Yeah I thought the new stadium agreement with St. Petersburg was already signed and the new stadium was open air. I could be wrong. Probably am wrong. Smart money says I am so wrong.

And that makes sense that there are several thunderstorms in the area that makes the roof a welcomed feature. I figured there had to be a good reason and didn't think about lightning.

St. Petersburg has approved a new stadium. Tampa lost out trying to bring the Rays over. It is an indoor stadium.



https://stpeterising.com/home/st-pete-city-council-approves-new-tampa-bay-rays-stadium-and-redevelopment-of-the-historic-gas-plant-district

Told you I would be wrong.

fc2112 said:

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It rains almost everyday out on the peninsula.

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We've stayed at a family members place on Marco Island (south of Tampa Bay area) and it was literally a shower or thunderstorm every single day at around 4:00 to 5:00. We planned our activities & meals around them they were so predictable. I think we missed rain like once in a total of 12 days and joked about how bad the drought was.

Twins for sale. TA Rangers thread group buy?

And this year's qualifying offer is $21.05 MM

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/41718912/qualifying-offer-climbs-record-2105m-sources-say

Of all our FAs, I'm thinking Max Scherzer and Nathan Eovaldi we'd offer? Scherzer may take it - Eovaldi would be foolish to imho.

I'd be shocked if we offered it Max. I wonder if Nate's opt out precludes him from having it offered.

I think Nate is going to get the biggest bag of cash someone will offer him. Doesn't matter where. This could be his last stint in the MLB.

IIRC, none of our FAs can be given a QO. Once you've had one, you can't be given another.

Eovaldi's option vested. He gets $20M in '25 from the Rangers if he wants it.

I'd expect Scherzer to be a late signing. Maybe after the season starts. He has been vocal he is chasing rings and I don't think he can get you more than 125 IP during the season.

Yeah, I just realized the article I was looking at was BS. I think a couple of our FAs COULD be offered QO's, but none are close to worth it. For instance, I don't think Leclerc has ever gotten a QO.

I think it is time for the Rangers to move forward with their pitching staff onto the next generation of guys. We have Bradford, Rocker and Leiter who are going to be jockeying for starting pitching roles, and behind them we have Emiliano Teodo, Alejandro Rosario and Winston Santos. At the front of the line we will have deGrom, Gray, and Mahle. I think we absolutely need someone else in the rotation who can give you good consistent starts, but I am not sure who that is and how it would look. I personally think the Rangers need to do what they can to ship Gray off, and tbh I wouldn't care a lick if they did the same with Mahle (what a stupid signing this has been), but we are likely going to have to eat money to do it and that's not really the point. So, you probably have room to bring in one solid starting pitcher, and you better make it count.

I think we all agree that you need at least 8-10 decent options to get through a full season. Adding/resigning a veteran or 2 is a must. Also, CY has been spending time in Japan with Roki Sasaki. Now every team in the league wants him and him coming early means that everyone will be subject to bonus caps, but CY is trying on that front too.

I personally just don't see it with him. I also think if you don't pay him, you have that much more money to go out this offseason and get another good pitcher.

#Rangers medical updates:

Josh Jung underwent tendon release surgery Tuesday and will begin a normal offseason in 3-4 weeks.

Evan Carter had an ablation procedure last week and has started a hitting progression.

Adolis Garcia has a sprained left patella tendon and will rehab…

— Jeff Wilson (@JeffWilsonTXR) October 11, 2024

I wonder what nerve(s) Evan Carter had ablated? That's generally a procedure of last resort as there's no going back in terms of sensation.

RFA maybe? Spitballing, because I'd have to think it's related to his back.

If Monty declines his option due to feeling unwanted in Arizona what would it cost to get him? You think he would accept a 4 year 60mil deal?

He would be crazy to opt out. Isn't it for over $20MM?

I wouldn't give him $15MM a year. He pitched great for the Rangers but he'll be 32 and was absolutely awful.

rbtexan said:

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RFA maybe? Spitballing, because I'd have to think it's related to his back.

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https://www.hss.edu/conditions_radiofrequency-ablation.asp#:~:text=An%20RFA%20procedure%20is%20commonly,between%20bones%20in%20the%20spine.

Maybe so. Used for facet joint pain trigger points. Has he had any previous procedures that were more invasive - i.e. surgery? Still worrisome to me. Nerve sensation is there for a reason and I'm worried about it being used to mask something more serious to get him back on the field. I want him playing as much as anybody but he's still very young to be getting ablation procedures.

Water Boy said:

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If Monty declines his option due to feeling unwanted in Arizona what would it cost to get him? You think he would accept a 4 year 60mil deal?

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IMO we caught lightning in a bottle with Montgomery in '23. If we could get him on a very club friendly deal it'd be worth it, but 4/60 is too much for a guy coming off a season with a 6.23 ERA

Just looked it up. His 21 starts gave him a vesting option of $22.5MM. If he had reached 23 starts, it would have been $25MM.

I think the Az owner was vocal against Monty in order to push him out and make him feel unwanted because he doesn't want to pay him the $22.5M for '25.

I have to believe Monty and his new agent will realize there isn't an upside outside that pOpt and Monty will accept it.

Az will then trade Monty and I'm guessing they pickup about half of his salary. Maybe we offer Winn or White.

Looking at the Option market right now and consider Eovaldi has a pOption at $20M could be added to what I think is a pretty broad FA market. After 2024, the prices could come down. Then there is Detroit.

I'm with you on all counts regarding the back pain/surgeries. Ablation was never mentioned with any of my treatment options because it wasn't going to fix any of my issues. I'm just unclear of what issues it would be the right treatment for and can't really come up with much. But at the end of the day I just hope he gets the right care for a long and pain-free life, because as we both know it shouldn't be a life spent with chronic back issues.

Once Mr. Gigem finishes his STH renewals, when he starts the Offseason thread, we can transfer some of these discussions.

Last year we won the WS with 2 SPs - Eovaldi and Monty. Detroit is showing that with only 3 players making more than League minimum... they are in the hunt still. They have 1...ONE SP and only 1 player on their entire roster with post-season experience.

Carter and Langford have shown expensive old players may not be worth the money - Scherzer, Verlander, deGrom, Kershaw, et al...

deGrom, Mahle
Bradford, Dunning, Gray
Rocker, Leiter
Teodo, Rosario, Santos

All look good on paper, until White and Winn and 50 years of MLB raises its ugly head.

CY has already publicly indicated that signing Eovaldi AND Heaney are a priority. He likes what they provide and wants to keep them. I suppose we'll find out after the Rule V draft if there are players that need to be protected?!

Mahle got $5.5M + $16.5M ('25), but his CBT was avg $11M/yr So, his CBT is pretty reasonable to keep considering his upside. The benefit was adding a SP at mid-season for $5.5M in a year of uncertain TV money. It was cheaper than if we had to trade for one.

I'm ready to get rid of Gray. Flouder - The benefit is saving his $11M and allocating it elsewhere for what we get. Mahle would seem better to pencil in, knowing Gray will likely be hurt.

I'd rather take that $11M owed Gray and use it towards Eovaldi or Heaney. Would you want Heaney at $16M+ incentives?! $11M of that coming from what Gray is owed?! If Eovaldi offered to stay for 1yr $25M instead of just the $20M... would that $11M from Gray be worth it?!

Tksymm7 said:

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I personally just don't see it with him. I also think if you don't pay him, you have that much more money to go out this offseason and get another good pitcher.

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One thing to keep in mind... Mahle and Rocker had TJ surgery from the same Ortho... on the same day. For $5.5M you signed a veteran guy that will rehab with your 1st Rder.

Maybe we get to ST and Mahle is looking good and we decide to deal him.

The part I left out about trading Gray is I very much think we would have to eat some of that salary. So not really sure how much in savings we would get by trading him.

Now if someone wants to take on his salary, good luck to him and absolutely use that money elsewhere. I just don't know why another team would do that when they could save their own money to grab Eovaldi or Heaney, like we would be looking to do.

The amount we eat is based on what we get in return.

Remember... we signed Mahle for 2yr/$22M ($11M/yr) knowing it was only for 1 yr.

Eovaldi, Heaney, et al... are guys with injury risks that were signed for the $12-15M range.

IMO, the market is about $11M for a veteran project that has upside that are reasonable to get you 100+ IP but hopes of 150+.