My only joy will either be a flood of prospects at the deadline or a Yu extension. I expect the former. Gallo getting the batting average up to .240 would be nice too.
JD was in Japan this week taking a good look at Shohei Otani. Think we'll trade Yu and make a run at him this offseason.
ESPN Stats and Information Rangers 3B Joey Gallo smashed a 445-footer to right field during Friday night's matchup against the Tigers. To date, 20 of his 49 career hits have been home runs.
Hot Japanese opinions from Evan Grant Spoiler Yu Darvish was not at his best Sunday night. His fastball, as it occasionally is, was willful when he tried to command it. He gave back two early one-run leads. He exited after five innings a day after the Rangers maxed out their long reliever. It was, quite frankly, about as badly as he has pitched this season. I've seen enough. Offer the man a contract, already. Even when he's been "bad," he's found a way to pitch effectively. If I'm Jon Daniels, I'm ready to offer him a contract right here and now. Or at least negotiate to my best offer over the next six weeks. If the Rangers are serious about extending their window of contention past this year and bridge until the next wave of pitching talent arrives from the minors -- if it arrives at all -- making serious runs at both Darvish and his Japanese bestie, Shohei Otani, are the best and most cost-effective routes to ensure the window doesn't close any time soon. More on Otani in a minute, but first things first: Darvish. His next start, at Toronto this weekend, will be his last in the 12-month period since he returned from Tommy John surgery. With almost every outing, Darvish seems to be getting better. Consider a 3.18 ERA, 10th best in baseball, over 27 starts since his return last May. In categories such as ERA, opponents' on-base percentage and fielding-independent pitching, he ranks among the top four in Rangers history for the course of his career. The only pitchers he trails are Hall of Famers. Either you believe the stats and he's as good as the Rangers have ever had, or you believe a baseless narrative that he "lacks a will to win." Physically, I believe he's an outlier, more likely to carry his "prime" past prime time. The question you are clearly asking yourself: How much of Ray Davis' money, which isn't mine to spend, am I willing to pretend to spend? Said with my best Dr. Evil grin: $155 million. For starters. The best market comparison for Darvish is probably Stephen Strasburg, who got $175 million over seven years from Washington last spring. It features two opt-out clauses in the middle. It will serve as our model. Strasburg, like Darvish, has had Tommy John surgery and only one 200-inning season to his credit. Biggest difference: Strasburg is two years younger, which is why our Darvish deal is for six years, to account for the difference in age and potential effectiveness at the end of the contract. Like the Strasburg deal, we will also make the middle years of this $26 million-per-year deal the biggest paydays. They will be timed to coincide with increased revenues from a new stadium set to open in 2020 and his opt-out clause. Meaning: If he opts out after, say, Year 3, he'll be giving up a $30 million-$35 million salary for 2021. If you are the Rangers, you do all this to keep Darvish, but also to lure Otani, who figures to be something of a bargain thanks to new regulations in the posting and international bonus system that will probably limit a six-year investment in him to about $60 million. The posting system for Japanese players now maxes out at a $20 million ceiling. Because Otani, who turns 23 in July, is still under the age of 25, he is subject to the international bonus pool limits. Tops for that is $5.75 million (the Rangers have a $4.75 million pool), though teams can acquire some extra slots to increase their available bonus pool by up to 75 percent. Even if a team with the biggest pool acquired the maximum number of extra slots, it couldn't go above $10.1 million. The players must sign minor league contracts with strict governance on salaries. The biggest "loophole" would be to have a handshake agreement on a long-term major league deal. The top of the market for that is the six-year, $25 million deal Tim Anderson signed with the Chicago White Sox earlier this year. Probably can't go much above $30 million there. Max: $60 million investment. So, you'd potentially be looking at a big field offering relatively similar financial packages. Otani's decision may come down to where he wants to live and with whom he wants to pitch. In a lot of ways, it's going to be like a college recruiting process. And this is how Darvish -- and to another extent the commitment put in to making an impact in Japan by assistant general manager Josh Boyd -- could potentially be the biggest assets the Rangers have in separating themselves from the field. Otani and Darvish are close. They are offseason workout partners. Darvish speaks highly of Texas. It would create as seamless a transition to the majors as possible for Otani. This whole package would potentially cost the Rangers something like $200 million. They paid $107 million for Darvish in 2012. The thought they could get the equivalent of two Darvishes for the same average investment some five years later makes it a bargain the Rangers must pursue. Arlington just ponied up for that stadium, time to repay it
we really need to resign him crazy how much my view has changed on that in the last 2 weeks. not because of Yu, we're actually in a place to contend again. thought it was over 2 weeks ago
Was a fun game from what I got to see. Beltre, my God, do I love Beltre. Cruz hit a swinging bunt late in the game down the 3B line and Beltre made a barehanded play with an off balance throw that was very late and not even close to getting Cruz, but it was still so fun to watch. /csb
I'm afraid we're going to fall in that no man's land of not good enough to win anything but not bad enough to sell everything off. Be interesting what happens with Yu. The City of Arlington just stepped up to get them a new stadium, that they don't really need. I'm expecting them to increase payroll, starting next year. If Yu just gets 250 million or whatever from the Yankees, so be it. But ownership had better be willing to step up. If not, I'll post the angriest gifs...
Wish I could have been by a tv yesterday to see my favorite Ranger ever get 3000 hits, but glad he got it in front of the home crowd. Beltre
Jerry CrasnickVerified account @jcrasnick 22m22 minutes ago The #Dodgers are still the #Rangers top target for a Yu Darvish deal. #Astros and #Indians hanging around. #Yankees depends on Sonny Gray.
The Rangers are “reluctantly willing” to engage in trade talks on reliever Alex Claudio, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). He becomes the latest Texas player to hit the rumor wire, joining fellow relievers Jeremy Jeffress and Keone Kela (though as Grant notes, Jeffress may just end up being DFA’ed). Among those hurlers, Claudio — a 25-year-old southpaw — is likely the one that Texas is least inclined to deal. While he doesn’t record many strikeouts, Claudio allows few free passes and has turned into a groundball monster over the past two seasons. He’s also cheap and controllable for four more seasons. Grant hints that Texas could consider attempting to package Claudio with Yu Darvish if that’d move the needle significantly in the effort to achieve a big return for the star hurler. That could indeed present an intriguing potential package for a team eyeing Darvish, providing a quality and controllable pen lefty to go with the rental starter, though such a swap would no doubt still be tricky to work out.