AL West Update: Texas Rangers
Overall
The Rangers have 1.5MIL in bonus money for the International signings. This should bode them well to land one of the best players in the pool this year. Look for them and Fradidel Liriano to connect and for the young SS to make a quick rise to the MLB. The Rangers have a couple current players they should soon be leaning on in rookies in IF/OF Nick Solak and P Joe Palumbo to start making an impact this season and going forward. The Rangers also have a couple guys they should look to extend in Gallo and Calhoun both would be worthwhile. While the likes of Lance Lyn and Mike Minor to hopefully get traded and the teams to get some young talent in return.
Speaking of young talent the team did option P Taylor Hearn and OF Scott Heineman to AAA, where both just look to get their footing and then soon be in the mix for MLB spots.
This team has a lot of interesting pieces with their mix of ages and the kind of players they have. They have guys knocking not he door at AAA and a lot of vets who are kind of at the end of their prime in my opinion who they are just trying to get through the contracts of. It's really hard for me to tell if they are trying to compete or sell the pieces to get younger MLB ready talent. Which I think is the case. Look for them to be the 4th/5th team in AL West this season.
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Hitting
Rougned Odor for Rangers fans has kind of been a headache. From my prospect, I see his 205BA over 581AB to be below league average for WAR which it was. He was a below-average player. He did hit 30HR somehow but struggled other than that. The Rangers GM even commented on his less than impressive performance in August last season. He is still owed 36Mil through 2022 so let's hope for a rebound from Odor going forward.
Danny Santana should be the Primary CF which makes it interesting for Nick Solak who has shown well in MLB in limited opportunities. But as we see a lot of time for teams is that they make it work to get the bats in the lineup. Both are young, offer good flexibility in where they can play. It should be fun to see how these two guys pan out.
Willie Calhoun the Rangers OF suffered a fractured jaw on March 8th and looks to be on track to be fine for the regular season when it happens
Rangers fans if you don't know about 25YO Isiah Kiner-Falefa made his presence known in spring training this season and the backup C and someone utility man who can play 3B, SS, 2B could start to see his versatility pay off in a good role for him going forward with the club.
Pitching
Kluber the former 2x CY Young winner was terrible for the Indians in his 35 2/3IP last season. He pitched to a 5.8ERA and suffered a broken forearm to end his season. The Rangers are in a good spot with Kluber however for him to make it or break it. The club if he rebounds will owe him at 34YO and 18Mil option OR have a 1Mil buyout. Kluber can still make back end of his career worthwhile for the Rangers and himself if he can show he can still be anything close to a CY Young kind of pitcher.
Another arm the Rangers need to lean on for success is Jose Leclerc was solid in 2018 but then lost control of his pitches. He lost his job at the Rangers closer then pitched to a 4.33ERA was issuing 5 walks per 9 IP and that was over 68 2./3IP. He is only 26 and got better as the season went on. He did have a 13.11 k/9 which is really good for a closer. He has a solid fastball velocity in the upper 90's. I think he rebounds nicely and has a solid year as the Rangers closer.
Mike Minor is another really interesting case for an extension. He does want to stay with the Rangers. But there has been no extension yet for him, but I don't see the Rangers giving the 32-year-old anything of a big extension. He did have a productive year over 208 1/3IP and had a 3.59ERA. The final season of his 3-year deal, I really hope a team doesn't overpay for Minor as I just don't see him getting better.
Some pitching news: Yohander Mendez was placed on the suspended list for violating his contract and seeking outside medical advice without team permission. Kolby Allard was optioned to AAA. It looks just like a move to get him a little more growing after a not so good 9 starts in 2019. The additions the Rangers made of Kluber Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles made this possible for him to be a depth piece. Jesse Chavez was also dealing with shoulder inflammation before the break and with the extra time to recover. Look for the veteran Swingman to be good to go.
The Rangers have 1.5MIL in bonus money for the International signings. This should bode them well to land one of the best players in the pool this year. Look for them and Fradidel Liriano to connect and for the young SS to make a quick rise to the MLB. The Rangers have a couple current players they should soon be leaning on in rookies in IF/OF Nick Solak and P Joe Palumbo to start making an impact this season and going forward. The Rangers also have a couple guys they should look to extend in Gallo and Calhoun both would be worthwhile. While the likes of Lance Lyn and Mike Minor to hopefully get traded and the teams to get some young talent in return.
Speaking of young talent the team did option P Taylor Hearn and OF Scott Heineman to AAA, where both just look to get their footing and then soon be in the mix for MLB spots.
This team has a lot of interesting pieces with their mix of ages and the kind of players they have. They have guys knocking not he door at AAA and a lot of vets who are kind of at the end of their prime in my opinion who they are just trying to get through the contracts of. It's really hard for me to tell if they are trying to compete or sell the pieces to get younger MLB ready talent. Which I think is the case. Look for them to be the 4th/5th team in AL West this season.
Shoutout:
If you need to make some extra cash during COVID-19 try Stash-It. The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It’s completely free and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the terms! Use the promo code "YOUNG" and use your storage space to make some easy money! Stashitselfstorage.c
Hitting
Rougned Odor for Rangers fans has kind of been a headache. From my prospect, I see his 205BA over 581AB to be below league average for WAR which it was. He was a below-average player. He did hit 30HR somehow but struggled other than that. The Rangers GM even commented on his less than impressive performance in August last season. He is still owed 36Mil through 2022 so let's hope for a rebound from Odor going forward.
Danny Santana should be the Primary CF which makes it interesting for Nick Solak who has shown well in MLB in limited opportunities. But as we see a lot of time for teams is that they make it work to get the bats in the lineup. Both are young, offer good flexibility in where they can play. It should be fun to see how these two guys pan out.
Willie Calhoun the Rangers OF suffered a fractured jaw on March 8th and looks to be on track to be fine for the regular season when it happens
Rangers fans if you don't know about 25YO Isiah Kiner-Falefa made his presence known in spring training this season and the backup C and someone utility man who can play 3B, SS, 2B could start to see his versatility pay off in a good role for him going forward with the club.
Pitching
Kluber the former 2x CY Young winner was terrible for the Indians in his 35 2/3IP last season. He pitched to a 5.8ERA and suffered a broken forearm to end his season. The Rangers are in a good spot with Kluber however for him to make it or break it. The club if he rebounds will owe him at 34YO and 18Mil option OR have a 1Mil buyout. Kluber can still make back end of his career worthwhile for the Rangers and himself if he can show he can still be anything close to a CY Young kind of pitcher.
Another arm the Rangers need to lean on for success is Jose Leclerc was solid in 2018 but then lost control of his pitches. He lost his job at the Rangers closer then pitched to a 4.33ERA was issuing 5 walks per 9 IP and that was over 68 2./3IP. He is only 26 and got better as the season went on. He did have a 13.11 k/9 which is really good for a closer. He has a solid fastball velocity in the upper 90's. I think he rebounds nicely and has a solid year as the Rangers closer.
Mike Minor is another really interesting case for an extension. He does want to stay with the Rangers. But there has been no extension yet for him, but I don't see the Rangers giving the 32-year-old anything of a big extension. He did have a productive year over 208 1/3IP and had a 3.59ERA. The final season of his 3-year deal, I really hope a team doesn't overpay for Minor as I just don't see him getting better.
Some pitching news: Yohander Mendez was placed on the suspended list for violating his contract and seeking outside medical advice without team permission. Kolby Allard was optioned to AAA. It looks just like a move to get him a little more growing after a not so good 9 starts in 2019. The additions the Rangers made of Kluber Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles made this possible for him to be a depth piece. Jesse Chavez was also dealing with shoulder inflammation before the break and with the extra time to recover. Look for the veteran Swingman to be good to go.
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