Darvish isn't going anywhere. Rangers will open up the bank for darvish. But rangers know thier dI vision superiority is fading which is why they are in semi win now mode
WHy are the Rangers fading? Ever since Danial became the GM they shown a knack of using thier farm system to attract talent and replenish it quickly. Thier top prospects starting the season were all in AAA. Mazara, Profar and Gallo. They still have all 3 despite every team coveting them in acquisitions. At times they have 3 position starters 23 and under. Daniels has been a winner on trades as both a seller and a buyer. The 2010 and 2011 AL Championships are built on theTexaria trade. He has had a couple of bad ones but far more good trades The Astros may someday pass them, if they do that will be based on thier actions. However we shouldn't expect the Ranger to fall off the face of the earth
I don't think it's that simple. I doubt if the Astros are .540 vs .525 or whatever a deal gets done. I'd imagine it has a lot more to do with the market. If the Astros thought it was worth it to make a trade this year, they make a trade. It's not like they weren't shopping around. They probably just didn't like the potential offers they had this year vs last year. Most of the guys this year were really old or just rentals. At the time, it felt like we had just landed a potential stud in Gomez. No idea how he fell of such a cliff. It's weird that this keeps happening to Houston sports teams. Acquiring talent that absolutely nose-dives, yet no one really acts surprised. You think any projection model that Gomez would be anywhere near this bad? He's regressed so far beyond his 'mean' production. He's unrecognizable from how he was a few years ago. You'd expect him to be at least decent to mediocre, but he's unplayable at his current production. So strange.
Built on the Tex trade? Yes, they got some good players back, but the Josh Hamilton trade, and a lot of earlier moves helped make that team. Getting Nelson Cruz along with Carlos Lee (talk about one hell of a buy, as that was win now & later). Getting David Murphy as a young prospect. Already having Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and CJ Wilson. In 2010 trading for Cliff Lee. Signing Adrian Beltre. Trading for Mike Napoli Thankfully they traded away Chris Davis. They've done a great job over there for years. The one thing I notice about their rosters? They have guys that put the ball in play.
Which fully exemplifies the upward trend they were on at a time where the Rangers were scuffling/injured, and the Astros were healthy/thriving. Now the Astros are scuffling/injured... but have no re-inforcements coming in (unless Gurriel is truly a miracle worker). The Rangers are once again thriving in large part due to reinforcements. No doubt... but you're talking about a team that already made up 9 games on the division/WC race in the span of 3 months, with more than half the season to go. I'd say the chase was not only well underway... but on the verge of completion... had they been able to make a move. I didn't say be impulsive... you did. I said to consider making a trade that not only makes you better/fills a need, but also immediately blocks your rival from improving. Certainly didn't hurt their long-term process the last time they rented him... but I thought Lucroy would have made more sense if you had to choose one. As always, depends on the prospect and depends on what Beltran adds for you. Baseball history is littered with teams acquiring supposedly short-term rentals that spur a huge run.... yes, there are limits on what any team should give up, but when your farm system is a strength... you find a way to make it work for you when you have a winning MLB team.
i don't see how anybody believes this to be true. their young studs are just as young as ours. Don't get me wrong I don't think they're all mighty either since we can hang with them having 5 donuts in our line up. they are always willing to spend on veteran professional hitters. We need at least 2 of those.
Yep. The main differences are the older/established/non-homegrown players they take chances on are panning out (in some cases in a huge way). Both Rasmus and Desmond were one year contracts. Shin-Shoo Choo, despite being oft-injured, outweighs any possible FA signing or trade the Astros have done during the rebuild.... and is a guy the Astros were interested in. They got at least one good year out of Fielder, who has mostly been a disappointment, but not on the level of Gomez. Perhaps Gurriel can match what Beltre has done, who was also 32 when they signed him.
The Rangers had won 7 of 9 prior to the deadline, increasing their lead by 3.5 games. The thriving started prior to the deadline deals. Well, no... between June 1 and July 25 (through the sweep of the Angels), the Astros played at a 108-win pace, which, even with reinforcements, wasn't sustainable. And they were *still* 2.5 back. That's why chasing is so hard; you have to play near flawless baseball just to get back into the picture - and that doesn't even take into account, once you're over the hump, of *maintaining* that pace. It's exhausting. Impulsive or not, other organizations should not influence what your organization does. Their "long-term process" ended a year later, if, by process, we're talking about being a competitive baseball team. I would do the deal again, FYI, and 100 times after that. He was spectacular that year. But there's no way a 39-YO Beltran is going to post a near-4 WAR in two months. Like you, Lucroy would have been my primary target, due to age, contract and need - I don't know why ultimately we missed out on him. But I don't automatically assume it was Luhnow's fault. Too many fans seem to be equating a good farm system with leverage; Milwaukee held all the leverage.
True , and to add on to that . Many of the vets the Rangers have producing right now aren't just going to fall off a cliff next season . We can hope for our youth to improve or be traded for productive players .. But we need IMPROVEMENT to claim the division . The Rangers only have to try and maintain where they are at . Over the course of a season winning games really comes down to just a few things . If the Rangers can keep pitching well next year , their offense looks good enough to make them a formidable team .
Yeah, the Astros never intended to keep Rasmus; but they took a chance wanting the supplemental pick and were burned badly. The Rangers get the treat of paying Choo over $90,000,000 through 2020. I will pass on any possible benefit that they have received from him. The Rangers are paying Fielder over $80,000,000 through 2020... and he is having a neck surgery at 32 years old. Good luck with that one going forward. It is unlikely that Gurriel will be as good as Beltre when both were 32 years old. It is quite possible Gurriel will be better than Beltre going forward. The Rangers have $172,000,000 tied up in 2 players that are 32 and 35 years old. The Rangers are eyeing the free agency of Darvish after next season. He will cost them a lot of money to resign. They have Elvis Andrus under contract at $15,000,000 a year for the next 7 seasons. I wouldn't rule out the Rangers being very good, but they are starting to run into the bottleneck of players getting close to free agency (younger players) and have under performing veterans locked into long term contracts at high numbers.
The people in DFW covering the Rangers are fairly certain that Darvish will be gone after 2017. Ray Davis isn't likely to push the payroll anymore than it is already is right now. They are going to have a hard enough time keeping Desmond and extending Lucroy.
Is that their way of saying "season over" I don't get it. Unless he's sick or something, wtf is he not playing :\ He could have been DH.
most of my rangers buds say the same thing about darvish - they don't expect him to return. everyone thinks he'll end up on one of the coasts. but it is crazy how almost none of the bigger names we've brought in have panned out - rasmus, gomez, gattis, giles even kazmir all struggled mightily. to have pieces you rely on so heavily to be produce almost nothing is so damn odd.
Giles has been fantastic post-April. The bad start still has everyone thinking that he has been a net negative. Dude has been a top 5 relief pitcher in baseball over the last 2.5 months.
Interesting move. Kemp leading off and DH'ing. Springer 3rd. I was wondering if they should move Springer off leadoff. If Kemp can at least get on base and do some damage on the bases, you have to consider moving Springer to the 5th spot, no? I still like him at the top of the order but this is assuming Kemp exceeds expectations which is a huge if. Then add Gurriel, Valbuena, Gattis, and Jake to the bottom of the order and that might make some noise. Kemp Bregman Altuve Correa Springer <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here's how the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> will stack up for the series opener in Minnesota. <a href="https://t.co/NmuqLZ2dw6">pic.twitter.com/NmuqLZ2dw6</a></p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/status/762755750737436672">August 8, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
How can Giles possibly still be grouped in with the likes of Gomez with regard to trades paying off? The dude has been insanely filthy since July 1st. Insanely filthy.
