I had drafted my post above but delayed in finalizing it. Didn't see your post until after.

I think Lowe would be fine at 1B.
I think they had Langford in CF the past month or so and Fabian in LF, to see what he had. I think it was also a verification if Langford can handle CF. My biggest concern about Langford in CF is that he has the health problems many CFs have like Trout, where the effort and grind see them frequently on the IL.

With your OF, Taveras becomes a 4th OF or DH. Don't want him as DH, for sure. An aging DH guy would be fine, but that also inhibits days off for guys like Seager and Jung.

Jung's hand seemed to be irritating him during the season. Scar tissue, or whatever. We really need him (and Seager) healthy coming out of ST.

If our rotation is healthy going into ST with: deGrom, Eovaldi, Mahle, Bradford, +Dunning/Gray/Rocker/Leiter... I'd be fine with a fill-in at DH until the trade deadline and then see what becomes available.

When I say reset the tax I mean stay under the CBT. And upcoming season refers to the 25 season. Guess I didn't word it right. Basically meant to say that in the 2025 season I hope we are under the tax since each year you go over it gets higher. Thus staying under would reset our tax and then in 2026 go all in and possibly go over.

https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/rangers-recap-2024-season

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One thing is clear for Young though: "We're going to pursue pitching." Pitching depth has been a staple of Young's tenure atop the baseball operations department. That won't change this offseason.

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"We can't have enough pitching," Young said. "That's the theme. As far as Evo and Andrew go, those are priorities for us. We love those guys. They helped us win a World Series. We would love to bring those guys back, and we're going to explore every way we can to make that happen."

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One thing I've mentioned during the season was that we really didn't have much depth in position players and when we had injuries, we really didn't do well filling in. Contrast that with P where we suffered tremendous issues and always seem to have more. We've discussed... it is cheaper to replace hitters than pitchers especially during the season. I get that. Don't disagree with the strategy, just need to remember when someone like Carter goes down... we've gotta be able to pull in a guy who can perform better than Foscue.

Having said that... if Eovaldi and Heaney are going to be a priority to bring back... HALLELUJAH! It would go a long way.

deGrom, Eovaldi, Heaney, Mahle, Bradford + Rocker and Leiter

Would allow us to trade Gray and Dunning. Maybe we get a Big Bat?!

rbtexan said:

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focus solely on being profitable, which seems to be the Ray Davis model.

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Is Ray Davis supposed to lose money to make us happy?

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I actually think he is. When you buy a professional sports franchise, it's different than buying an oil company. You have an obligation to serve the citizens of that city and state and need to accept the responsibility of bringing success and goodwill to them.

In addition, the increase in the value of the franchise should more than offset any operating losses. Per the web, Davis bought them in 2010 for ~ $600 million and now Texas is worth $2.4 billion. It's his tax guy's job to figure out how to use the franchise operating loss to his personal benefit.

rbtexan said:

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We won a world championship. You're being greedy, selfish, and completely unrealistic.

And if it was your money you'd look at it a lot differently. Anything Davis "owed" the fan base was paid in full last season. Expecting him to go out and throw money around like a drunken sailor on leave is ridiculous.

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There are levels of financial loss, yes? Losing $25 million a year? That's irrelevant money for a guy with 10 different types of annual revenue streams. Who's to say this franchise is losing money anyway? I haven't looked but I doubt they publish their financial statements.

Did we go over the tax this year? If we did it makes complete sense to stay under in 2025. If we go over again we would have to pay 50% for going over a 3rd consecutive year. Go under in 2025 and if we decide to go over in 2026 it goes back down to 20%. We still have a lot of players from the championship team coming back. Going under the CBT for 2025 gives you a chance to see if 2023 or 2024 was the outlier and gives you more room to make moves in 2026. I trust CY will do what is best not only now but in the future. Window is still open in my opinion.

Instead of Soto at $50-60M... would you be happy with Bregman?!

6yr/$180M?!

He'll be 31 before the Season. He hit .319 in Arlington.

You could roll him out to SS a few times to relieve Seager.

Move Jung to mostly 1B and some at 3B.

Trade Lowe taking off his $10.7M projected salary.

DallasAg 94 said:

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Instead of Soto at $50-60M... would you be happy with Bregman?!

6yr/$180M?!

He'll be 31 before the Season. He hit .319 in Arlington.

You could roll him out to SS a few times to relieve Seager.

Move Jung to mostly 1B and some at 3B.

Trade Lowe taking off his $10.7M projected salary.

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I actually looked at Bregman's stats yesterday for this when I suggested that we Jung. Then I remembered Josh Smith has already earned that right.

Bregman is definitely a leader and brings a sensational work ethic. Living in Houston you hear about him all the time as a fan favorite.

I can't imagine him signing with Texas for a few dollars more than what Houston offers him. As Astros fans have pointed out, the drop in walks is alarming. He'll be 31 and had his lowest career OPS in 2024. It would be fun to stick it to Houston, but then we're stuck with a really expensive guy slightly better and more power (but 4 years older) than Josh Smith.

As you can tell, I'm pretty loyal to these bottom of the payroll guys that play a ton of games, ask for very little, and don't take 4 months to heal from a HBP.

I like Lowe. Sure he doesn't have the ideal power for his position but he's been one of the better bats in the offense this season. Who's available that is cheaper and can get you a guaranteed 25-30 home runs?

As much as I don't care for Bregman, I'd love to sign him and transition Jung to 1B.

Thinking Seager is just going to willingly move to 1B is just wishful thinking, he will be the SS thru 2028, at least for the 100 or so games he's healthy.

Flounder Dorfman said:

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Looks like this thread has jumped the shark.

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Seriously lol. There is a guy already on the roster that would allow the move of Jung or Seager to 1B. His name is Josh Smith. LOL at paying three 30-somethings a total of about $80mill to play 2nd, SS, and 3rd. Plus, he's an ahole. F that guy

DannyDuberstein said:

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Flounder Dorfman said:

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Looks like this thread has jumped the shark.

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Seriously lol. There is a guy already on the roster that would allow the move of Jung or Seager to 1B. His name is Josh Smith. LOL at paying three 30-somethings a total of about $80mill to play 2nd, SS, and 3rd. Plus, he's an ahole. F that guy

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Love this idea.

Josh smith at SS (better defender than Seager). Seager to first where he can stay healthier.

Go find a decent DH.

I posted the below a few weeks ago.

I don't think Seager monitors his place in history, but as a fan, it is at least worth noting. At 30+HRs the past 3 years... another 3 yrs puts him at +100 and T3.

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Here is the list, BTW (Seager is 9th):

Name: HR@SS (TotalHRs)
A-Rod: 344 (696)
Ripken: 345 (431)
Tejada: 291 (307)
Jeter : 255 (260)
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Lindor: 238 (245) *Still active
Rollins: 229 (231)
Tulowitzki: 223 (225) Mostly for Colorado
Jose Valentin: 192 (249)
Seager : 191 (200)

Others
Nomar: 187 (229)
HanRam: 174 (271)
Vern Stephens: 174 (247) Played mostly for St.L Browns/O's until '55
Peralta: 173 (202)
Petrocelli: 127 (210) Played for BoSox until '76
Yount: 122 (251)
Semien: 117 (233)

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DannyDuberstein said:

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Flounder Dorfman said:

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Looks like this thread has jumped the shark.

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Seriously lol. There is a guy already on the roster that would allow the move of Jung or Seager to 1B. His name is Josh Smith. LOL at paying three 30-somethings a total of about $80mill to play 2nd, SS, and 3rd. Plus, he's an ahole. F that guy

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I like Josh Smith as much as the next guy, but he is a #6... #7 hitter. Maybe he becomes more than that, but he hit .215 Post-ASB with an .265 OBP. 3HRs in 59G and a .565 OPS.

*giggle*

Idk who saw, but the prospect rankings were updated for the end of the season. The Rangers actually fair pretty well even after losing Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford.

• #23 Sebastian Walcott - .261/.342/.443/.786 at A+ and .348/.375/.609/.984 at AA; with an age difference of -4.1 yrs at A+ and -6.1 yrs at AA.
  
• #58 Kumar Rocker - I don't need to post anything else about him, I think we all know who he is and we are all beyond excited for him.
• #86 Alejandro Rosario - 2.24 ERA; 0928 WHIP; 129 SO/13 BB; 88.1 IP across A and A+ this year.

I am also a little surprised to not see Emiliano Teodo in the top 100 after the ridiculous season that he had, posting a 1.98 ERA; 1.193 WHIP; 110 SO/ 50 BB with AA.

All-in-all though I am pretty pleased with the season that a lot of minor league guys had. Last thing I'll add is that we are very thin on position player prospects. Walcott could be a stud and that dude, but after him we basically have no one for the near near future (which is okay). After Walcott it's Malcolm Moore, Dylan Dreiling and Paulino Santana.

I was looking through that this week and wasn't sure when it was last updated. Good stuff. I agree we are light on top position player prospects.

I was looking because of discussions we were having regarding signing players. Soto (OF). Bregman (3B). And we've all chattered about upgrading.

Walcott is likely the future at SS or 3B, but 2 yrs away. '26 maybe... but certainly '27. That gives us 2yrs with Seager.

But, you stopped short mentioning Cameron Cauley. 3rd Rd in '21. I think he has another year before Rule V requires him added to the 40. I've been following him as an up-and-comer.

MLB #12 Rangers prospect:

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A former Texas all-state wide receiver, Cauley can create havoc with plus-plus speed that translated into 84 steals in 95 attempts (88.4 percent) in 201 games during his first three seasons. His quickness also gives him plus range at shortstop, where he has solid arm strength and some issues with throwing accuracy. He's a dynamic and more reliable defender at second base, and has similar upside in center field, where he has yet to play as a pro.

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Here is a mid-season report from Scott Lucas:

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13. Cameron Cauley, SS/2B
Even

Back in March, I'd harbored hope that Cauley might make a mid-season jump like last year, but at this point I'm expecting a full season in Hickory. The primary difference from 2023 is a 40% decline in walk rate. Cauley has always struck out more than the league average, so concern about his plate discipline is justified. On the other hand, his contact and power are similar to last season, and he's still vey much a middle infielder with terrific speed.

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Also don't lose site of Abimelec Ortiz.
He ended 2023 as the Rangers #11 prospect to start 2024. Didn't fare "as well" moving up from Hickory (A+) for his full '24 season in Frisco. He'll be 23 to start the '25 season and I think he may be a '26 guy and will be worth following in '25. He could be a 1B/DH.


As we start discussing off-season moves, CY likely remains focused on P (as posted already)... IF we can sign Evo and Heaney... Gray and Dunning could return help on the farm with position players.

Flounder Dorfman said:

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Would really like to see the baseball gods smile down on the Rangers again and hand us a top draft pick position. There's a guy roaming the Texas A&M outfield this season that sure would look good in a Rangers uniform.

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We would have to jump to top 5 for Jace to be in play I would think. Most mocks have him 1 or 2 right now.

I'd like to see the Rangers draft one of the college catchers. There's a guy from Coastal who is really good or Ike Irish, if he shows improvement behind the plate this season. I also remember a guy from Campbell that had insane hit stats that was in the portal this season, but I have no idea how he is as a defensive catcher. Don't remember where he ended up.

Has anyone seen the probabilities of who gets the lottery yet?

Probabilities were posted. Rangers are like 2% chance at #1 pick.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2025-mlb-draft-lottery-odds/


I think we will get a great pick regardless.

I think the Top2 position gets are:
https://www.mlb.com/news/2025-mlb-mock-draft

1. Ethan Holliday, SS, Stillwater
- Considered as good or better than brother Jackson who at 20 is with the O's.

2. Jace, OF, A&M
- Likely '26 OF?


Both are likely at MLB within 2 years of June '25 draft.

After that, if both those guys are gone, I think we're taking a College SP.

All that can change after Spring... but those are my "too early to predict" comments

Well, if the Rockies, Marlins, Angels, and maybe Nats are in front of the Rangers.. there's a high likelihood they screw up their pick haha

Detroit with an interesting season.

Last year, I think the Rangers demonstrated that with 2 Quality SPs and enough RP depth, you can win a WS.

Detroit has 1 SP. While they made the playoffs and swept the Astros in 2... they will be worth watching.

The Tigers have 6 players on their Roster who are NOT Serfs.
Baez ($25M) - SS on 60IL
Maeda ($14M) - SP <- Left off playoff roster for WC series
Then Keith, Rogers, and Skubal.

So, 3 players on their Active Roster making more than League Minimum. And they just swept the Astros.

Granted, they have one of the best SPs and if the other team can't score... that helps.

G1/G2 Name (age): Status
_C/_C Rogers (29): $1.7M (Arb1)
1B/1B Torkelson (24): Serf3
2B/Be Andy Ibanez (31): Serf3
Be/2B Keith (22): $2.8M
Be/3B McKinstry (29): Serf3
SS/SS Sweeney (24): Serf1 -Rk
LF/LF Greene (23): Serf2
CF/CF Meadows (24): Serf1 -Rk
RF/RF W Perez (24): Serf1 -Rk
3B/RF Vierling (27): Serf3
DH/Be Malloy (24): Serf1 -Rk
Be/DH Carpenter (26): Serf2

12 played in the field (Be = Bench)

SP
Skubal (27): $2.6M (Arb1)

Now, I don't think they will win a 5 or 7 game series, but for a 2-out-of-3... AJH pulled all the right levers.

G1 SP: Holton (28-Serf2)
G2 SP: Skubal (Could be ready for a G5 if necessary)