I'd like for the Rangers to kick the tires on the Sasaki kid from Japan. Kid has the STUFF.

Good lord it seems like Yu is snakebit in these kinds of games. Feel bad for him, but better for the US.

Feels strange to cheer for Trout.

Edited to say not sure where that emoji came from.

Can we give Ohtani the old Arlington stadium? along with ownership percentage? Plano? A Buccees? and maybe 1 billion??!? What is his contract going to be. Insanity

DallasAg 94 said:

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Are you coming for just a one-night stay and a game?

With the 2 kiddos there may be more strategic places than Live.

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yes, just one night (weeknight) so wife and I not concerned about proximity to six flags, etc.

Whoever signs Ohtani (spoiler alert, it won't be the Rangers) is going to have to waaaaay overpay to get him. The bidding from teams like the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, etc. is going to be off the charts.

I don't see a fiscal possibility for the Rangers even making an offer....too much $$ tied up in DeGrom, Seager, Semien et al. Even if Perez and Heaney leave after this season (possible bordering on likely), there won't be nearly enough cap room for Ohtani, and if I were ownership I certainly wouldn't want another $300 million+ salary added to payroll. Hell, he might get a contract for over $400 million. That's a very, very expensive gamble...if it doesn't work out, you're going to be stuck with a huge contract that will be virtually impossible to unload.

Ohtani isn't coming to Texas, that much we can agree on. He's staying on the West Coast and heading to either L.A., San Diego, or Seattle. That being said, I don't fully agree that he would necessarily be an overpay or that he would be a gamble. If you wanted to argue that because he's 28 going on 29, and that you didn't want to pay someone another 10+ year deal, then that's fine because I generally hate paying guys going into their 30's, long-term contracts. I believe it's terrible business and idiotic because their play will fall off around 34-35 (non-pitcher) and then you are stuck with a cruise ship sized anchor for a contract on your books for another 4-5 years.

Ohtani is different though, he hits and he pitches at an ELITE level. That's two for the price of one, and from that aspect alone I think you could pay him $50 million per year and still be shy of his true value. He's the best baseball player walking the planet right now and I'm not sure it's close. Ohtani also brings an entire Asian market with him. It may not be a ton, but that is increased eyeballs and increased revenue in Japan.

So yes, the Rangers are out and they will not want to pay another 10+ year contract at $400-500 million, but I think Ohtani is a stud and his price is almost limitless because he's a pitcher and a hitter who only takes up one roster spot.

AustinCountyAg said:

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DallasAg 94 said:

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Are you coming for just a one-night stay and a game?

With the 2 kiddos there may be more strategic places than Live.

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yes, just one night (weeknight) so wife and I not concerned about proximity to six flags, etc.

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I pulled up a map, and it was a Courtyard by Marriot that we stayed at. It's just north of the stadium, right off of the interstate. It's nothing fancy, but it got the job done as we were only staying a night and it was just me and my two boys. You might call to verify that the shuttle/trolley still exists and stops there. It wasn't a hotel shuttle, it made several stops, so I assume the city of Arlington may have run it (but pretty sure the Courtyard was the last stop on the route before heading to the stadium). Uber's wouldn't be very expensive given the short distance.

opening day a week from tomorrow. I am so ready to get the season going.

I think it's fair to say the Rangers are out, but they will definitely kick the tires to see what it would really take.

Who really thought we would be in on Seager and deGrom?

Gray also pitched 4.2 of zero earned today. They had three errors…not a great.

In addition, I don't think Bubba Thompson is going to get the nod in CF. He's been pretty terrible for a bit.

Tksymm7 said:

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In addition, I don't think Bubba Thompson is going to get the nod in CF. He's been pretty terrible for a bit.

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I don't think they have another choice until Taveras is 100%

Smith was playing CF yesterday, and the could easily move Adolis to center as well.

I don't remember where, but I read that Bochy is not in favor of playing Adolis in CF. I think it'll be a platoon with Smith and Thompson until Tavares is back.

Good to know. I think CF is going to prove to be a decent sized hole, at least on offense, this year. I just don't see it from Taveras or Thompson at the plate.

I've always had concerns about Thompson offensively. Not a lot of contact. He's a perfect 4th outfielder though.
Taveras is a superior defensive player. He only needs to be adequate offensively. Honestly I'd take a.235-.250 season from him and call it a win.

Sorry to hear that about Eric. He's one of the greats!

Yeah, Taveras can be kinda streaky and have a good couple of months.. I honestly don't understand why they don't look at putting Grossman at CF and Smith in LF. From what I remember of watching Robbie, I think he might be able to hold up better than Smith at CF. Just a thought I guess!

The infield is going to hit. I have zero questions about that. It's the outfield that takes a precipitous drop compared to other teams in the division and around the league. I do agree that having an elite defensive CF is needed at home because of how big it is. But when you look at them offensively compared to the Astros and Mariners (direct comp) they leave a lot to be desired, even Adolis Garcia.

Tksymm7 said:

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The infield is going to hit. I have zero questions about that. It's the outfield that takes a precipitous drop compared to other teams in the division and around the league. I do agree that having an elite defensive CF is needed at home because of how big it is. But when you look at them offensively compared to the Astros and Mariners (direct comp) they leave a lot to be desired, even Adolis Garcia.

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I've had concerns about the offense the entire off-season.

IMO there are only 4 players in the lineup that can be counted on to put up numbers (Seager, Semien, Lowe and Garcia). Everyone else is a question mark. We assume Jung will hit, but we don't know. We assume Garver will be healthy and will hit, but history suggests that is iffy. Heim has had one half of a decent offensive season. Grossman is a career .245 hitter, so maybe that counts as reliable - but it's certainly not great. CF is likely going to be OK at best offensively, regardless of who is out there.

We need(ed) one more good bat, and didn't land one for whatever reason. As the roster stands, I think this is a solid club and will likely be a playoff team. But I'm not seeing a championship team as of what we have today. I suspect if the team is in contention the missing pieces can and will be acquired closer to the trade deadline. For example, the Pirates will wind up trading Reynolds for substantially less than they were asking in the off-season. The Rangers just need to play well enough the first half or so of the season to make that type of trade a necessity.
JMO

I was okay with us not landing another bat. I think committing more money to another 28-30+ year old outfielder who would make a difference is just a lot of money and a lot of additions in two years. As we stand I agree, we absolutely need another impact bat, and we could still trade for one like you mentioned, but I think they're going to give some home grown guys a real chance (and I'm not talking just Taveras or Thompson).

We completely agree actually. I'd much rather see someone like Evan Carter, Dustin Harris or Aaron Zavala earn a promotion. They both profile well as hitters, and Carter also offers speed and defense.

The other OFs I'm excited about are Anthony Guiterrez and Yeison Morrobel. Both really young, both extremely talented. They won't be ready this season, or maybe even next, but maybe by the time we're ready to move on from Garcia one or both will be ready to step into that position.

Get to the playoffs, pitch lights out and you can win. We've seen it over and over again - the best pitching almost always win championships.

One of the forgotten things from 2010/2011 is how healthy our starting pitching stayed. That really is the key. This is where having Maddux back will pay the biggest dividends IMHO.

BTW - signed up for Direct TV Stream today. It was that or Fubo TV.

The cheapest Fubo is $70 a month, but there is a $13.99 fee for regional sports packages.

DTV Stream is $100 (must get Choice package or higher to get RSNs), but they have $10 off a month for first three months. Since DTV Stream has unlimited streaming devices and more channels, went that route.

This was for new subscribers only, but they only use e-mail account to verify, so create a sock and profit.

BTW - QUITE a few Opening Day tickets still out there. Of course, Rangers practice dynamic ticket pricing and maybe prices will drop a tad over the coming week.

Was there anything about their price going up after a year or two?

No - just the $10 savings for three months.Of course, I won't have it past the end of the regular season.