Rangers Roster Ruminations

David Brown dissects the Rangers' upcoming 40-man roster situation.

5 months ago Joey Matschulat 15 comments 4 recs |

Comments

Great piece of work

I have a piece similar to this that I was going to post right after the season looking at everything.

Interesting observation is DB has Beau Jones ahead of Phillips on the list of guys added to the back end of the 40 man. Im curious what brings him to that conclusion. Both had great success in Bakersfield this year and Phillips has had better success in Frisco, albeit in a little smaller sample size.

Overall I believe we will have plenty of room this winter but I do like the appearance that we are looking toward the future, especially next winters crunch, so early

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Sep 5, 2009 12:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Jones, Phillips, and Kirkman

Not much separates the three RoughRider lefties. All three profile as relievers and are very effective against right-handed batters. If they can become more effective against left-handed hitters, then they could be very valuable members of the Rangers’ bullpen. I rated Jones and Kirkman ahead of Phillips based exclusively on velocity. Jones and Kirkman have fastballs that are a few MPH faster than Phillips.

by spurdynasty on Sep 5, 2009 1:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gotcha

Why do you feel Kirkman is a reliever? Is that just because of the amount of better starters we have and that’s where he will end up or is it because that’s what his stuff projects him as?

Also I thought Phillips had been pretty good against lefties. I’m on my phone now but from what I recall he had been way better than jones had against them. Thanks for your analysis by the way

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Sep 5, 2009 2:49 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

Kirkman and Phillips

Kirkman’s statistical profile is not that of a future major league starter. He doesn’t strike out a lot of hitter, doesn’t force a lot of groundballs, and walks more than average. He has taken positive strides this year, but I just have a hard time seeing him adding enough to be a viable major league starter, especially given the quality and number of pitchers who are in front of him.

Lefthanders have a .280 BA against Phillips during his professional career. Righthanders have hit .254 against him. He was better against lefties than righties in Bakersfield this year but worse against lefties in Frisco. I really like Phillips’ groundball rates but his stuff doesn’t have the same zing as Jones.

by spurdynasty on Sep 5, 2009 8:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Velo order...

Kirkman (91-94), Phillips (89-91), Jones (87-89)

Searching for a way to predict injuries - TexasLeaguers.com

by NoNameOnCard on Sep 6, 2009 6:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good stuff...

I think it’s more likely the team is going to keep options open to pick up players dropped by other teams. I don’t think Vizquel and Byrd will be back next year and I’m not optimistic about the team being active in the FA market.

As others have said, I don’t think the problem with the 40 is this winter, but rather next winter. There are quite a few guys that I wouldn’t lose sleep over being dropped from the 40 after the season this year.

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on Sep 5, 2009 1:04 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Who are those quite a few guys?

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Sep 5, 2009 1:21 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

I'm guessing

Arias, Mendoza, Eyre and maybe even Nippert.

by behindthebag on Sep 5, 2009 1:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well

I don’t know why you would want toget rid of nippert after the year he’s had. Eyre has options left which has and will be valuable next year. Arias is out of options after this season so if he’s not out utility guy next year he’s gone anyway. And Mendoza is a guy I think we need to exhaust that last option on before dropping. His sinker is a dominant pitch when he commands it and he’s still young. I don’t want to give that away just yet although if a clearly better option is there then I’d be fine losing him

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Sep 5, 2009 1:49 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

Not saying to just drop those guys

but you asked which guys he wouldn’t lose sleep over if they were dropped off the 40. Those are some guys that I definitely wouldn’t lose sleep over. I think there would be better options for all except maybe Nippert.

by behindthebag on Sep 5, 2009 2:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Arias

The options for UT IF next year are Arias, Vizquel, FA NRI or Rule 5 draftee. Vizquel would be the obvious choice but he may be too expensive. A FA may also be too expensive. And there is really no difference between Arias and a rule 5 guy other than performance on the field.

Back up IF is an organizational weakness for the Rangers. What doe the Rangers do next year if Kinsler, Andrus or MY get hurt?

Elvis Andrus - 2009 AL Rookie of the Year
Mitch Moreland -Tom Grieve Rangers Minor League Player of the Year
Martin Perez - Nolan Ryan Rangers Minor League Pitcher of the Year

by RangerMad on Sep 5, 2009 2:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't forget

Esteban German. I’d say he’s a prime candidate for UT guy, with his ability to also pinch-run and steal bases off the bench.

by MikeEl on Sep 5, 2009 2:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

German

I doubt the Rangers will want to pay him $1 million to be a utility player.

They can probably just keep Vizquel for about that much.

by Darrell McKown on Sep 5, 2009 10:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

Benoit, Guardado, Jones, Byrd, Blalock, Pudge and Vizquel will all be off.

I wouldn’t mind the Rangers seeing if Benoit would come back on a minor league deal to try and rehab his way back.

I would like to see Vizquel come back as the UT INF, not sure if he would do that though. You only need one of Arias, German, or Vizquel on the 40 imo.

Sadly I hope Byrd isn’t back because of finances and how he would be used over guys like Cruz and Borbon.

No need to have Richardson on the 40.

I’m tired of hearing about Mendoza and his “dominant” sinker. He’s not a good pitcher. Period.

I would like to see the Rangers hold onto Eyre, but if they do drop him I’m not going to bitch about losing Willie Eyre. Same with Doug Mathis.

Gentry was just added to the 40 so he will probably be kept, however with all the OFers on this team it wouldn’t hurt me if they drop him either. Same with Greg Golson.

So there you go. I’m not saying I drop all those guys. However if any of those guys are removed from the 40 I wouldn’t see it as a huge loss. Especially if the Rangers are dropping one of them to make room for someone who they see as a better option.

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on Sep 6, 2009 11:08 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nice 40 Breakdown

I wouldn’t be surprised if we brought in a cheap veteran RH bat to maybe split DH with Murphy while Smoak waits a month or two in AAA. What does everyone think of Troy Glaus? He really can’t play third anymore but could probably handle spot duty at first. He’s not gonna put up a huge average, and his splits reversed in 2008, but he’s always walked, and hes still a lifetime .278/.399/.559 against lefties.

Some have mentioned Ordonez, and he might be a good fit, considering Boras sent Andruw down here, but I personally prefer the guy who walks.

by WhiplashWhiteside on Sep 5, 2009 1:22 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs