Texas Rangers Baseball Thread

[BigTex]

Curtis Terry finally got a hit - in fact two so far.

[Mark]

This story is a couple of weeks old, but it's worth posting here...



The 2021-22 offseason could be a bit more active for the Rangers, however, as general manager Chris Young told reporters this week that he expects his club to be active in free agency this coming winter (link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News).

“With the financial flexibility we have moving into the offseason, I expect us to be very active in the free agent market, targeting players who fit kind of our next few years and what we’re trying to accomplish,” Young said.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/08/ ... l#comments

[Mark]

DJ Peters already has two homers today, and he is looking like a steal off the waiver wire from the Dodgers a few weeks ago.

Here is what Baseball HQ had to say about Peters when the Dodgers initially called him up back in April...




4/24/2021 - DJ Peters (OF, LA)
The Dodgers recalled the 25-year-old slugger after placing Zach McKinstry on the injured list. Peters is a large and strong outfielder who brings tremendous power to the plate. Despite his size—6’6”, 225 pounds—he is a sound athlete who runs fairly well. Peters can also range CF effectively with among the strongest arms in the organization. His profile is pretty standard for a slugger—he crushes balls to all fields … and he strikes out a ton. Peters has slugged at least 23 HR in each of the last three years in the minors (high of 29 in 2018), but he has also whiffed at least 168 times each season. As he’s climbed the minor league ladder, his BA has also taken a fall. He will see a lot of pitches, which allows him to draw walks. The concern with Peters is his limited hit tool. He can be pull-conscious and he swings very hard, leaving him susceptible to breaking balls. There is a lot to like here, though there may not be an ideal opportunity going forward. Peters has a career line of .269/.363/.501 in the minors since he was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.
STATS: Peters Baseball-Reference page
OTHER COVERAGE: No. 7 on LA Org Report
CURRENT ROLE: Reserve outfielder
POTENTIAL: Starting CF/RF
RATING: 8E

[BigTex]

100 losses, but with a little more pitching I'm optimistic about 2022.

[Mark]

100 losses, but with a little more pitching I'm optimistic about 2022.

Hearn, Howard, Alexy, and Otto are all going through some growing pains right now, but the talent in all four is easy to see. There is plenty to be optimistic about.

[GRANDPA]

Time to dig out "Seasons In Hell"?

[crocmommy]

If they can't fix the problem with getting the Rangers on TV for the average fan, there will be a problem getting fans to come to the new Ballpark. I quit watching, so the team is pretty much out of sight out of mind for me.

[BigTex]

Shake up in the coaching staff. Ortiz and Wakamatsu won't be back.

[jellowrestling]

If they can't fix the problem with getting the Rangers on TV for the average fan, there will be a problem getting fans to come to the new Ballpark. I quit watching, so the team is pretty much out of sight out of mind for me.

Yeah, with people like me dumping cable TV, I would think that the TV audience would be shrinking. The fact that the Rangers were simply awful made doing that a lot easier, too. We went to one game at the new park; it's a very nice venue.

[crocmommy]

If they can't fix the problem with getting the Rangers on TV for the average fan, there will be a problem getting fans to come to the new Ballpark. I quit watching, so the team is pretty much out of sight out of mind for me.

Yeah, with people like me dumping cable TV, I would think that the TV audience would be shrinking. The fact that the Rangers were simply awful made doing that a lot easier, too. We went to one game at the new park; it's a very nice venue.

Even if you sign up for MLB TV, I don't think you get to see Rangers home games. I'm pretty sure they are blacked out. If they think that is going to cause me to want to buy tickets, they are wrong. I just quit paying attention to them at all now. I have plenty of other things I can be doing instead.

[Mark]

I'm sure the Rangers would love to be on more TV's, but their hands are tied. They signed a long term deal with Fox Sports Southwest, which is now Bally Sports Southwest. That's the only place to watch live Ranger games on a daily basis in the D/FW media market.

Unfortunately, most of the cable, satellite, and streaming providers have started a war with all of the regional sports networks. Dish Network, most of the cable companies, and I believe all of the streaming services have dropped Bally Sports from their lineup. They have no problem paying the ridiculous rights fees for crap like ESPN and CNN, but they refuse to pay the RSNs.

The only place to get the daily Ranger games now are on any of the various DirecTV products (including their streaming service), and a handful of the cable companies. I'm still get the Ranger games on Suddenlink cable, and quite frankly, I feel like I am being held hostage by this arrangement.

I believe the future of sports programming is by direct subscription. I believe Bally Sports is headed in this direction, but it will take a few years for them to get there.

The only national sports I give a damn about any more are MLB baseball (specifically, the Rangers) and Nascar. I would gladly pay a fee to subscribe to that programming directly, which would enable me to kick Suddenlink to the curb, and get a really cheap streaming package for all other TV programming.

We paid $150 back in January for an annual subscription to Flo Sports, so we could watch every night of the Chili Bowl on live TV. We've been very pleased with our purchase. We've been able to watch lots and lots of dirt track programming throughout the year, and we will gladly renew our subscription next year.

[Mark]

For the record, I went to 3 games in the new stadium this season, and I didn't get the same kind of feeling I got when I went to games in the old ballpark. I don't know if it was the roof, the covid restrictions, or something else, but the magical atmosphere just wasn't there for me, even on opening day. I've notified my hook-up for opening day tickets the past few seasons that I won't be a player for the 2022 season.

I was at the final game in the old ballpark in 2019. For a $20 bill, I could get two beers, including a $2 tip for the beer vendor. In the new park, all purchases have been required to be via credit card. Two beers plus a 15% tip for the beer vendor this season was over $27. That price increase takes it from the exorbitant to the ridiculous. Maybe that is part of my disappointment in the new stadium.

In all three games we attended this season, we sat in the upper deck. Maybe that was another part of it. I never felt like upper deck seats in the old stadium were bad seats. These seats this season all seemed to suck.

In my opinion, all of these sports leagues need to be careful. They've grown accustomed to perpetually increasing the prices they charge fans, but we now are in a new era. Most people are being more judicious with their entertainment dollars. Texas Motor Speedway seems to get it. Kids tickets are now all $10, regardless of where the seat is. The price for my 2022 season camping was lowered by 10%.

I've been told that the Rangers are increasing their ticket prices for the 2022 season. I doubt that I will go to any of the games. I will reallocate those entertainment dollars to something where I feel like I am getting more bang for my buck.

[BigTex]

We paid $150 back in January for an annual subscription to Flo Sports, so we could watch every night of the Chili Bowl on live TV. We've been very pleased with our purchase. We've been able to watch lots and lots of dirt track programming throughout the year, and we will gladly renew our subscription next year.

We had a Flo Marching subscription to watch drum corps competitions. We were always less than impressed with the quality and reliability. But it was the only way to see them.

[Mark]

We paid $150 back in January for an annual subscription to Flo Sports, so we could watch every night of the Chili Bowl on live TV. We've been very pleased with our purchase. We've been able to watch lots and lots of dirt track programming throughout the year, and we will gladly renew our subscription next year.

We had a Flo Marching subscription to watch drum corps competitions. We were always less than impressed with the quality and reliability. But it was the only way to see them.

I tried to watch some of the marching band stuff, and it was unwatchable.

I haven't had any issues watching any of the dirt midgets, sprints, or late models.

There seems to be some variation in how different items are handled by the service.

[Mark]

Here are the salary projections for the Rangers in arbitration this year...

Isiah Kiner-Falefa – $4.9MM
Matt Bush – $900K
Ronald Guzman – $1.0MM
Jharel Cotton – $1.2MM
Willie Calhoun – $1.6MM
Brett Martin – $1.1MM
Taylor Hearn – $1.1MM

At least a couple of these guys will probably not remain Rangers.

The Rangers are in better shape than most teams. The Rays and Yankees each have 19 guys in arbitration.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/10/ ... -2022.html

[BigTex]

I sure would like to see Matt Bush come back and have a meaningful season, but his clock is running.

[BigTex]

Wash coaching at third probably won the game for the Braves last night. Wish we had him back.

[Mark]

As previously mentioned, the Rangers are ready to start spending again to improve the team...





The Rangers will be one of the more interesting teams to follow over the next few months. Coming off two consecutive last place finishes (three in the last four years), Texas doesn’t look like an obvious spender at first glance. The Rangers’ long-term books are wide open, though, perhaps positioning them for a more exciting offseason than those of other clubs near the bottom of the standings.

Texas president of baseball operations Jon Daniels reiterated the team could be aggressive as soon as this offseason when speaking with reporters (including Jeff Wilson and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News) earlier this week. “Ownership has given us a good range to work with this year with the expectation that (payroll) is going to grow over the next several years,” Daniels told reporters. “We will be in a different category than we’ve been the last couple years. The opportunity has got to line up. … We’re open to a longer-term deal on the right player.”

Those comments largely align with general manager Chris Young’s midseason proclamation that Texas would be “very active” in free agency. Like Young, Daniels didn’t delve into specifics about precisely how far the club might be willing to stretch the payroll, but the mere mention of “a longer-term deal” is notable given the Rangers’ place in the competitive cycle. Indeed, Daniels at least hinted at the possibility of playing at the top of the market, noting that while the Rangers “have kind of flipped past” the marquee names in recent offseasons, “it’s been good this year. The [scouts] have a lot of freedom to make recommendations and to really dig into players. It’s definitely been more enjoyable.”

An openness to a long-term deal doesn’t inherently mean the Rangers will sign one, of course. But that desire makes them a threat to land one of their top targets, since there does seem to be ample space on the books. Texas’ payroll maxed out north of $165MM back in 2017, in the estimation of Cot’s Baseball Contracts, but they’ve pared that number back under $100MM as they’ve rebuilt the roster.

Even after accounting for projected arbitration raises, the Rangers have just over $52MM on the books in 2022, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That leaves plenty of room for Daniels, Young and the rest of the front office to make a legitimate run at a priority target — particularly if ownership is willing to push spending back up above this past season’s range as Daniels suggested.

Texas probably isn’t going to add another $100MM to the books and push spending to franchise-record heights this offseason alone. The roster still has plenty of question marks, and even multiple impact additions wouldn’t make them a likely 2022 contender. Adding an external core piece or two this offseason with the anticipation of more upgrades and another payroll hike next winter seems more plausible, though, with the Rangers likely eyeing 2023 as a reasonable window of contention.

Daniels suggested this week (via Wilson) that position players will be the club’s focus. This year’s free agent class is famously shortstop-heavy, with Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Dallas-area native Trevor Story and Javier Báez all likely to land significant contracts. There’ll be some speculation about Story based on his ties to the area, but any member of that group would offer a noteworthy addition around whom Texas could build over the coming years.

Buster Olney of ESPN even hears from some rival executives that the Rangers could look into signing two members of that shortstop quintet with the idea of moving one of those players to another position. It’d be a surprise if any team — particularly one that’s not an immediate contender — ultimately landed two of Correa, Seager, Semien, Story and Báez, but that sentiment drives home the freedom the Rangers’ current level of payroll space affords the front office.

Of course, the Rangers needn’t pigeonhole themselves into the shortstop market specifically. Without established regulars virtually anywhere on the roster, Texas can identify targets around the diamond. Freddie Freeman, Kris Bryant, Nick Castellanos, Starling Marte, Kyle Schwarber and Michael Conforto are among the top non-shortstop position players slated to hit the open market.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/10/ ... inter.html

[Mark]

Our old friend Jeff Bannister is returning to a major league dugout...




The D-Backs announced they’ve hired Jeff Banister as bench coach. It’s the Snakes’ second key coaching addition in as many weeks, as Arizona recently hired Joe Mather as hitting coach.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/11/ ... coach.html

[Mark]

The Ronald Guzman era is over in Texas...

In other news, the Rangers lost Jharel Cotton and Joe Palumbo to waiver claims...





The Rangers announced this afternoon that four players — first basemen Ronald Guzmán and Curtis Terry, infielder Anderson Tejeda and reliever Matt Bush — have cleared outright waivers. All four will be eligible for minor league free agency.

Guzmán came up as a well-regarded prospect and served as Texas’ regular first baseman for a good chunk of his first two MLB seasons. He didn’t hit for enough power to offset high strikeout rates, though, posting just a .229/.307/.415 line that checked in sixteen percentage points below the league average by measure of wRC+ from 2018-19. Guzmán hasn’t played much over the past couple seasons, missing almost all of the 2021 campaign after tearing the meniscus in his right knee in April.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/11/ ... l#comments