The Official Off-Season Thread of the Texas Rangers

[asmarks18]

Agreed. Holland never seems focused. Too busy with his mustache, harry carey voice, his socks and other BS rather than being 100% zoned in at the task and batter at hand.

[asmarks18]

Next year is a make or break year for Holland. Will he be our top of the rotation starter for years to come or be a 3rd or 4th pitcher who bounces around the MLB? It's up to him.

[Skizzik]

Perez should be in the rotation. Don't be blinded by his most recent starts. In his first three starts he didn't allow more than 2 runs. He's young and will be inconsistent. But we have to have home grown talent. It can't be all free agents and trades. Our success was built on a mixture and it's a very successful one. We can't give up everytime a young player allows a run or strikesout swinging.

[stipe1280]

Instead of giving 30 million annually to Hambone we should invest in the Upton Brothers.

Justin's 2013 salary is 9.75 million
B.J. Upton will probably get what? 10 million? Probably overpaying but if it's a fairly reasonable contract in terms of years, I would give him that. Like 3 years 30 million.
Then I would offer AJ Pierzynski a 2 or 3 deal worth about 8 million a season.


3 good players for 1 good player. Even though we have 2 billionaire owners and a great TV contract that will assure us of getting whatever player(s) we want, it is still nice to be financially smart and this would be.


1. B.J. Upton -- CF
2. Jurickson Profar-- SS
3. Justin Upton -- LF
4. Adrian Beltre -- 3B
5. Nelson Cruz -- RF
6. Ian Kinsler -- 2B
7. Michael Young -- 1B
8. AJ Pierzynski -- C
9. David Murphy / Mitch Moreland -- DH

That lineup is so heavily RH'd that I don't think it'd work. Only AJ, Murph and Moreland hit LH. We'd still probably put up runs in the early innings, but as games wore on, teams could use their situational pitchers to make it really tough for us.

Not to rehash the past, but Prince was the perfect fit for us last year. The best option now, in my mind, is Cargo and I'm just not sure we could successfully get a deal done with Colorado for him.

[stipe1280]

Also...I still believe a priority is to find a #1 pitcher. Darvish is the closest thing we've got and while Harrison really solidified himself, I still think of him as a #3 ideally. Holland, at this stage, is no better than a #5/Long Relief and guys like Nefti and Perez will need development time. If Colby were healthy, I think we could limp by again and be okay, but at this stage, no way what we have in our rotation gets us back to a World Series.

[zookman65]

I would think by definition if Harrison slid down to our Solid 3 we would be in pretty good shape if Colby and some combo of Nefti, Perez, Holland et al held down the back end. At the end of the day though the frustrating thing this season was much more the amazing vanishing Offense! Time after time late in the season we had trouble simply moving a runner over or scoring a key run with men on base and 0 or 1 outs. Beyond Bizzare!

[slugger82685]

I would think by definition if Harrison slid down to our Solid 3 we would be in pretty good shape if Colby and some combo of Nefti, Perez, Holland et al held down the back end. At the end of the day though the frustrating thing this season was much more the amazing vanishing Offense! Time after time late in the season we had trouble simply moving a runner over or scoring a key run with men on base and 0 or 1 outs. Beyond Bizzare!

Not bizarre at all, that completely falls on the manager. Instead of bunting a runner over or stealing a base or having hit n runs, Wash just waited for the long ball. That is something that has transitioned from 2010. in 2010 he was all about small ball and manufacturing runs, then you saw a little less of that in 2011 and now this year it seems like that hardly even existed.

[Young2Kinsler]

Perez should be in the rotation. Don't be blinded by his most recent starts. In his first three starts he didn't allow more than 2 runs. He's young and will be inconsistent. But we have to have home grown talent. It can't be all free agents and trades. Our success was built on a mixture and it's a very successful one. We can't give up everytime a young player allows a run or strikesout swinging.

We have been saying Holland is young and inconsistent for 3+ years. At some point, he's just mediocre.

[Grove Rat]

1. Darvish
2. FA/Trade
3. Harrison
4. Ogando
5. Holland

Perez would have to be so good in ST that it would force us to make room for him. He had a lousy year at RR and was so so with the Rangers. I'd rather put Ogando back in the rotation and rebuild the bullpen. With TJ surgery it normally takes 12-18 months for recovery. Anything we get from Lewis/Feliz would be viewed as icing on the cake.

[slugger82685]

1. Darvish
2. FA/Trade
3. Harrison
4. Ogando
5. Holland

Perez would have to be so good in ST that it would force us to make room for him. He had a lousy year at RR and was so so with the Rangers. I'd rather put Ogando back in the rotation and rebuild the bullpen. With TJ surgery it normally takes 12-18 months for recovery. Anything we get from Lewis/Feliz would be viewed as icing on the cake.

how can we have "icing on the cake" when we dont have a cake to put icing on?

[slugger82685]

That lineup is so heavily RH'd that I don't think it'd work. Only AJ, Murph and Moreland hit LH. We'd still probably put up runs in the early innings, but as games wore on, teams could use their situational pitchers to make it really tough for us.

Not to rehash the past, but Prince was the perfect fit for us last year. The best option now, in my mind, is Cargo and I'm just not sure we could successfully get a deal done with Colorado for him.

well technically Profar is a switch hitter so that is another lefty, but I wouldnt want AJ anyway, he had a career year hitting wise, but defense sucks and he isnt getting any younger. I think they will prob stick with Soto and maybe add another catcher as a platoon if they dont work something out with Napoli. I also think Moreland deserves an everyday role at 1B, not just in there against righties, I cant stand that thought process of playing matchups. we all saw what he can do when he gets into a groove, so let him play even against lefties so he can get into his groove. No way Young should be the everyday 1B.

[Skizzik]

We have been saying Holland is young and inconsistent for 3+ years. At some point, he's just mediocre.

Y2K...that might be the most ridiculous comparison I have ever seen you make. Perez and his 5 starts to Holland and his multiple years. I could make a much more fair comparison. How about Mike Trout...who came up and was mediocre. Then got his chance again this season and became a star. Or Cliff Lee who was mediocre and got sent to the minors, then came back an ace.

Those are both considerably more fair comparisons than comparing a guy who has yet to have a rookie season to a guy already on a contract extension. Yes, Perez might flame out. Then again, maybe he doesn't. If everyone acted like your statement, guys like Trout probably would have never got another chance.

[slugger82685]

I personally would like to move on from Holland and give Perez a shot if he isnt traded. Holland didnt even come close to performing like he deserved that contract extension. I dont think he has a mindset of trying to improve, a change of scenery might do him good.....but to also be fair, I dont really see Perez becoming more than a #3 and we need something more than that which is why I would rather include him in a trade for a legit ace than to wait for him to develop into something more than what he will probably be. Holland was untouchable in trades years ago and he hasnt turned into much so I would like us not to go down that same path with Perez. If we can get a guy like Price by including Perez in a package then that is a no brainer.

[slugger82685]

the Rangers are playing it smart by not extending an offer to Hamilton until he talks with other teams to see what is out there. I really think the market for Hamilton is extremely limited and might find that his best offer will be from us. An offer that the Rangers are comfortable with making Hamilton will find out is going to be a fair market value for him with not a lot of teams looking to take on a huge contract along with all the question marks and baggage he brings.

[asmarks18]

Some team is going to extend Hamilton a 6 year deal at 30 million dollars and I hope to god we don't come anywhere near that. Will end up being one of the worst contracts in the major leagues.

Nationals
Dodgers
Angels
Cubs

those are the 4 teams I could see offering him a ridiculous amount of money.