When he gets on base, he's great and the offense really clicks. He just doesn't do it as much as I'd like him to, which I agree can get better. But for an offense-only speedster, he needs a good OBP.

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If the Rangers move Elvis, the only player currently in the org. who could replace him is Alberto, though I don't believe JD would go into the season next year with Alberto as the starting SS.

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Profar?

The issue is that Profar isn't currently in condition to replace anyone at any position. And this saga makes me wonder if he'd ever be in position to replace someone at SS.

Profar has basically been set back about 3 years and would have to perform at AA/AAA for atleast a few months and probably more like a full season before anyone could have confidence that he could be a everyday starter for a team trying to win. I'd love for Profar to matter, but we're now to the point that you have to assume he can't be a contributor until probably 2017 (if ever).

Yep, played his first game in 2 calendar years in late august, and even then, he was only DH'ing.

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When he gets on base, he's great and the offense really clicks. He just doesn't do it as much as I'd like him to, which I agree can get better. But for an offense-only speedster, he needs a good OBP.

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His OBP was at .344 this year. That's about 20 or more points higher than the league average. Really, it would be nice if he could just develop a bit more gaps power with his bat. If he was able to raise his batting average a few points then his on base would look really good.

Leonys - too bad if he's gone. He has a Kenny Lofton ceiling and an Oddibe Macdowell floor. Miss his arm in CF.

Hamilton - I have no problem with him as a starting LF. The issue is that we don't have that guy like Martin, Gentry, or Murphy who can play half a season for him and put up decent numbers.

DeShields - I hate not having an arm in CF. Such a bonus when you can have plus arms in the OF. Choo has an average arm for RF, but he is accurate. Hamilton has a plus arm for LF. Oh well. Lance Johnson and Mickey Rivers come to mind as 2 guys who couldn't throw worth a darn and were good CF. Delino has to work his butt off to see if he can make up for his arm by being great at catching the ball. With his speed, it seems there's no reason why he couldn't, and it's actually a shame that Houston didn't start working on this several years ago.

Alberto - 30 years ago, this guy would be a starting MLB SS. He is a minor league gold glover, and is a huge upgrade over Rosales as a utility IF.

Lineup - A lot of hand-wringing because of the abundance of LH bats, but if you think about it, the only real imbalance comes from Odor. If he stayed on his natural side, the lineup would be more or less balanced. However, I think he's going to be good against LHP. In other words, so what if the lineup is over-loaded with lefties?

Cut Andrus.

At this point it's a big bonus if Profar ever makes it back to MLB.

Anxious to see what they are going to do this winter. JD has had a hard on for Upton for about 3 seasons and now he is there for the taking, but he is going to cost a lot for 270 and 25hr . Sadly , 25hr from a righty looks like a lot for this team

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Leonys - too bad if he's gone. He has a Kenny Lofton ceiling and an Oddibe Macdowell floor. Miss his arm in CF.

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His offensive game is miles behind Lofton's. And at 28 with 1500 plate appearances, its going to be tough for the Rangers to view him as some sort of developing, prospect-like kind of player anymore.

He is good enough to have a spot on this team, I would agree with that...but not so good to necessarily put up with some of the problems he's reportedly having. Delino Shields this past season just about matched anything Martin has done offensively up to this point.

If Martin was healthy, you can understand why he would be upset that Venable made the post-season roster. He could have pinch hit for Stubbs, especially since Toronto didn't have any lefties in the pen.

Some thoughts on the lineup:

I'm going to look at it in reverse order. First, the Rangers got 19 HR out of the catcher position in 2015. Not bad for the 9-hole, with Chirinos and Gimenez combining for ~3.5 WAR.

I'm wondering what would happen if we could get those guys into more fastball counts, and basically put two lineups into the 9 man order.

How? First, try Odor in the lead-off spot. Rather than following the catcher with a light hitter, put a guy with gap power in the 1-hole.

2 - Beltre. Conventional wisdom puts your bunter there, but I think your best pure hitter should go there. Pudge would have been a great 2-hole hitter. When you've got a guy with power and speed hitting leadoff, Beltre puts a lot of pressure on.

3 - Choo, assuming he is a .270/20HR guy (fingers crossed)

4 - Fielder, or RH power bat (Nap)
5 - Moreland, or RH power bat (Nap)

6 - 8 Andrus/DD/Hamilton. This is where the order re-starts, and there are several options. I would try Andrus 6, because I think he can drive in runs from that spot, and serve as a secondary lead-off hitter. I put Hamilton 7, with DD 8th. I think this would provide a lot of opportunities for the bottom of the order to either hit or move runners over, and would put a lot of pressure on pitchers to throw fastballs to the bottom of the order, both to cut down on running, and to avoid the top of the order.

9 - catcher

My take on the lineup - without looking at stats to back it up - just mainly going on gut feel would be this ....

1. Choo - led the majors (i think) in OBP the second half of the season last year - also has some pop in the bat and can move around the bases
2. Odor / Shields - can get the bunts down and even beat out a few with their speed - advantage Rougie being a leftie out of the box
3. Hamilton - again, no stats here - just seems like he'd see more pitches to hit with the guys coming up behind him
4. Beltre - The Captain - enough said
5. Fielder
6. Moreland / Napoli (if he stays)
7, Andrus
8. Shields/Odor
9. Catcher - Chirinos/Jimenez

I realize that I'm putting a lot of faith in Josh here - would move 4-6 up and slide him back to 6 based on production. Not really sure how he'll come back from a full off-season being "healthy" and how long he can hold up over the course of a full season at his age. Just saw some good things from him at times and feel like he would have a better chance to succeed with big bats behind him. This also doesn't include any additions to the team (those mentioned by others) - I just don't know much of anything about the younger guys.

Josh doesn't care if anybody is protecting him. He'd swing at junk off the plate with the bases loaded and Lou Gehrig on deck.

Jamey Newberg Retweeted

keithlaw @keithlaw 58m58 minutes ago
Profar just hit a 2-out, full count, game-tying HR in the 9th off a 95 mph fastball.


Had a double on his first at bat in Summer League in ... how long? close to a year? and then this...

Kid better get back and if so... better watch out Andrus.

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Jamey Newberg Retweeted

keithlaw @keithlaw 58m58 minutes ago
Profar just hit a 2-out, full count, game-tying HR in the 9th off a 95 mph fastball.


Had a double on his first at bat in Summer League in ... how long? close to a year? and then this...

Kid better get back and if so... better watch out Andrus.

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Just came to post about Profar's HR.

Brinson has BA up to .250...

Lots of roster moves by the Rangers.

Some AFL stats:

Profar (3Games) .417 BA / .533 OBP / 1 HR / 1 SB /0 CS
He has 5 Hits - 1 HR and 2 Doubles. 3 BBs / 1 SO. 1.367 OPS

Brinson (7 Games) - .250 BA / .367 OBP / 0 HR / 3 SB / 1 CS

Others playing, who might be of interest:
Carribean:
Hanser Alberto is playing

I'd keep an eye on 20 year old Lefty Yohander Mendez.


Australia (who knew?!)
Travis Demeritte


Winter League players for the Rangers

Profar playing in the field or just DHing?

Just DHing. Not cleared to throw yet, but supposedly will be ready to by spring training.

Looking beyond 2016...

FAs after 2016:
Adrian Beltre
Derek Holland (Texas has an Option for '17 & '18)
Moreland

I see the Rangers looking to extend Beltre. He will be 38 to start 2017.

The argument. He is the leader among DR born players in Games Played.

GP at 3B:
1st - Brooks Robinson: 2,870 (from 1955-1977)
2nd - Adrian Beltre: 2457 (413 Games) 3 more years.

All-Time for all payers
HRs: #50 (413, 392 as 3B). 20HRs for 3 years would put him around 33rd.
2B: #25 (560, 543 as 3B). 30 2B for 3 years would put him Top 10.
H: #53 (2,767, 2680 as 3B). 160 H for 3 years would put him over 3,000 and Top 15.
RBI: #57 (1,467, 1405 as 3B). 70 RBI for 3 years would put him around 28.

Rangers get one of those years already. I could see them signing him to a two year extension with a mutual option after that. He has been very instrumental to the success of Texas and you want him going into the HoF as a Ranger. He has 966 GP as a Dodger and 732 GP as a Ranger. That is a difference of 234 GP.

Like Nolan and Pudge, Beltre will go down as one of the Top 3 or so to ever play the game at their position.

In what universe is Nolan one of the best three pitchers of all time?

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In what universe is Nolan one of the best three pitchers of all time?

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Not attacking your conclusion, but a nice counter premise is that he threw 7 no hitters spanning almost 20 seasons.

All-Time for 3B payers (includes all GP)

HRs: #5 (413)
1. 548 Schmidt (+135) Note: 509 as 3B
2. 512 Eddie Matthews (+99) Note 457 as a 3B
3. 468 Chipper (+55) Note 389 as a 3B
4 414 Darrell Evans (+1) Note: 203 as 3B
5. 413 Beltre Note 392 as a 3B
7. 386 Ramirez (Active)

Doubles: #3 (560)
1. 665 Brett (+105): 424 as 3B
2. 578 Boggs (+18) Note: 536 as 3B
3. 560 Beltre Note: 543 as a 3B

Hits: #4 (2,767)
1. 3154 Brett (+387) Note 2044 as 3B
2. 3010 Boggs (+243) Note: 2788 as 3B
3. 2848 Robinson (+81) Note: 2838 as 3B
4. 2767 Beltre Note: 2680 as 3B

RBI: #4 (1,467).
1. 1623 Chipper (+156) Note1341 as a 3B
2. 1595 Brett (+128) Note: 1005 as a 3B
2. 1595 Schmidt (+128) Note: 1474 as a 3B
4. 1467 Beltre Note 1405 as a 3B

I had tracked at one point only games played at 3B. I took the time to isolate those.

All-Time for 3B payers (includes ONLY GP at 3B)

HRs: #3 - Could get to #2, but Ramirez will pass him.
1. 509 Schmidt (+ 117)
2. 457 Eddie Matthews (+ 65)
3. 392 Beltre
X. 389 Chipper
X 203 Darrell Evans

Doubles: #1
1. 543 Beltre
X. 536 Boggs
X. 424 Brett

Hits: #3 - Could be #1 next season
1. 2838 Robinson (+158)
2. 2788 Boggs (+108)
3. 2680 Beltre
X. 2044 Brett

RBI: #2- Should be #1 next season
1. 1474 Schmidt (+69)
2. 1405 Beltre
X. 1341 Chipper
X. 1005 Brett

Brooks Robinson ('55-77 all with Balt) - 2896 GP, 2834 at 3B.
Beltre ('98-+) - 2567 GP. 2457 as a 3B
Schmidt ('72-99) - 2404 GP, 2190 at 3B
Boggs ('82-99) - 2440 GP. 2197 at 3B.
Brett ('73-93, all with KC) - 2707 GP. 1685 at 3B.
Chipper ('93-2012, all with Atl) - 2499 GP. 1983 as a 3B.

Is anyone missing?!

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In what universe is Nolan one of the best three pitchers of all time?

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Strike Outs: 5714. 2nd: 4875
Base on Balls: 2795. 2nd: 1833
Games Start: #2 773
SHO: #7: 61
Wild Pitches: #2 277
K/9: #3 9.55
No Hitters: #1 7
Most 1 Hitters

I think Nolan makes a great argument in many categories. Maybe you put him somewhere 5-10... maybe you are a David Price fan.

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Some AFL stats:

Profar (3Games) .417 BA / .533 OBP / 1 HR / 1 SB /0 CS
He has 5 Hits - 1 HR and 2 Doubles. 3 BBs / 1 SO. 1.367 OPS

Brinson (7 Games) - .250 BA / .367 OBP / 0 HR / 3 SB / 1 CS

Others playing, who might be of interest:
Carribean:
Hanser Alberto is playing

I'd keep an eye on 20 year old Lefty Yohander Mendez.


Australia (who knew?!)
Travis Demeritte


Winter League players for the Rangers

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I'm not planning on a daily update, but saw a number for Brinson that piqued my interest.

Profar (4Games): .412 / .500 OBP / 1 HR / 1 3B / 3 2B
Brinson (8Games): .241 BA / .343 OBP / 0 HR / 3 3B

Brinson has a triple in each of his last 2 games. 3 total in 8 games.

I looked it up, and Diekman and Freeman are the same age, and had similar problems with control. Diekman got more opportunities, and reduced his walk numbers with Texas. With the way the game has evolved, I think you have to have a stable of power arms in the pen, and I'd love to see both of these guys in interchangeable roles. The problem is that you can't have your situational guys walking people. It's okay if they're in for a full inning or 2 - you just live with it.

The Kela/Dyson/Tolleson combo works well from the right side. The downside is that Tolleson has the weakest arm in the pen, and really has to paint the corners ala Trevor Hoffman to be dominant. Bautista's moonshot notwithstanding, I think Dyson's sinker ball gives you more margin for error in the closer role, but there' no reason to change at this point. Tolley had a real nice post-season, and got some confidence back in the extra inning game.

Nothing against Ohlendorf - I'd just love to see 2 power lefties in the pen.

Soooooo we informed Maddux we aren't bringing him back as pitching coach.

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Soooooo we informed Maddux we aren't bringing him back as pitching coach.

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Didn't expect to hear that.

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Soooooo we informed Maddux we aren't bringing him back as pitching coach.

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Didn't expect to hear that.

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I believe we gave him an offer and he wanted to renegotiate it and we declined to do so

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Soooooo we informed Maddux we aren't bringing him back as pitching coach.

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Didn't expect to hear that.

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I believe we gave him an offer and he wanted to renegotiate it and we declined to do so

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Yup... It will be interesting what direction they go.

This was a bad move

Bone head move!!!

Think I just saw Morneau a free agent.... I like Moreland but is Morneau an upgrade?

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Think I just saw Morneau a free agent.... I like Moreland but is Morneau an upgrade?

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Way too injured in my opinion.

Every team has a group of guys in the pen that throw 95+. Only certain teams seem to be able to turn those guys into an elite bullpen. I hope Maddux wasn't the reason. Maybe we could get the Angels to pay his salary?