If you don't like the information I post... feel free to skip or ignore me.

Much has been said about the Rangers development and injuries. For the past couple years I've tried to add real-world context. The Dodgers are one example I've used.

They continue to struggle. Kershaw and Glasnow will come off the IL this week. They will use 2 rookies whose only MLB experience will be this year, to fill-in until they are Active. I know we look at Winn (24), White (24), and Leiter (24) and ready to write them off. Both Ryan and Knack are just making their debuts for the Dodgers, even though they are older than our 3. Include Stone and Wrobleski, and 4 of the 7 SPs the Dodgers rely on this season are Rookies. 2 are known injury problems.


LAD Rotation:
TBD <- some talk it will be River Ryan (25; 11thRd SDP, 2021)
Knack (26) - MLB career = 7GS, 3.23 ERA, all in '24

Glasnow (18GS) - last '24 GS was July 5. He returns this week <- History of injuries
Kershaw (Has not pitched in '24) <- History of injuries
Stone (25) - 18GS, 3.19. 31 IP in '24
Wroblesski (23) - 3GS, 4.40 <- Career MLB
Paxton (35) - 18GS, 4.43

Although we haven't developed much, other teams struggle and in '24, we are far better positioned than one of the best P developing organization again (both '23 and '24).

I would love to partner with the Dodgers by sending one of our surplus guys to them for one of their prospects.


Current LAD pitchers on IL:
60IL
Muncy (33); Brasier (36), Brogdon (29), Graterol (25), Gonsolin (30), May (26), Kershaw (60), Yamamodo (25), Sheehan (24)

15IL
Grove (27), Glasnow (30), Buehler (29)

One thing that drives me crazy is the projection of pitchers being a "top of the rotation" pitcher or a "#1 or #2".

I'm not even sure what that means anymore. The days of the ace are gone with the emphasis on velocity and spin rate. You won't need to worry about having a #1 with the number of injuries pitchers deal with now. What you need instead is a starting rotation of 9-10 pitchers scattered across the current rotation, long relief bullpen pieces and AAA. You'll end up using them all before the season is up. Then you hope your top three are healthy for the playoffs.

The Rangers, like most other teams, just need to worry about developing serviceable starting pitching. Winn, White and Leiter would make such a huge difference if they can become that. Rocker, Porter, Teodo, anyone. Just ease up the burden of having to rely on trades and FA signings to fill out those 9-10 guys.

I agree 100% with your post.

Just for clarification, I've mentioned ToTR in the past, but not in the post you cite. I agree, there is ambiguity on those terms (#1/2, etc).

I agree having the depth of 9-10 SPs is necessary, as the # of SPs you'll need during the season likely hits that number.

JD was known to say he'd rather sign 3 $10M SPs rather than 1 $30M SP. I think deGrom and Scherzer fall into that category.

JD also would sign rehab buys to 2 year deals on the cheap. Similarly, Mahle by CY.

Oh I know the ToTR is still used and it's fine. Those guys still exist, but I think the importance of them is diminishing considerably. It's awesome to have one available in the playoffs, but doesn't really get you to the playoffs anymore. If that makes sense.

I'm all for signing 2-3 starters every year on one year deals or picking up guys recovering from injuries. Can get them a lot cheaper and/or with less commitment than the top level guys. And I think Montgomery and Snell both found out the hard way that the construction of starting rotations is quickly changing.

We HAVE to sweep the sox

That would be wonderful, but keep in mind... regardless of their record, they field a team of mostly MLB caliber players and 2 really, really good SPs we'll face:

Fedde (2.99, 19GS, 111.1 IP, 99 SO)
Crochet (3.02, 20GS, 107.1 IP, 150 SO) <-LHP

Lots of rumors Crochet could get traded. Let's hope so.

I would love to pickup 1.5-2.0 Games during this series.

DallasAg 94 said:

---

That would be wonderful, but keep in mind... regardless of their record, they field a team of mostly MLB caliber players and 2 really, really good SPs we'll face:

Fedde (2.99, 19GS, 111.1 IP, 99 SO)
Crochet (3.02, 20GS, 107.1 IP, 150 SO) <-LHP

Lots of rumors Crochet could get traded. Let's hope so.

I would love to pickup 1.5-2.0 Games during this series.

---

Me too, but the Astros and Mariners are also playing bad teams......although not quite White Sox level bad.

If by the end of the series we are only 4 games back I'll take that as a win. Keep in mind that Seattle and Houston also play awful teams. And Houston usually does a great job of taking care of business against the bottom tier teams. I would be surprised if Houston doesn't sweep. As for Seattle I wouldn't be surprised if they lost the series with how bad they've been.

DallasAg 94 said:

---

If you don't like the information I post... feel free to skip or ignore me.

Much has been said about the Rangers development and injuries. For the past couple years I've tried to add real-world context. The Dodgers are one example I've used.

They continue to struggle. Kershaw and Glasnow will come off the IL this week. They will use 2 rookies whose only MLB experience will be this year, to fill-in until they are Active. I know we look at Winn (24), White (24), and Leiter (24) and ready to write them off. Both Ryan and Knack are just making their debuts for the Dodgers, even though they are older than our 3. Include Stone and Wrobleski, and 4 of the 7 SPs the Dodgers rely on this season are Rookies. 2 are known injury problems.


LAD Rotation:
TBD <- some talk it will be River Ryan (25; 11thRd SDP, 2021)
Knack (26) - MLB career = 7GS, 3.23 ERA, all in '24

Glasnow (18GS) - last '24 GS was July 5. He returns this week <- History of injuries
Kershaw (Has not pitched in '24) <- History of injuries
Stone (25) - 18GS, 3.19. 31 IP in '24
Wroblesski (23) - 3GS, 4.40 <- Career MLB
Paxton (35) - 18GS, 4.43

Although we haven't developed much, other teams struggle and in '24, we are far better positioned than one of the best P developing organization again (both '23 and '24).

I would love to partner with the Dodgers by sending one of our surplus guys to them for one of their prospects.


Current LAD pitchers on IL:
60IL
Muncy (33); Brasier (36), Brogdon (29), Graterol (25), Gonsolin (30), May (26), Kershaw (60), Yamamodo (25), Sheehan (24)

15IL
Grove (27), Glasnow (30), Buehler (29)

---

They DFA's Paxton today, according to a pop up notification on my phone.

Water Boy said:

---

If by the end of the series we are only 4 games back I'll take that as a win. Keep in mind that Seattle and Houston also play awful teams. And Houston usually does a great job of taking care of business against the bottom tier teams. I would be surprised if Houston doesn't sweep. As for Seattle I wouldn't be surprised if they lost the series with how bad they've been.

---

Seattle already has trouble scoring, and Julio Rodriguez left the game yesterday after running into the wall. Today they say xrays negative and day to day. But he may miss a game a two you would think:

Julio Rodriguez might have just Ken Griffey Jr’d himself pic.twitter.com/SsaY0rjXXM

— Coby’s Gambling Corner (@CobyValentine24) July 21, 2024

Julio Rodriguez is day to day
X-rays were negative
Achilles all good@Mariners pic.twitter.com/XkjnR3EyWb

— Russell Hartness (@RussellHartness) July 22, 2024

I'm sticking with my original prayer of needing a 15+ game win streak. Which is simply preposterous to think about since we're barely able to string 2-3 wins together at a time.

Any other season and we're not even thinking about acquiring at the trade deadline. Vying for back to back is overrated, since it hasn't been done in decades. Take our medicine, sell Yates & Co. for future talent, and make another run in 2025. Buying for this season/team makes us look like Artie Moreno and his band of tools.

We don't need to buy, but selling the expiring guys for players who will never see the majors is silly. Only way that changes is if a desperate team offers you one of their top 5 prospect for Yates. You obviously would have to consider that.

The team has multiple guys coming back from injury soon and the Mariners and Astros aren't good enough to run away from you. Astros have a much harder schedule than us and we still get to play Seattle 7 more times.

But nobody is talking about buying. It's more about getting currently injured guys back like Jung, Bradford, Dunning, Mahle, and slim chances at deGrom and Carter.

Whenever I hear guys rag on the rangers not developing starting pitching, I figure the poster listens to too much sports talk radio.

Those guys role out old tropes to rile the fans up

We have some great prospects in the pipeline.

South Platte said:

---

I'm sticking with my original prayer of needing a 15+ game win streak. Which is simply preposterous to think about since we're barely able to string 2-3 wins together at a time.

---

The only thing preposterous is you thinking a team 5 games back needs a 15+ game win streak.

Understand the Rangers have never had a 15+ game win streak in the history of their franchise.

Nor have half the teams in baseball. In their entire history.

Wow... he seemed like the most entrenched.

They need 2 spots on the 40 to activate River Ryan and Kershaw.

They are also rumored to be in for the 2 best available SPs: Crochet and Detroit's Tarik Skubal, .

Those are the 2 SPs, IMO, to watch. One could go to the Dodgers... the other to the O's.

You're just not going to acknowledge that the Royals received Cole Ragans for an Aroldis Chapman rental, are you? It's been pointed out a number of times, but you're digging your heels in that rentals only get fringe prospects in return.

I hope we don't find out what our expiring contracts get in return. Win this series and make up a game or two in the standings and then do it again against the Blue Jays.

What was Ragans rated in our system at the time of the trade? Fringe top 5? I said you would have to consider a top 5 guy for Yates. Chapman required a top 5 guy because he was an elite bullpen arm. This is me acknowledging it for you, even though I already did in the post you replied to.

Guys like Lorenzen and a declining Scherzer won't get top of the organization players.

shack009 said:

---

We don't need to buy, but selling the expiring guys for players who will never see the majors is silly. Only way that changes is if a desperate team offers you one of their top 5 prospect for Yates. You obviously would have to consider that.

The team has multiple guys coming back from injury soon and the Mariners and Astros aren't good enough to run away from you. Astros have a much harder schedule than us and we still get to play Seattle 7 more times.

But nobody is talking about buying. It's more about getting currently injured guys back like Jung, Bradford, Dunning, Mahle, and slim chances at deGrom and Carter.

---

Sorry, yes, it's less about buying and more about staying put vs. selling.

Why would we sell expiring guys for players who will never see the majors? Of course we wouldn't do this. Oakland doesn't even do this. How about we sell for guys that could contribute in 2025?

We essentially need to "win out" to the trade deadline to even think about staying put. We have to assume that anybody we get back from injury (you've got a list longer than my ____) won't be in peak form or conditioning. Bag the season. Putting guys in high leverage situations coming off injury sounds absurd. These guys are not going to come off months/years on the DL with sizzling stuff or a hot bat.

The fun part about Houston is that they really only have 3 SPs. While it is the A's... in Oakland... the Astros pitching match-ups are not great.

Houston @ Oak
Arrighetti (24, 17GS, 5.63) v Harris (8GS, 3.40)
Bloss (23, 2GS, 4.70) v Bido (1GS, 3.44)
Brown (25, 19GS, 4.14) v Sears (20GS, 4.49)

Then, off to Los Angeles:

Houston v LAD
Valdez (17GS, 3.63) v Stone (18GS, 3.19)
Blanco (19GS, 2.75) v Wrobleski (3GS, 4.40)
Arrighetti v TBD (Likely Glasnow-18GS, 3.47 or Kershaw)

You said trade expiring contracts for guys that will never see the majors. You can rank Ragans wherever you want at the time, but he was on the MLB roster. It was a young MLB pitcher that can start games right now for a rental that I would not classify as elite. Or if he is, then Yates sure as hell is.

My whole point is if you are out of contention, then why hang on to a guy like Andrew Heaney that can chew up innings for a contender while you get someone in return that immediately goes into your top 20 prospects? And if you don't get something like that in return, keep him.

Of course, after the Rangers rattle off ten straight, this whole discussion will be moot.

And in case you missed Bo Bichette... he is on the IL and won't make our series.

I would LOVE to trade for Vlad Jr before our series with the Jays.

I completely agree with you. I would be in firesale mode if we were out of contention. But unless thing go about as bad as possible over the next week, we won't be out of contention.

I think you're right. I expect the Rangers to play really well over the next ten games.

shack009 said:

---

Guys like Lorenzen and a declining Scherzer won't get top of the organization players.

---

Just an FYI on Scherzer. His Velo has been down measurably, and is day-to-day:

Max Scherzer is currently getting ready for a bullpen and will determine if he’s ready for Thursday.

— Abby Jones (@_abigaiiiil) July 22, 2024

That's a bummer, but Urena needs to be one of the starters anyway, for the moment. I wonder if it's better to just move Scherzer to the pen and allow him to throw 2-3 innings every 2 or 3 days. He may not want to, but it would probably be best for the team.

Rangers injury updates from the clubhouse:

- Tyler Mahle feels good, will pitch at Frisco later this week to continue his ramp up

- Cody Bradford will come out of the bullpen tomorrow in Frisco

- Evan Carter did some shagging in the outfield today, will take BP tomorrow

— kennedi landry (@kennlandry) July 22, 2024

I don't think anyone is saying that we would get some insane haul catapulting us to a top 3 farm system but the guys on expiring contracts would certainly give us a good handful of talented prospects. But if we can get 5-10 guys that are as talented as Cole Ragans I think you have to do it if we find ourselves out of contention. I'm sure none of us expected Josh smith to be the player he is today when we traded away gallo. Gave up Ragans for an 8th inning rental and Yankees gave up our current mvp for gallo. Obviously it's not common for trades to workout out that way but I rather have 10 lottery tickets than letting guys walk for nothing when we are clearly out of contention. Stay in striking distance and keep the guys you have. Fall out of contention and sell guys on expiring contracts. That simple.

Water Boy said:

---

I don't think anyone is saying that we would get some insane haul catapulting us to a top 3 farm system but the guys on expiring contracts would certainly give us a good handful of talented prospects. But if we can get 5-10 guys that are as talented as Cole Ragans I think you have to do it if we find ourselves out of contention. I'm sure none of us expected Josh smith to be the player he is today when we traded away gallo. Gave up Ragans for an 8th inning rental and Yankees gave up our current mvp for gallo. Obviously it's not common for trades to workout out that way but I rather have 10 lottery tickets than letting guys walk for nothing when we are clearly out of contention. Stay in striking distance and keep the guys you have. Fall out of contention and sell guys on expiring contracts. That simple.

---

I'd even go so far as to say it would allow us to simply shuffle the minor league system, which I think we need in a major way. We have so many dudes at the AA and AAA levels who either need to get gone or we need to bring guys in who can push them out. We have a host of 25+ guys who will never do anything for us.

It is a bummer.

I don't think Urena will be a starter as Mahle will likely fill that. Bradford and Dunning are expected to be moving to the BP, AFAIK.

Eovaldi, Heaney, Gray, Lorenzen, Mahli.

Scherzer has 9 official RP appearances. All at 23 his rookie season. His schtick has been "don't talk to him on days he starts." I would love if he can transitiion to the BP.

Keeping in mind Mahle and Dunning did a rehab for RR the same day as Scherzer's last GS.

Continued: "We've spent a ton of time preparing for a bunch of different routes we can take here at the deadline. Really, I think this is a very important series for us in determining where we stand and what we can become as a team."

— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) July 22, 2024

Honestly, I'm struggling to understand how a back injury can be so bad that this is the 1st time in 3 months you can catch a fly ball but are somehow not in a wheel chair

deGrom, Mahle, Bradford and Jung all with positive (or at least non-negative) updates:

Jacob deGrom is "getting close" to facing hitters, per Bruce Bochy.

He'll throw about 40 pitches in a regular bullpen tomorrow and again on Friday. Bochy estimated he'll throw three live BP sessions before a rehab assignment.

— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) July 22, 2024

Tyler Mahle will make another rehab start on Thursday at Double-A Frisco. He said they’re taking it day-by-day with his progression, but feels good about where he’s at.

— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) July 22, 2024

Cody Bradford is back in the Rangers’ clubhouse. He said he’s feeling good, and will pitch “about two innings” out of the bullpen tomorrow night at Double-A Frisco.

— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) July 22, 2024

Bruce Bochy said that the plan is for Josh Jung to face live pitching on Wednesday.

— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) July 22, 2024