Texas Rangers Offseason Plan

Last year, the Rangers were in on every top free agent (Zach Greinke) and potential trade scenarios, remember Justin Upton?

This year, the Rangers are again rumored to be in the mix for several top free agents, Robinson Cano seriously?

As the MLB playoffs move into the Championship Series, I say its time to dive into what the Rangers should do this offseason to get back into a contender.

First, I want to make it clear that I think the Rangers over achieved this year as I had this finishing 3rd in the AL West behind the Angels & Oakland with Texas missing the playoffs.  I was simply not impressed with the Rangers offense built around Nelson Cruz & Lance Berkman.

With that said, let us begin.

By my count, the Rangers have between $25 - $30 million to play with in free agency.  That puts any free agent in the discussion but do you want one mega high profile player or 3-5 mid-level players?

I argue what did Texas in last year was a poor bench (sound familiar?) and an offense that could not hit or get on base especially in the 5-7 spots on the lineup.

The poor bench has been a constant miss under Jon Daniel's watch, this can and must be addressed as Ron Washington will drive his veterans into the ground without a quality bench.

The Rangers already have 2 quality bench players who have proven to hit and be solid versus left handed pitching in Jeff Baker & Craig Gentry.  Baker would need to be resigned.

They need a bat who can hit right handed pitching who can be very affordable while also able to play multiple positions.  I insert Michael Morse here, had a disasterous 2013 with the Mariners after being traded in the offseason from the Nationals.  But he's a career. 280 hitter against righties and. 284 versus lefties. I suggest he will come cheap after such a poor season last year but the guy has a track record for hitting well, can play in the outfield and first base.

Next up is what to do about the catching position.  The Rangers dream would be to get Brian McCann from Atlanta but even if the Braves somehow let him leave, he's a top target across the league and will be able to tell teams what it will take to sign him, sources suggest he will get 90 million over 5 years.  I like McCann the ballplayer but absolutely not worth that type of money.  I move on to my next target.

Introduce Carlos Ruiz from the Phillies.

I have always been a fan of National League catchers, their attention seems to be more on working with pitchers and getting on base anyway they can.  Ruiz has done that for years after being a late bloomer averaging a. 294 BA over the past 4 years that includes a sub-par year in 2013 hitting just. 268.  His price will be below market value with his 25 game suspension this year after posting career numbers in home runs in 2012.  The question will hang over him that if he saw that increase in production naturally or with help?  That should keep Ruiz's price down and willing to take a shorter contract so he can prove he's clean and deserves big money.  I offer Ruiz a 2-year $15 million contract.

I mentioned Lance Berkman earlier and the DH position again needs to be addressed after Berkman will retire and open up the position.  Daniels should fill this void with someone they are extremely knowledgeable about, Kendry Morales from the Mariners.  He's played most of his career in the division moving over from the Angels a year ago.  He was easily the Mariners best hitter, he hit for average and power which is hard to do playing in Seattle.  He earned around $5 million last year and think he does deserve a slight raise in the $7 million range but not excessive considering he offers zero flexibility in the lineup, strictly a DH.

Here's where we stand thus far, 3 players for $16 million total allocating $2M to Morse, $7M to Ruiz and $7M to Morales.  That leaves $20 million left to address my remaining spots, first base and starting rotation.

I want to add depth to my starting rotation in the event someone gets hurt or I need that 5th starter to be an impact starter like last year. I look into someone who's been on the teams radar for years, coming off a subpar season but has track record of pitching well in the AL and willing to take a short term deal to prove he can still get it done.

Josh Johnson from the Blue Jays is that guy.  The Rangers have been involved in trade talks for Johnson for years dating back to when he was with Miami as well as last year at the deadline.  He made $13 million last year but I suggest that salary comes way down after posting career worst ERA, home run to fly ball ratio dating back to 2007.  Johnson will obviously want a multi-year deal but will have to earn it taking a one-year deal after such a poor year, Texas should jump on that.  I offer him a one-year $6.5 million contract.

Finally, first base has been a joke for the Rangers the past several seasons and the worst part is watching previous Rangers have excellent seasons with other clubs, Adrian Gonzales with the Dodgers & Chris Davis in Baltimore to mention a few.

I feel the Rangers need to add some power to that first base position with a right handed bat and upgrade my left handed hitter to play the corner outfield spots.  Jose Abreau is a Cuban defector who thanks to a few loopholes is eligible for total unrestricted free agency into the Major Leagues as a 26 year old rookie.  Recent other Cubans have transitioned well to the Majors after limited time in the minors like Leonys Martin or even no time at all like Yoenis Cespedes in Oakland.  Abreau is a big strong power right handed hitter at the first base position, pure and simple.  Sources confirm Texas is one of 6 teams heavily involved in acquiring Abreau once free agency opens a week after the World Series.

The best part of this deal is I don't cut, trade or send down Mitch Moreland, he becomes my left handed bat who can hit right handed pitching and play the outfield corner spots.  It may not be the drastic upgrade people were expecting over David Murphy but Jurickson Profar is still in my plans to be an every day corner outfielder.

Finally, what do the Rangers do about Nelson Cruz?  Local media reports the Rangers are unsure if they will make a qualifying offer to Cruz which amounts to $14 million dollars. I say yes they should without a doubt, get the draft pick in return if he signs elsewhere and if he does sign it, I'm fine with his bat and he can play left field for my team.  If Cruz does not sign the offer, I make zero effort to resign him and turn my attention to Carlos Beltran who has quietly put together an excellent career and not slowed down still hitting for power and average consistently.

Here's the lineup I give to Ron Washington with these deals.

Lineup
Kinsler
Andrus
Cruz/Beltran
Beltre
Morales
Rios
Ruiz
Abreau
Martin

My goal was to upgrade the 5-7 spots, Morales, Rios and Ruiz gives me 3 hitters all of whom would of hit in the top 4 a year ago.  Second, I wanted to add quality to my bench, this gives me Soto, Moreland, Baker, Morse & Gentry.   Mission accomplished?

Can't tell me the Rangers had this in mind

Reminds me to the Mavericks pipe dream of the 2012 offseason plan of signing Deron Williams, then trade for Dwight Howard to quickly build a contender. The plan fell apart and so did the backup plans.

The Rangers find themselves in a similiar state but with a few thankful alternatives I will mention shortly. They hoped to sign Zack Greinke to shore up the rotation and give them a dominating 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. Then use the farm system to acquire a top bat and allow them to move on from Josh Hamilton, the names involved were Justin Upton or even resign Hamilton.

The Rangers organization were involved in almost every rumor involving top players at the winter meetings but refused to trade any of the top prospects. Other teams moved on simply leaving the Rangers on the outside looking in. Greinke went to the Dodgers, Arizona acquired a average safety in a multi-team trade and decided they were better off not trading Upton and for kicks, Hamilton signed for 5-years with AL West rival LA Angels De California.

So incase you missed it, here's what the Rangers have done thus far.

Lost
Mike Napoli (deal still pending with Red Sox)
Mike Adams
Koji Uhera
Josh Hamilton

Traded away Mike Young

Signed
Joakim Soria (Recovering from Tommy John surgery)
AJ Pierzynski

This team is weak in the middle of the lineup with no bats that will intimidate opposing pitchers. Only Adrian Beltre has the bat to consistently beat teams with power  but he will have no one to protect him. Nelson Cruz is not the consistent power threat to be that kind of guy and AJ might fill that role but it seems wishful thinking at this point.

Management has been mute on the plans for Kinsler this year, his job at second is in jeopardy as Jurickson Profar will be given every opportunity to take his job at spring. Does he move to first base or left field? I like Kinsler's bat and I want him more in a role he can drive more runs in than a simple solo shot to start a game. I am against having him as a leadoff guy, would rather have Andrus in that role. I like the idea of Profar in the 9 spot with Andrus at leadoff, Murphy at 2nd followed by Kinsler, Beltre and AJ.

The team is also weak in the bullpen as well as the back end of the rotation. The team has said they will make Alexi Ogando a starter this year despite a huge hole as a 8th inning power relief pitcher. Ogando was an excellent starting pitcher two years ago but faded fast down the stretch. This team is going to have to win with pitching and defense, the offense will have trouble scoring consistently. I value starting pitching over a set up man, I'd rather have Ogando in the rotation where he has success at the ML level and acquire a veteran set up reliever prior to spring training. I understand the arguement need to be strong in the bullpen especially when team will have trouble scoring runs but same is true if you are down 4 nothing after two innings.

I expect Robbie Ross will become a extremely consistent reliever and become that set up man until Soria returns from his surgery to form a solid back end of the bullpen as well as a future closer in Soria when Joe Nathan heads to free agency next year.