likely never be more than a career minor leaguer with the occasional cup of coffee in the bigs.

Well we just signed Dallas Keuchel to a minor league deal

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/07/rangers-sign-dallas-keuchel-to-minor-league-deal.html

Interesting. Let's see what he can do

12 starts between and CWS and ARI this year. 2-7 with an 8.53 ERA. woof

Could we be seeing a Ragans call up soon? Sure looked good his last start. Keuchel may just be there to fill his spot and eat innings.

Even if they haven't had good seasons at triple A (Winn), what good does keeping them down there do in the toughest minor league division for pitchers, where the average starter ERA is something like 5.50. Thompson and Ragans deserve a shot though. Their numbers are solid to great at Round Rock.

Mr Gigem said:

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12 starts between and CWS and ARI this year. 2-7 with an 8.53 ERA. woof

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Seems a few yrs too late for this one!

Mr Gigem said:

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12 starts between and CWS and ARI this year. 2-7 with an 8.53 ERA. woof

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But 11 starts in 2020

6-2 1.99 ERA 1.09 WHIP

What happened?

You really have to throw 2020 stats out the window, a lot of skewed numbers that year.

Well every year before that was good to great so it's not like 2020 was an outlier

I'm not reading to much into the signing. They've gotta get Ragans on the 40 this year. I think this signing is more to do with that than anything. Could be wrong but that's my thinking.

This might be his audition for being next year's reclamation project.

Tough luck inning from Otto

Hey look catching from one knee allows another run to score. But oh yeah, people who never played the game say you might steal two more strikes per game by doing that.

3 god awful at bats with winning run on base and no outs. That was really bad

I like the Keuchel signing and was hoping he'd land here. I'm sure he was hoping to sign with someone that had meaningful games and would get him back up to the Majors.

There is no downside for Texas.

The Az pitching coach was with him with the Astros, so I'm sure if there were a mechanical or obvious change needed, he'd have it... which is likely why he ended up there.

Could be that the shortened season in 2020 left his aging body with less stamina. 2021 his number weren't great to start the season but fell off in the 2nd half. So, a similar possibility exists the rest of the way.

Having said that... if you're working with him with the idea he could be a low-cost rebound player for 2023, it wasn't a bad move.

It is really time to start looking at 2023.

They need some sort of arms just to take some innings to get them thru the next 2+ months. Hopefully he can do that

The Keuchel signing at the very least gives them options. He's not good, but it's an arm that can eat innings at the MLB level and at the triple A level, whatever they decide.

Keuchel will be 35 in January. He's likely JAG at this point in his career. Maybe he can be serviceable but his numbers this season and last aren't encouraging.