shack009 said:

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Can we really upgrade that much from Lowe? I think this thought process is a little bit anchored to last offseason's thinking of Lowe.

We used to think of him as an above average offensive first baseman and a poor defender, that has to hit at the top of the lineup.

But he's actually an above average offensive first baseman and a gold glover who we can have towards the bottom of our lineup.

Think of Lowe as a 7 or 8 hole hitter and all of a sudden he sounds pretty great.

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Paul Goldschmidt
Pete Alonso
Christian Walker
Yandy Diaz
Matt Olsen
Freddie Freeman
Vlad Jr.
Anthony Rizzo

This is the short list of better first baseman. Once a position of massive power hitters... it's changed over the last decade or so.

Defensively, he's one of the best/the best. Offensively, he's in the top ten to fifteen with HR/RBIs but even better with walks, doubles, etc. I'm great with that.

Figured I'd ask here before posting online. Ordered this immediately after game 7 of ALCS but it doesn't fit my dome. It's low profile 7 1/4. Hard to find especially once the World Series ended. Paid $40 just looking to break even.

Ohtani is a Blue Jay

ClassOf17 said:

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Ohtani is a Blue Jay

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Just saw this. I'm really surprised.

He's rich af now.

How many times have I refreshed Twitter today for some Ohtani updates pic.twitter.com/b9Idq5CRkr

— Mark 🇨🇦 (@MarkFromTO) December 8, 2023

Crazy he ends up in Toronto. I guess the idea of wanting to be the piece to get over the top and make a difference had legs.

Let's see if Toronto makes additional moves like trading Vlad or Bo for SP.

LAD are probably going to throw down big money for Montgomery, I suspect.

Was that as big a blow to them as it seems?

DallasAg 94 said:

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LAD are probably going to throw down big money for Montgomery, I suspect.

Was that as big a blow to them as it seems?

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Well, if Montgomery doesn't re-sign with the Rangers, hopefully he at least goes to a NL team.

But yeah, the Dodgers need SP pretty badly, and supposedly they were saving money for Othani. So that means they have plenty of room to sign Montgomery now one would think.

sburg2007 said:

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Figured I'd ask here before posting online. Ordered this immediately after game 7 of ALCS but it doesn't fit my dome. It's low profile 7 1/4. Hard to find especially once the World Series ended. Paid $40 just looking to break even.

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Ouch... take care of that thumb

I pretty much do the flex-fit hats nowadays, especially when ordering online. Sizing isn't always consistent for the fitted hats, at least when I've order them in the past.


ETA: I am good on hats. I am sure someone will be interested.

fc2112 said:

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ClassOf17 said:

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Ohtani is a Blue Jay

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Just saw this. I'm really surprised.

He's rich af now.

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Have the terms been released yet? I am sure it is crazy money.

Thumb got smoked weeks ago. Best part was burning hole with paper clip to relieve pressure and seeing the look on my 7 year olds face. It's just ugly now!

I usually only buy 47 brand dad hats but, World Series requires a 59/50!

Is the Ohtani news official? There has been major smoke this morning but have not seen anything official.

I think a reporter for DodgerNation said the Dodgers were out and he was going to Toronto.

Then, there started some conflicting reports.

It could be that someone in the Dodgers org is forcing a decision by floating out rumors that he is headed to Toronto.

Most logical explanation may be that Team Toronto wants to review the medical and their doctor's physical before eliminating teams.

Carlos Correa was a laughable debacle and ultimately cost him tons of cash.

I'd imagine once the winning team gets to view his medicals... 2 TJs and a knee operation?... $50M for 10-12 years might draw some caution.

I wonder if the LAD already viewed his medical and was waiting to finalize the deal and found something they didn't like and then backed off... or lowered their terms. The whole Dave Roberts confirmation was a way for the LAD to say Ohtani eliminated them. Meanwhile, Toronto is none-the-wiser that the LAD declined the price and will accept the additional risk not knowing the price would come down if they knew the LAD had backed off.

What if Ohtani was really that strict on his rules of no leaking info and took it out on the dodgers. Then the dodgers media decided to be salty about it and leak the Toronto news. Wild times.

Wonder what take home is. Canada taxes are insane

Toronto must be absolutely backing up the brinks truck. That's about the only positive they could bring imo.

Sources: Shohei Ohtani is en route to Toronto today.

A representative of his agency, CAA, would not comment when asked about Ohtani’s travel plans.

At this hour, Ohtani does not have a signed agreement with any @MLB team. @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 8, 2023

All signs point to this being done. Lot of clues dropping that confirm reports.

Saw a tweet claiming to be video of him going through the Toronto airport.

So Ohtani was NOT flying to Toronto. And the madness continues

Can confirm Shohei Ohtani is not en route to Toronto and is home in SoCal @BNightengale on it

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 8, 2023

"Sources"

Apparently the dude on the private jet was one of the guys from shark tank.

I will say, that since the price for Soto ended up being a 28 year old pitcher, one real pitching prospect and a few lottery tickets, I'm a little surprised the Rangers weren't involved there.

Dunning + Leiter + Spares seems like it'd have been a better package.

From the Rangers perspective, you get your DH for one year, and you get to recoup a draft pick when he signs elsewhere after the year. Missed opportunity of sorts to make a move to try and win again next year for a pretty small risk.

Water Boy said:

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Shohei to Texas? Shohei wants his free agency to be a secret and no one is expecting us. CY also created the narrative that we will not be spending big this offseason. CY playing chess!

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I do think there's a good chance it's somebody that either hasn't been talked about or somebody that's been reported as being out of it. That or he gets real dumb and goes back to the Angels.

His arbitration estimate is around 30million which would put us over the luxury tax. That was probably a big reason.

Giants would be my surprise team.

His next team is brilliantly inscribed in the 3 unintelligible words he says in the New Balance ad. Crack the code and you'll know.

Water Boy said:

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His arbitration estimate is around 30million which would put us over the luxury tax. That was probably a big reason.

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For sure, but the good thing would be that we'd only dip into the luxury tax for the one year of his arbitration. If for some reason things weren't going well at the trade deadline, you flip him at that point and reduce the tax burden.

If things are going well, the luxury tax is a small price to pay for a chance to repeat as champions.

If you all don't know by now, I'm all about winning. This patient team building stuff, the GM can have that perspective. But for me, if there is a good player out there, I want the Rangers to be in on them.

I think some of you forget that we had never won a world series before this year. If this team's goal is to win it again, then I think you have to consider some win now moves.

No doubt. Baltimore will have to make some moves for that reason. Gotta mix in proven ballers with the prospects. Like I said in late September - your window is when you're there.

I find it fascinating that guys like Monty and Garver would not automatically just sign back with the Rangers. How much more World Series ready could this team even be?

But I get it, these guys need to make a few more million dollars to support their families.

I guess you could see it as once a guy gets the ring, now he's free to chase the money.

Monty's wife is doing a residency in Boston so that doesn't help.