I guess we are expecting Bradford to step up and Owen White to make a few starts to hold us over until the trade deadline.

Hopefully some big changes are made in our pitching development approach this offseason. Cole Reagans made a massive jump the moment he left this organization.

Water Boy said:

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I guess we are expecting Bradford to step up and Owen White to make a few starts to hold us over until the trade deadline.

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Eovaldi, Scherzer, Heaney, Gray, Dunning

Bradford is your long reliever, IMO.

Owen is 1st man up.

There is another good thought. I've been vocal about looking at some of the young guys like Bradford, OWhite... even Leiter.

Mahle gives you a backstop built in if they have issues. Consider it like Mahle goes down so you call on White knowing Mahle will return from the IL soon. If they do well, then you have a trade chip.

Water Boy said:

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Hopefully some big changes are made in our pitching development approach this offseason. Cole Reagans made a massive jump the moment he left this organization.

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I'm not sure what to think about Ragans. He struggled out of the bullpen, but then he's always been a starter. When he was traded, they stuck him in the rotation, let him pitch, and he flourished. Maybe that's all it was. Might have been a case where the Rangers were being too cautious in how they brought him along.

Water Boy said:

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Hopefully some big changes are made in our pitching development approach this offseason. Cole Reagans made a massive jump the moment he left this organization.

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We'll see if he sustains it in 2024. I hope he does, but we'll see.

rbtexan said:

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Water Boy said:

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Hopefully some big changes are made in our pitching development approach this offseason. Cole Reagans made a massive jump the moment he left this organization.

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I'm not sure what to think about Ragans. He struggled out of the bullpen, but then he's always been a starter. When he was traded, they stuck him in the rotation, let him pitch, and he flourished. Maybe that's all it was. Might have been a case where the Rangers were being too cautious in how they brought him along.

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I think the problem was he needed to get a chance as a SP with limited pressure. Which KC was able to give him.

He was decent in 2022 in limited opportunity. He got buried in the Rangers depth at SP when we signed deGrom, Heaney, and Eovaldi and the only place for him in 2023 was the BP. He had some success, but I believe his best place is the rotation.

The quotes I read lead me to think Perez is flat out not signing unless he can start. Pretty sure that ship has sailed.

Odd signing with Mahle, especially at that cost. And I agree that it's the kind of move that says that there isn't payroll room for a big add in the rotation.

It's just a fan's perspective, but this partly smells like, we won a world series and now ownership is back to the same story we've had forever. I was hoping the killer instinct that brought in Seager, Semien, deGrom, Eovaldi etc. was the new modus operandi. Hard to get excited about lottery tickets on injured pitchers.

But again, just a fan's perspective and I honestly don't know much about Mahle.

Maybe the plan is that we don't want any long term deals on pitchers right now because we trust that White, Leiter, Rocker and Porter will be there in 25/26

I wonder if it were the old Rangers if they wouldn't have sold more after winning the WS.

And yes, we are playing with some house money.

Keep in mind for:
2024: Eovaldi, Scherzer, Dunning, Gray, and Heaney going into the season. Bradford, White, Leiter, and Porter.
2025: Eovaldi (assume opt vests), Dunning, Gray, deGrom, and now Mahle. Bradford, White, Leiter, and Porter.
2026: Dunning, deGrom. <Bradford, White, Leiter, and Porter.>

It is why I think we really need to see if Bradford (26) and White are options long-term. I'd like to see one of them replacing the Heaney role for 2025.

White (24): Could become mid-rotation guy. They say "front line SP"
Leiter (23): Projects to 2024
Porter (20): Projects to 2025.
Rocker (24): Projects 2025.

Flaherty to the Tigers. Looks like the logjam is finally breaking up.

Tampa does this repeatedly.

Glasnow is owed $25M in '24. Could be a bust. Could be a bargain. LAD will double down on Glasnow and get an extension. The talent is there. Can he remain healthy? Kershaw, anyone?!

'23: 120 IP, 3.53 ERA <- Career high IP
'22: 6.2 IP (age 28)
'21: 88.0 IP
'20: 57.1 IP
'19: 60.2 IP
'18: 56.0 IP (age 24)

I've liked Pepiot. I think he needs another year, but will be a good, cheap, productive SP.

It would not surprise me if the Rays pickup some of the $25M owed Glasnow... like $20M and the LAD include Cash to Tampa. If that is possible, it helps keep down the CBT.

Once the extension is complete, I suspect they will sign a FA SP and those dominoes Yamamoto, Snell, and Monty will shake out.

With the Bally uncertainty I think the plan now is to see how well we do with the current roster and make some trades as see fit before the deadline. Then hopefully make a splash in the free agent world next offseason. In baseball all you need is an invitation to the dance. I think we have the guys now to contend for a wild card spot and if the bullpen is even average next season we win 90 plus ball games. We still have guys like Carter and Langford to be excited for in 24.

Water Boy said:

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With the Bally uncertainty I think the plan now is to see how well we do with the current roster and make some trades as see fit before the deadline. Then hopefully make a splash in the free agent world next offseason. In baseball as you need is an invitation to the dance. I think we have the guys now to contend for a wild card spot and if the bullpen is even average next season we win 90 plus ball games. We still have guys like Carter and Langford to be excited for in 24.

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I'm just disappointed. I think we all can agree the bar was low right?

1) Sign a few cheap relievers who are better than the garbage we had at the bottom of the pen

2) resign Monty

3) resign garver or another good bat

Doesn't seem difficult to do especially after just winning a World Series. Had to have received a financial boost from that alone.

That would have been a pretty good offseason in my books. It could be worse. Imagine being a Baltimore fan after being swept in their first playoff matchup, way under the cap, and not being mentioned to get any of the notable free agents available. Or being a Tampa fan and having to buy a new player jersey every year since the top guys keep getting traded away.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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Water Boy said:

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With the Bally uncertainty I think the plan now is to see how well we do with the current roster and make some trades as see fit before the deadline. Then hopefully make a splash in the free agent world next offseason. In baseball as you need is an invitation to the dance. I think we have the guys now to contend for a wild card spot and if the bullpen is even average next season we win 90 plus ball games. We still have guys like Carter and Langford to be excited for in 24.

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I'm just disappointed. I think we all can agree the bar was low right?

1) Sign a few cheap relievers who are better than the garbage we had at the bottom of the pen

2) resign Monty

3) resign garver or another good bat

Doesn't seem difficult to do especially after just winning a World Series. Had to have received a financial boost from that alone.

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I think this is all easier said than done though. There's a decent chance all of what you laid out could cost 50 million dollar, and we just just want to spend that amount of money.

Mahle had a period when he was healthy he looked unhittable. Has great stuff.

Royals make their 50th move of the offseason this morning. Hunter Renfroe 2/13million.

I think it’s very likely Garver is replaced in lineup by a DH that rotates through OF (possibly Langford) and one that rotates through infield (Duran) https://t.co/XVV4NBeMbE

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) December 15, 2023

Glasnow signs extension with LA 5/135. To me that looks like bad news for Monty but we will see.

Water Boy said:

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Glasnow signs extension with LA 5/135. To me that looks like bad news for Monty but we will see.

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Good news for Monty.

Bad news for the Rangers signing Monty.

$27M/yr?! That is ridiculous money for Glasnow. I thought 3yr @ $20M would be too much. Anyone see that playing out well for the Dodgers?

I was coming back to edit my post right before you replied. I think Monty will get around the same deal which is about what everyone was expecting. Some out there saw a path to him getting north of 150 and im not sure if that will happen.

They likely see opportunity in the AL Central. Could be another down year for the division. AL overall doesn't look as stout as the NL seems to be.

Someone noted above that 50% of the AL teams likely don't plan to compete in 2024.

Dodgers, Braves, Mets, SFG
v
Rangers, Yanks, Astros

The DBacks may have shown a way for some teams that doesn't require them to lineup man-for-man.

I'm all for it. I mentioned yesterday that they got really hot for the last 17 games of the season and now adding some pieces. They could make a pretty big jump and get around 80 wins. Great thing about this game is it's so unpredictable.

fc2112 said:

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I think it’s very likely Garver is replaced in lineup by a DH that rotates through OF (possibly Langford) and one that rotates through infield (Duran) https://t.co/XVV4NBeMbE

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) December 15, 2023

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This is what I had been thinking since you'll have Adolis, Carter, Taveras, and Langford who will all need to be playing just about everyday.

So, opinions... do you think the overall slowness in FA signings in the league are because:

• This pace is normal
• Teams waited on Ohtani and will now move
• The Ohtani signing took all the oxygen out of FA and this could linger

The reason is, I expected more pieces to have fallen, but it seems more like a drip. Maybe teams or players are waiting to see what else the Dodgers do. They now add Glasnow. They are likely to still add a SP.

Here is what is left on the board and projections that were tossed out on MLBTR a few weeks ago:

4. Blake Snell (31-SP). Seven years, $200MM // Tim: Phillies / Anthony: Red Sox / Darragh: Dodgers
6. Jordan Montgomery (30-SP). Six years, $150MM // Tim: Rangers / Anthony: Mets / Darragh: Giants
7. Matt Chapman (30-3B). Six years, $150MM // Tim: Giants / Anthony: Phillies / Darragh: Cubs
8. Josh Hader (29-Cl). Six years, $110MM // Tim: Rangers / Anthony: Rangers / Darragh: Rangers
10. Shota Imanaga (30-SP). Five years, $85MM // Tim: Cubs / Anthony: Cubs / Darragh: Angels
12. Teoscar Hernandez (31-OF). Four years, $80MM // Tim: Angels / Anthony: Angels / Darragh: White Sox

Most of those predictions are no longer relevant, IMO.

I think teams like the Giants and Cubs were looking to add big FAs based on the idea of getting Ohtani. Giants signed an OF from Japan. BoSox, Cubs and Angels are been pretty quiet.