The Official Off-Season Thread of the Texas Rangers

[asmarks18]

It's only 3 days into the off-season and I am already itching for some Texas Rangers baseball.

[slugger82685]

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.

Nationals will be hesitant after the Werth signing, Dodgers already have a set OF, Angels will be more focussed on signing Greinke plus they already have a surplus of OFs, Cubs are no where near competitive enough to start signing top FAs

[asmarks18]

Nationals will be hesitant after the Werth signing, Dodgers already have a set OF, Angels will be more focussed on signing Greinke plus they already have a surplus of OFs, Cubs are no where near competitive enough to start signing top FAs

Even though the Cubs suck, don't rule them out. A guy like Hamilton would be a step in the right direction for them. Plus we know that they have *** tons of money and Theo Epstein loves signing big name free agents.

[asmarks18]

I didn't realize that the Dodgers had signed Etheir long term in the summer. Yeah, nevermind on that. Unless teams like Miami gets involved I don't think Hamilton has a lot of options. Maybe the White Sox?

[slugger82685]

I didn't realize that the Dodgers had signed Etheir long term in the summer. Yeah, nevermind on that. Unless teams like Miami gets involved I don't think Hamilton has a lot of options. Maybe the White Sox?

I thought about the white sox too, but they have OF covered....Dunn, Rios, Viciedo

I don't see Miami doing their go all in thing again....I just dont see the market out there at all for him unless a small market team decides to open up the checkbook cause they think they can compete next year, like the Indians or something....Diamondbacks might be a sleeper too if they decide a big bat is what they need, but I just dont see his market right now.

[stipe1280]

One name that seems to keep coming up as a replacement for Josh Hamilton is Torii Hunter. This would piss me off to no extent if this turns out to be the plan.

[asmarks18]

Wouldn't surprise me. We would need someone to play 80+ games at CF. Gentry and Martin are nice but are better suited for platoon roles.


Hunter also lives in Prosper in the offseason and lived in The Colony before moving to Prosper.

[asmarks18]

If Hunter doesn't go to Texas or remain in LA I would look for him to sign with a NL or AL Central team. His 2 sons are committed to play at Notre Dame and my guess is he would like to be close to them.

[Young2Kinsler]

I think Torii isn't a bad replacement option, although I prefer BJ Upton. Torii by all accounts is a great clubhouse guy.

[slugger82685]

ugh, are any of you on sportshoopla.com? I feel like the people on there in the Rangers forum are the biggest bunch of idiots ever....they keep defending Kinsler as being a great defensive 2B yet dont provide proof...I claim that he was one of the worst defensive 2B this past year and provide proof with UZR, I know that stat is flawed but its a better stat to show where he ranked defensively and at least I provide proof to backup my claim. I also stated Profar would be better defensively that Kinsler based on scouts saying he is a solid middle infielder and has a better range and arm than Andrus......yet they find that claim outrageous too and wondering where I can make that claim from based on all of Profar's MLB experience.....what do you guys think? Am I making completely outrageous claims?....I mean the level of ball you are at doesnt really effect your defensive skill, a ball hit to you in A ball is the same ball hit to you in MLB, you might be able to argue its hit a little hard in MLB but if a player can field it in A ball they should be able to field it in MLB. Its not like offense where you have to make adjustments in order to improve and be successful.

[stipe1280]

As for Torii Hunter...I just don't like the idea of a quick fix. He has 1, maybe 2 years in him maybe. If you look at the FA market in 2014, there's not a lot to get excited about in the OF either, so if you have a chance now to get a BJ Upton or Michael Bourn or trade for a replacement for Hamilton that you can control for a few years (instead of the same old Rangers 1 yr. fix), then that makes more sense to me.

As for Ian...He wasn't great defensively this year, but I'm not sure if that's representative of his true potential. I've seen Ian really good at times too. This whole year seemed to be an off year for him, though. You didn't see him doing the handshakes or jumping out of the dugout. I just wonder if mentally (and maybe physically too) he wasn't up to par. That said, I agree that Profar is/will be better defensively than Ian. I also think that Ian either needs to move to the OF or we need to deal him while we can.

[slugger82685]

As for Torii Hunter...I just don't like the idea of a quick fix. He has 1, maybe 2 years in him maybe. If you look at the FA market in 2014, there's not a lot to get excited about in the OF either, so if you have a chance now to get a BJ Upton or Michael Bourn or trade for a replacement for Hamilton that you can control for a few years (instead of the same old Rangers 1 yr. fix), then that makes more sense to me.

As for Ian...He wasn't great defensively this year, but I'm not sure if that's representative of his true potential. I've seen Ian really good at times too. This whole year seemed to be an off year for him, though. You didn't see him doing the handshakes or jumping out of the dugout. I just wonder if mentally (and maybe physically too) he wasn't up to par. That said, I agree that Profar is/will be better defensively than Ian. I also think that Ian either needs to move to the OF or we need to deal him while we can.

I really hope they dont move Kinsler to the OF for 2 reasons, one, I dont think he would be a very good OF so I think that will hurt us and 2, if he happens to have another down year then his trade value dramatically decreases. So if the Rangers do plan on putting Profar at 2B, then I think it's best to trade Kinsler while his value is still relatively high because of the fact he is a 2B.

[slugger82685]

It might be time for the Red Sox to use Jacoby Ellsbury as a trade chip for rotation help, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald writes. GM Ben Cherington is expected to consider a multiyear extension for the center fielder, but agent Scott Boras figures to seek a deal in the $160MM range. The Rangers could find themselves in the market for a center fielder this offseason, so Lauber wonders if they'd make Derek Holland available in a deal for Ellsbury.

Interesting scenario, would be a fair trade in terms of needs and value based on Holland being under control much longer than Ellsbury. But the thing that worries me is that Ellsubury would just be with us for one year and be gone especially if he returns to his 2011 form because then he would most certainly test the open market with Boras as his agent and then we are stuck in another Hamilton situation.

[Greenmonster24]

I think Redsox would want your shortstop more then Hollands. Then they can try and trade Bucholz for Justin Uptin with few other players and sign Sanchez to replace Bucholz and sign Edwan Jackson.

[slugger82685]

I think Redsox would want your shortstop more then Hollands. Then they can try and trade Bucholz for Justin Uptin with few other players and sign Sanchez to replace Bucholz and sign Edwan Jackson.

well, I wouldnt trade Andrus for Ellsbury....and why in the world would the Dbacks take Buchholz for Upton when they already have a surplus of starting pitchers?