I'll respond to several different posters.

The 1st part is about Cease and acquiring him.
First... Put me in the camp that said with all the distractions, Cease is better than his '23 numbers and that could have been a product of the team and distraction around him.
'22: 32 GS, 2.20, 184.0, 227 SO
'23: 33 GS, 4.58, 177.0, 214 SO

His '24 ST is in line with what you'd expect from the '22 season. He is a true ToTR SP and would help any team. Moving to a competitive team, he'll be Top 5-10 ERA if healthy and I'd love him as a Ranger.

#1 Get to the Playoffs. We don't need Cease to get to the Playoffs.
#2 Win in the Playoffs. We might need Cease, but we might not.
Eovalde-Cease-Scherzer-deGrom-Gray-Dunning-Heaney-Bradford-Mahle

We signed Mahle as a Lottery Pick. It cost you $5.5M for '25 depth. He gets to rehab under a team/doctor's care knowing he can feed his family. Cause $5.5M doesn't go as far as you'd think.

This part is about what he'd cost:
Second...no way do I give up Duran + Leiter + Porter. One of those, maybe... but likely not. He would be a luxury we don't require.

Duran (24-MLB): 122 G, 439 AB, .276, 14 HR, 8 SB
Porter (20-A) - #4 Rangers, #88overall : 21GS, 2.47, 69.1 IP,95 SO
Leiter - #8 Rangers

Duran isn't a Util guy, he is a legit SS that is blocked. In the 1H24, in 70G, he hit .308, 12 HR. When he plays regularly, he is dialed in. We are not in the playoffs in '23 without him at SS. Counting '24, Rangers have 5 years of control.

Porter is one of our best options to deliver internally developed SP talent. Well, aside from Bradford.

'25 we have: Eovaldi (vesting), deGrom, Gray, Dunning, Bradford, Mahle
Scherzer and Heaney come off the books. Could either be of interest for '25?!

NOW... what is the market for Cease?! Yankees. A team looking to upgrade. As-Is... Yankees are not a playoff team. Rangers are a playoff team. Yankees appear unwilling to include #84 prospect Spencer Jones. I doubt the Yankees have the prospects nor the willingness to part with the prospects to get Cease.

I say, don't waste prospects now. Keep the power dry. I think Cease won't move until the deadline. CWS are taking inventory.

He would help us secure a playoff spot... likely win the Division. But, I don't think we NEED him. Want - Yes. Need - No.

He would assure us a #1+#2 in the Playoffs that matches anyone.

Cease is what you hope Porter and Leiter turn into. If true, we would also have the chance to bail on a busted draft pick. He may have looked better this Spring, but the numbers aren't eye popping. Duran is a nice peice, but I don't think his ceiling is high enough to hold back on that trade.

gigem1223 said:

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Flounder Dorfman said:

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gigem1223 said:

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Grapesoda2525 said:

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Cease for Duran, porter, and leiter is way too high.

Should be something like wendzel, white, and a lower tier prospect.

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You don't get a controllable 28 year old TORP for nothing. Why on God's green earth would the white Sox do that? Some of you guys value middling prospects too much.

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And some of you value a dude that went 7-9 with a 4.50+ ERA as some TORP that necessitates three top prospects when you have the same dudes waiting in the wings.

If I am CY, I stand pat. The vast majority of the team that just won the World Series is back for the following season. You roll with what you have and adjust where needed.

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You don't watch enough baseball if you really judge Cease by last seasons ERA and W-L record on a terrible team. He's nasty and he hasn't even hit his prime yet.

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I watch as much baseball as you do. And I watched him in 22 when the Rangers couldn't touch him. He's a stud. No doubt about it.


But I am reading all of these proposals with giving up several top prospects and why? If Mahle isn't expected to contribute in the 24 playoffs then that was an absolutely ridiculously stupid signing. Scherzer will be ready well before then. DeGrom coming on board around September. You have a starting rotation right now with three very good starters coming off the IL and we want to trade top prospects for another SP?

No thanks. Would rather keep our ammo dry and roll with what we have.

I agree with this take. We found out last year that you just can't have enough arms in the bullpen to make a run. The more solid arms, the better.

I would not be a fan of parting with Duran. His ability to fill in when we have IF on the IL is invaluable. Pitching or any other prospects are just that...prospects. We held on to Profar for so long because he was can't miss and he turned out to be sorta meh. But proven quality utility players are too valuable to a team looking to make another run.

New turf going in at the ballpark. Looks like a darker shade of green

KT 90 said:

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No guarantees on what we get from Mahle and deGrom who are both returning from TJ. It might be 2025 before they truely get back to prior form.

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Yep. They won't be bad or anything but we're not going to be getting peak deGrom and Mahle back mid-season.

Also, the Jose Barraro claim makes more sense if Duran is gone.

Profar's final year with Texas:
'18 (25yo): 146G, .254, 20 HRs, 10 SB, .793 OPS

I think the biggest issue with Profar is his health. Like Andrus, he bulked up. In doing so, he injured his throwing shoulder and moving between SS and 2B didn't help with the changes in throwing angles.

Who has come back throwing 100 right out of the gate after TJ?

I understand what you are trying to say, but moving a SP to the BP isn't as easy as saying, "hey... you now move to the BP."

One asset of Heaney and Bradford and Dunning was that they had previously spent time in the BP. Gray did well, but I'm not sure that is something you really want to do with a guy like him.

We've tried that before with guys like Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando who both ended up with issues.

Sure, Playoffs is all-hands-on-deck, but if you have a guy like Gray under contract for a couple years, you don't want to risk losing him long-term. Not sure if that was what happened to guys like McCullers and was it Noah Syndergaard (SFG)...

Fuzzy Dunlop said:

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I agree with this take. We found out last year that you just can't have enough arms in the bullpen to make a run. The more solid arms, the better.

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Don't forget we had to deal with position player injuries last year, as well.

This year, we have the following players likely starting the season on the IL:
1B Lowe
3B Jung
SS Seager

We haven't seen much of Adolis out of concern.

During the regular season, IMO, it is far more valuable to have a Util guy that can fill-in and keep the lineup moving, than it is to miss a SP for 3-4 GS at a time.

Depth is important for SP to get to the Playoffs. We could sign a guy like Lorenzen, if necessary, for almost nothing. Having a ToTR guy added to an otherwise deep rotation for the Playoffs has to measure the cost this early in the season.

There's been plenty of guys that stay at or even increase their velocity once they've come back from TJ. I was referring more to the fact that deGrom is an all-time pitcher who has always had freaky stuff, so if he came back doing what he was before he went down it wouldn't surprise me at all, but because of his inconsistency to stay healthy I could also see him never being the same pitcher again.

CowtownAg06 said:

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I"m in between here. I really think we need one more SP. I'm good with the current 5, but don't want Urena/Samspon/Winn/White starting games. I'm also skeptical of the timeline on Max/Mahle/DeGrom. So I want one more and hoped it would be Monty.

Cease checks so many boxes. At some point I think Duran is most valuable as a trade chip. 2 years of Cease is exactly the kind of deal I'd do. So, Duran, Leiter, and Foscue. Sign me up.

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I agree.

Whatever CY+Bochy+Maddux decide I am 100% on-board.

IMO, Duran should be a regular everyday SS and has tremendous trade value with 5 more years of control. Seager only played 112 G @ SS in 2023.

I think including him for Cease would not be maximizing his true market value.

But how good of an every day SS is he? He's an okay fielder/thrower of the baseball, and he's a solid overall hitter, but he also swings and misses a metric ton and doesn't posses crazy pop. So how good is he? Josh smith can pick it better than him in the infield and we've got better true options as a hitter. I don't deny that he's valuable as an insurance policy, but that's a poor reason to hold onto a guy if you can get someone to really help the team more often.

Duran is a MLB ready SS. Those are damned valuable. He is better than 2/3s of the starting SS in MLB today IMHO

He's way too good to be a utility infielder.

Sure they do, but my understanding is that's in year two. Not as soon as they come back.

Tksymm7 said:

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But how good of an every day SS is he? He's an okay fielder/thrower of the baseball, and he's a solid overall hitter, but he also swings and misses a metric ton and doesn't posses crazy pop. So how good is he? Josh smith can pick it better than him in the infield and we've got better true options as a hitter. I don't deny that he's valuable as an insurance policy, but that's a poor reason to hold onto a guy if you can get someone to really help the team more often.

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This is exactly my thoughts with Duran. I'm not so sure his value is going to be any higher than it is now. We have plenty of infield depth, not named Duran, to sustain the first week or two with Jung, Seager, Lowe out (IF they even miss time).

So, the argument to keep Duran...

Evidence-A (Sorry I couldn't find it on twitter, only FB.

https://fb.watch/qNsu-BAIeq/


Seager GP at SS:
'16 (22) 155
'17 (23) 138
'18 (24) 25
'19 (25) 132
'20 (26) 43
'21 (27) 92
'22 (28) 144
'23 (29) 112

Seager, IMO, is like Mike Trout. He plays at such a high-level, that he is often hurt. Seager played barely a 2/3 of the games and played most of those (including the playoffs) with a Sports Hernia. Good chance he starts the season on the IL. I would say, play Duran as our regular season SS and let Seager play only in the Playoffs.

Walcott may be the future, but not for 2 more years. I think Duran after 2024 will have a much higher trade value.

ETA to change 1/3 to 2/3. It was a 'typo.'

hawk1689 said:

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AgBQ-00 said:

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I would not be a fan of parting with Duran. His ability to fill in when we have IF on the IL is invaluable. Pitching or any other prospects are just that...prospects. We held on to Profar for so long because he was can't miss and he turned out to be sorta meh. But proven quality utility players are too valuable to a team looking to make another run.

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They aren't more valuable than a top of the rotation starting pitcher. That is the most valuable asset in baseball.

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I don't think you need a ToTR SP to get TO the Playoffs.

We certainly saw what having 2 Elite SPs did for us in the '23 Playoffs.

The question we don't know is... would Eovaldi, Scherzer, deGrom + what else we have, be healthy? Will it be enough?

Nothing assures us Cease will be healthy all season or for the Playoffs.

A Dylan Cease trade before Opening Day is seen as plausible, a source told me this morning, based on the volume of recent conversations with the Rangers and Yankees.

The Padres also have been involved in talks, as I just reported on @MLBNetwork.@670TheScore @nbcsandiego

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 13, 2024

Mr Gigem said:

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New turf going in at the ballpark. Looks like a darker shade of green

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Is this where the Rangers post merch selling 1sq' pieces of "World Series Championship Turf?!"

Seems kinda late in the off-season to change.

Also seems kinda quick to replace after 4 seasons. I guess we've gotta use all that playoff money somewhere.