GigEmRangers75455 said:

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I'm trying to figure out how we haven't addressed by far the biggest team weakness with anything other than a couple of hopefully decent arms.

Also don't know how our rotation makes it until we get all the injured guys back. It's gonna be an interesting first half of the season… Hope we're still in it when we get help.

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JD never liked signing a big FA contract for a RP. He was willing to acquire one through trade, but not sign one. Mike Adams basically called him out on it.

Here was a report with JD admitting as much:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/11/rangers-notes-adams-uehara-tateyama-hamilton.html

Quote:

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"I think Mike's earned the right and put up performances indicative of a substantial contract," Daniels said. "Historically we haven't done those kinds of deals."

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With CYoung having served under JD... there was a question (on The Fan radio a couple months ago) as to whether CYoung would follow JD. Jury is still out. I don't think Hader best example.

We have several internal options emerging. I've posted on it before with what we have. In 2023, we had a terrible Save conversion rate and I believe the 1st time a team make the playoffs with below .500 conversion rate.

I think Leclerc and Sborz had some health issues during the season. Leclerc started the season weak and Sborz went down for a bit. Both were phenom in the Playoffs, so I think those 2 will be solid.

I'll insert a condensed snapshot below to recap where we are:

Quote:

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Back (7?):
Leclerc (29-R): 57G, 2.68, 57.0, 67 SO, 4/9 in Saves (1)
B Burke (26-L)): 53G, 4.37, 59.2, 52 SO, 0/2 in Saves (2) <- He has been bumpy. 52G/1.97 in '22
J Sborz (29-R): 44G, 5.50, 52.1, 66 SO, 0/4 in Saves (3) <- Much confidence from playoffs + when healthy
Bradford (25): 12G, 2.82 (in BP) (4)

Added to 40:
Yates (36-R-Atl): 61G, 3.28, 60.1 IP, 80 SO (5) <- Easy replacement for Chapman+Stratton
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Antoine Kelly (23-L-AA/AAA): 49G, 2.04 ERA, 57.1 IP, 79 SO <- Promising. Will be bumpy.

Jake Latz (27-L-AAA): 46G, 4.10 ERA, 63.2 IP, 87 SO <- Got 6.1IP/0.00ERA at MLB <-nut-cutting time
Marc Church (22-R-AAA): 30G, 3.89, 44.0 IP, 48 SO <- Interested in what he has.

Carson Coleman (25-R): DNP in '23. Picked up off scrap heap.

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Leclerc-Sborz were phenomenal in the playoffs but I don't know that I'd bet the farm on them in 2024.

duck79 said:

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Bullpen arms always seem so hit or miss year to year. It is amazing how often you see someone who had a dominant run just lose it and fall to the wayside.

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Hader is a prime example.

'21: 60G, 1.23 ERA, 58.2 IP, 34 Saves
'22: 56G, 4.24 ERA, 50.0 IP, 36 Saves
'23: 61G, 1.28 ERA, 56.1 IP, 33 Saves

Water Boy said:

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Since we are talking about bullpens, I'm hoping we can at least get ours to average. On the other side we need to pick up the offense when we are down late in games. It was extremely rare to pick up a win last season if we were not already leading going into the 8th.

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That was evident in the huge slump. I think they were like 0-45 when behind in the 8th inning. It was in the playoffs that I think they won their 1st come back.

As opposed to the Astros last year, when you always felt they had a chance to come back and win.

gigem1223 said:

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Still a lot of offseason left. Personally, I think having Langford and Carter on the opening day roster may be better than most free agent bats we could add. If we can resign Monty and maybe a BP arm like Stephenson then we'll compete for the AL crown again.

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I think we're at least a WC team, as is.

AL E: Baltimore/Yankees <- Both
AL C: Minnesota/Cleveland/Detroit <- One
AL W: Houston / Texas <- Both

That likely leaves Toronto.

We may see some free agent movement on the RP front now that Hader has signed. Granted he was the big BP piece this off season but others are out there and they will sign in the next 3 weeks.

Mr. G, has there been any announcement for the ticket coupon code yet? Thinking of taking my family of four to the Aggie night.

Also, do you know the youngest age we need a ticket for? The baby will be 8 months old by then and then a 3 year old also.

gigem1223 said:

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One thing the front office may be banking on is a bit of youth injection into the pen. There were several on the cusp of getting the call last season in Kelly, Church and Lee. Also Hernandez was really good in September when he got called back up last season till his shoulder injury. He has filthy stuff, seemed to harness it a bit there at the end of the season. Has anyone heard on his recovery timeline?

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There are a lot of options in the minors. There's a lot to be said for looking at them in ST and seeing who rises to the top.

Stephenson and Hader off the market. Let's get Monty done and find a few low cost / high reward relievers. Call it a day and move on to ST.

MountainAg99 said:

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Stephenson and Hader off the market. Let's get Monty done and find a few low cost / high reward relievers. Call it a day and move on to ST.

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Had a pop-up message saying Boston likely to have a lower payroll in 2024, which should help in our pursuit of Montgomery. I believe they were one of his candidates, along with NYY, but the Yankees have already signed some other pitchers.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10105897-red-sox-ceo-bos-will-probably-have-lower-payroll-in-2024-despite-last-place-finish

Yep. You're screwed.

"Dog Days of Summer" ticket sale?

I got - so drunk - at this game.

Hypothetical trade option. Would you be fine with trading Duran and Lowe for clase?

Or here's a better question. Who would you trade those guys for. And be realistic.

Right now just looking at trades. Obviously you rather buy so you don't have to give up pieces. But hypothetically if we sit pat on FA this offseason who are you willing to trade for needs. We need pitching way more than a back up infielder. Or do you just roll the dice with our shaky bullpen and hope for the best as far as health in our starting pitching?

I wonder what the trade value for a guy like Jason Adam is? Looking at his stats he would be one of the top guys in our bullpen based off last season's stats. Also would be pretty cheap.

Corbin Burnes, Sandy Alcantara, Spencer Strider or Logan Webb. It would have to be someone like that to make that kind of trade.

Obviously those two players alone wouldn't bring one of those pitchers over, but it would have to be an impact player of that magnitude IMO. I certainly wouldn't trade either of those players (or both) for a RP.

I love Duran and he has high upside. Personally I view him as a luxury piece. It would be ideal to keep him but I think the team is in need of pitching arms rather than a back up infielder. Duran's trade value may never be higher so if we decide there's no room to grow here the time to trade him is now.

One good backup infielder that can play multiple positions is essential to making it through the season. Not sure I agree with your argument

So what's the solution guys? Right now we don't have money to spend and we are not willing to trade anybody unless we win the trade by a lot. So what do we do? The bullpen is a massive concern. Remember no team has ever made the playoffs with as many blown saves as us last year. We need arms. So how do we get these arms?

Never said it wasn't essential. But if you were to ask me what is more needed for this particular team I think arms would be the answer.

Doesn't have to be either or. What prospects could we trade and who would we get in return? And be realistic.

Water Boy said:

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So what's the solution guys? Right now we don't have money to spend and we are not willing to trade anybody unless we win the trade by a lot. So what do we do? The bullpen is a massive concern. Remember no team has ever made the playoffs with as many blown saves as us last year. We need arms. So how do we get these arms?

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I'm not sure I agree with your comments here. First, the Rangers have money to spend, just not on the Blake Snell's of the world. Bullpen arms don't cost much, and their unpredictability doesn't warrant a huge financial or long term investment. There will be plenty of guys available around spring training, it's the same every year really.

I'd also not agree that anyone is saying we have to "win the trade by a lot". There's a difference between winning by a lot and giving away far too much for what you get in return, and that's what I see people not wanting to do.

The bullpen is a concern, but I'd remind you that we won the WS with that bullpen last year. Chapman and Smith are replaceable IMO. There are internal candidates like Marc Church, Chase Lee and Antoine Kelly, and I suspect the Rangers will also sign some guys to minor league deals in the next month or so.

Everything I've read has indicated that player signings are going to be later than usual. Last year Smith and Grossman were both signed after spring training began. As I've said on here before, the time to get concerned about this kind of stuff is late in spring training. We're not even in February yet.

One other point re: the bullpen. I'm hoping to see the Rangers change their philosophy about the type of pitchers they go after. This team needs big arms in the bullpen, high 90s. Not junkball pitchers like Smith was.

Foscue would be on my list now. Leody once Langford shows he's ready. I'd want to see who is performing in 2024 on the "who we get?". Again, bullpen arms are year to year propositions. Wouldn't prematurely blow my load giving up young talent for bullpen arms

I think I need to make some clarifications. Fellas this is all hypothetical. It's the off season and I want to have fun with hypothetical possibilities. I like to think of every situation and possible roster moves. When I say we hypothetically are not spending money that is exactly what I mean. Not saying we are going to spend nothing in real life. Right now I want to talk hypothetical trades we could make now for bullpen arms. If you don't agree with the hypothetical or can't play along for some offseason fun, you don't have to participate. So again, who in this la la land off-season world could we trade for some BP arms? The point of this is to have fun and play GM. Your answer isn't what we should or must do in reality.

Let's see who can make the best trade package for BP arms or starting pitching. The goal is to come up with the best package that could possibly happen in real life. For example don't say Duran for strider since the Braves would not agree to that.

I would go Duran, Lowe, Rocker for Shane Bieber and Clase. Let's see who can beat this trade!