PatriotAg02 said:

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What's the deal with Evan Grant talking about Chris Young being harder and harder to sign to a deal the longer he goes without an extension? Are we really in danger of losing him?

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He means that if we don't sign him to an extension during the season, there will be competition from other teams for his services. At seasons end, several teams may fire their current guy and start kicking the tires on Young to get his level of interest in a new gig.

Evan did say that the market price $$ has been going up, so Young may be playing hardball in his negotiations with the Rangers. Hopefully he sticks around.

If they can actually get out of the Bally deal. That is not guaranteed.

It's a whole lot of uncertainty. A 10% possible shortfall is a big deal.

I'm not part of the decision making process here, but I see how this can severely affect planning going forward. They need some certainty around tv revenue soon. Like right now soon.

Flounder Dorfman said:

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If they can actually get out of the Bally deal. That is not guaranteed.

It's a whole lot of uncertainty. A 10% possible shortfall is a big deal.

I'm not part of the decision making process here, but I see how this can severely affect planning going forward. They need some certainty around tv revenue soon. Like right now soon.

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Why would they not be able to get out of it? It's my understanding that the contract expires after this season...that's why they haven't left already.

I thought they had another year or two. You might be right. I hope you are.

They don't seem to be negotiating with anyone else though so it seems to me that they are still attached to Bally for the foreseeable future. But I don't know.

Flounder Dorfman said:

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I thought they had another year or two. You might be right. I hope you are.

They don't seem to be negotiating with anyone else though so it seems to me that they are still attached to Bally for the foreseeable future. But I don't know.

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from Lone Star Ball, on 2/8/2024:

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Drellich says that the package Manfred is referring to would be for in-market games, however, and would need to be able to include at least half of current MLB teams. Since the Rangers are not under contract for 2025, their digital streaming rights would be available, and thus could be included in any such package.

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rbtexan said:

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Flounder Dorfman said:

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I thought they had another year or two. You might be right. I hope you are.

They don't seem to be negotiating with anyone else though so it seems to me that they are still attached to Bally for the foreseeable future. But I don't know.

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from Lone Star Ball, on 2/8/2024:

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Drellich says that the package Manfred is referring to would be for in-market games, however, and would need to be able to include at least half of current MLB teams. Since the Rangers are not under contract for 2025, their digital streaming rights would be available, and thus could be included in any such package.

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Interesting. I also thought we had another year or two under contract with Bally.

The original deal runs through 2034. The 2024 rights were negotiated in February through the bankruptcy court.

From what I can tell, the contract is still in place. They don't have an agreement for 2025 like that article says, but I'm not sure how free they are to negotiate with other providers.

But like I said, I don't know. I hope they are free and clear from Bally after this season. That would be really great.

Side note, are Dave Raymond and the multiple analysts Bally employees? I hope so. I remember Emily Jones became a Texas Rangers employee a few years ago and I guess contracts with Bally for the sideline type role.

Here's my understanding of what went on and is going on. I could very well be wrong, but the articles & such I've seen seem to point to this being correct.

Bally isn't interested in keeping the Rangers. They're actively getting rid of all of their contracts. From ESPN

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Diamond Sports Group, the regional sports operator hoping to emerge from bankruptcy, reached agreements with the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins on linear-cable contracts for the 2024 season, providing temporary cost certainty for three Major League Baseball teams previously in limbo.

The deals are still pending the approval of a bankruptcy judge who is expected to rule Feb. 9. Assuming the agreements are finalized, Diamond has vowed to broadcast games for the 12 MLB teams that would remain within its portfolio for entire 2024 season.

...Diamond had previously agreed to temporary wind-down plans with the NBA and the NHL, whereby rights would revert back to those leagues at the conclusion of its respective 2023-24 seasons; it was in the late stages of a similar deal with MLB. The new restructuring support agreement with Amazon, if approved, would supersede that and revert contracts to their original form. Diamond, however, maintains streaming rights for only five MLB teams, all of which reside in smaller markets. The NBA, meanwhile, has the option of taking its streaming rights back after this season.

.... In a statement, a representative for Diamond Sports Group wrote: "We are pleased to have reached agreements with the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers that work for all parties and enable us to continue delivering high-quality, live game broadcasts on Bally Sports to dedicated fans through the 2024 season."

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Nothing I've read suggests that Bally was trying to keep the Rangers past 2024.

A more definitive article from the DMN, on 3.9.24

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Last March, the Rangers notified Diamond that they would terminate their media rights deal with the company in the event of its insolvency. In April, the Rangers joined an MLB motion against Diamond, claiming its first rights payment of the season was missed. After various twists and turns, the Rangers were eventually paid in full through the 2023 season, with the final payment coming in August.

In February, Diamond and the Rangers agreed to a rights deal for the 2024 season, with the team's rights hitting the open market after the season. The rights fee for 2024 is unknown, but the team said a report claiming they would make $100 million was "not accurate" and the actual amount was less. The Rangers were in the midst of a 20-year, $3 billion contract originally signed in 2010.

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Yikes, Mahle not fooling anybody today, several really hard hit balls. Down 3-0 already, bottom of the 1st.

Looks pretty clear to me.

It will be really interesting to see how this plays out. Sure seems like the regional sports networks are dying out, so maybe it can resemble something like the NFL or college football/basketball.

Will be interesting to see if there's ultimately an over the air option or if they end up streaming-exclusive. Thinking a lot of eyes will be on the Stars and Victory+ this season

I'm expecting something something associated with the Dallas Stars.

Their streaming partner made some compelling points in their strategy. I think the Rangers will have a couple months of data to determine if it is a good path.

The Stars are going to market with a free-streaming with Ads. You can pay for no Ads, but with Live content, there isn't really a point. It is old-school like OTA broadcast... but streaming. Since the company already did streaming, they didn't have a huge investment.

The streaming company said that streaming services became saturated by 2018/2019, IIRC. The were streaming kids content and they said people were at their limit and decided to add/subtract equally. If they added a service, they would take one away.

A problem teams like the Stars have... is that if you are only available via a streaming service, you exclude any new and/or casual fan. Nobody will add the service for a game or two, just to see if they are a fan. Having said that, Peacock played that game, and Apple/Google have tried. Was it the Chiefs' playoff game that required Peacock?! I think they said 60% of the people who got it didn't cancel the 1st month.

The Rangers have lost many fans who don't have Bally's and I think people like me have demonstrated that they won't pay of Subscription for single threaded content.

Way to run us out of the inning Josh.

MrCoachEricTaylor said:

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It'd be cool if Jerry Jones would invest in his own network. Kind of how the Stros/rockets have. I feel like he'd have a pretty good return due to the demand of it.. not that he really cares too much about the need for it in our area.

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He tried. There was a short-lived Cowboys channel but the NFL shut it down. That was before NFL network premiered but was in the works IIRC.

I wasn't aware of that! Even if he could manage a channel/streaming service for Rangers/Mavs/Stars, I feel like there would be tons of interest!

Probably should have been scored an out, but irrelevant since Garcia could still advance on the play.

Good to finally win one! Hoping to see us at least play decent ball down the stretch. When do we think Leiter might get called up again?

While I do not believe we will make the playoffs, I do think and hope this team will go on a run.

What I would like to see is Mahle continue getting in the groove to be able to have a normal off season.

Big game Nate to pitch at least 29 more innings, which will put him back in the rotation next season.

DeGrom to be able to get 3-5 starts at the Big League level and like Mahle go thru a normal off season.

At this point, while I'd love for deGrom and Mahle to have solid outings, I'm not that excited about the Rangers going on a Run, unless they make the playoffs. Problem is, we're running out of Games. NOW would be the time for the 15 game win streak.

The 2025 draft order will be based on a lottery. A's and CWS are not eligible, which means the Lottery comes down to these teams:

Blue Jays: 15 GB Philly (Best Record)
Rangers: 16.5 GB
Nats: 17.6 GB
Angels: 20 GB
Marlins: 27 GB
Rockies: 27.5 GB

If the Nats and Angels win more games, we increase our odds on draft position.

With 37 G remaining, Eovaldi will get about 7GS. If he only averages 5.0 IP, he should easily clear the vesting option, assuming he remains healthy.

A rotation possibility could include (current age): 2025 Salary
Eovaldi (34) : $20M <- ? CBT
deGrom (36): $40M <- $37M CBT impact
Mahle (29) : $16.5M <- $11M CBT
Gray (32) : $14M
Dunning (29) : A2
Bradford (26): Serf

FAs: Scherzer (39), Heaney (33), Urena (32), Lorenzen (KC)...

We'll likely sign a net +3 SPs. All but Scherzer will be looking for 3+ year deals.

An added Eovaldi at $20M would be nice.

CBT will likely be a strong conversation about 2025. We'll be a 3rd time offender. I believe the Rangers (and other teams) are being considered for a waiver based on Bally's uncertainty. The MLB/PA thought is teams won't entertain exceeding the CBT even more if there is too much uncertainty about media distribution from Bally's.

Oh...and FA Chris Young.

fc2112 said:

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2023 Texas Rangers - ?

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Embrace the suck.

CY and the players totally botched this season. We sign wet noodles Mahle and Lorenzen when Severino was sitting there with almost no phone calls coming in. Montgomery is a fish out of water in Arizona, but has pitched well of late and will contribute to a playoff team.

Don't want to hear about TV contracts. If we didn't have the money this year, renegotiate the contracts with Semien/Seager to defer money. Put payroll on the Southwest Airlines credit card.

If we lose CY because Ray Davis is busy too digging into Deuteronomy, that will be the ultimate Texas Rangers fail.

DallasAg 94 said:

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A rotation possibility could include (current age): 2025 Salary
Eovaldi (34) : $20M <- ? CBT
deGrom (36): $40M <- $37M CBT impact
Mahle (29) : $16.5M <- $11M CBT
Gray (32) : $14M
Dunning (29) : A2
Bradford (26): Serf

FAs: Scherzer (39), Heaney (33),

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Of those 8 guys, 7 have lived on the DL. And then there's Heaney pimping a 4-13 record.

Outside of Evo and maybe Bradford, it's a death sentence to bank 2025 on that list.

Restructuring deals in MLB really isn't a thing. It can be done, but MLBPA has to approve it so good luck with that.

Yeah I was thinking the same about the contract restructuring. This isn't the NFL.

But this season has sucked so I'm not going to get in the way of a good rant. Fire everybody!

Well stated.

Going into the season, the roster was just fine. Any changes made to it would not have made a lot of sense coming off a championship. Not replacing Garver with another DH was a big mistake, but they obviously thought a Duran/Langford combo with a healthy Carter would work.

Now things are different. I think Garcia will be back, and if he uses the approach the rest of the season that he has been showing lately, I'm good with that. Revert back to swinging out of his shoes and 2025 should be his last season here.

Lowe and Taveras are the two I have my sights set on. If Carter proves he's healthy, then Taveras becomes expendable. Lowe is fine when the offense is producing, but I would rather see more power coming from first base.

And get a DH. A real one. Or a catcher that can DH. That would work as well.

I think Garcia is gone regardless after next season. If, and it is a big if, this team would have had a healthy Carter and Jung the entire season I think this is a 90 win team.

Next season should be much better, if health is good. A full season with DeGrom and Mahle should be huge on the pitching front. (Which is why it is so important to have them in rotation in September).

Mr Gigem said:

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Restructuring deals in MLB really isn't a thing. It can be done, but MLBPA has to approve it so good luck with that.

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Appreciate you being a gentle curb to keep me from running off the road.

So we couldn't have given Seager an extension in January for an additional year at a higher salary while trimming his 2024 salary?

You have to Bobby Bonilla as the contract is being signed like Ohtani did.

Why would the Rangers have done that? To sign who?

The roster was not getting touched. All thirty teams passed on what Montgomery was asking for. We were going into the season with ten starting pitchers.

The Rangers had a plan for this season and it didn't work. It has sucked. But they can make changes this offseason, get healthy and move forward.