The OFFICIAL Texas Rangers thread

[bucky]

No big loss in Ramirez. I was really surprised Salty never made it. I thought he was the stud of that Texiera trade and would lock our catcher spot down for the next 7-10 years

[SC457A]

No big loss in Ramirez. I was really surprised Salty never made it. I thought he was the stud of that Texiera trade and would lock our catcher spot down for the next 7-10 years

I think Salty's injuries had a lot to do with it. Seems like he rushed back from the surgery he had, never fully recovered. All his down time slowed down his development. Then he got a tad impatient when he was stuck in AAA.

Ramirez is just like Chris Davis. Good AAA player, just can't make it in the show.

[mustang_marc]

Looks like Garza is off the market now...

There is a deal in place to send Matt Garza from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Chicago Cubs, pending physicals, sources say. The Cubs' interest in the 27-year-old right-hander has been well-documented.

Outfielder Fernando Perez and a possible third player will also be going to Chicago. In exchange the Rays will get Chris Archer, Hak-Ju Lee, Brandon Guyer, Robinson Chirinos and Sam Fuld. Archer and Lee are considered top prospects, but the Cubs managed to hang on to Starlin Castro, Tyler Colvin and Brett Jackson, their very best young players.

Archer, a 22-year-old righty, went 8-2 with a 1.30 ERA in 13 starts at Double A in 2010. Lee, a 20-year-old shortstop from Korea, has batted .299 in two seasons in professional baseball, none higher than Class A, while racking up 57 stolen bases. Guyer is a 24-year-old outfielder who played at Double A in 2010, Chirinos is a 26-year-old who was recently converted to catcher, and Fuld is a 29-year-old outfielder who has played 98 games in the majors in parts of three seasons.

The Cubs now have a very good starting rotation that has great depth. In addition to Garza, the Cubs have Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Andrew Cashner as their likely top four with veterans Carlos Silva, Randy Wells and Tom Gorzelany in contention for the No. 5 spot.

Garza will not be a free agent until after the 2013 season but he is eligible for arbitration this year for the first time. The Rays have been looking to lower their payroll from last season and have already lost 2010 AL All-Stars Carl Crawford and Joaquin Benoit to free agency, among others. Carlos Pena, another All-Star last season, already bolted Tampa Bay for the Cubs during last month's winter meetings.

In 2010, Garza pitched a no-hitter against the Tigers, part of a season in which he established career highs in wins (15) and innings pitched (204 2/3). In parts of five major league seasons, Garza has gone 42-44 with a 3.93 ERA and three shutouts.

[bucky]

From what i understand, the Cubs gave up a ton to get Garza. He can now die a slow death in the pitchers wasteland that is Wrigley Field. Pitchers and the Cubs just don't seem to make it.

I am content to head to spring training with what we have. No one out there really excites me and definatly not worth our top prospects. There will be some pitching that will come available before the trade deadline and i expect the Rangers to be players

[0 GT 2]

Where did Pavano end up going?

[GTBrian23]

As far as I know he is still on the market. Not sure we have the cash flow to add him to more than a one year deal. Not with all the money we will have to pay Hamilton, Cruz etc in the near future. Wouldnt mind giving him a 1-2 year deal if he would take it

[mustang_marc]

Looks like the Rangers tried to go after Garza.

According to Peter Gammons, the Rangers went hard after Matt Garza this week. Club officials made it clear this winter that they were interested in Garza and apparently they tried very hard. Gammons said the Rangers tried to get outfielder Robinson Chirinos from the Cubs and package him in a deal along with pitchers Derek Holland and Frank Francisco, and Minor League outfielder Engel Beltre. But the Rays preferred what they were getting from Chicago because the Cubs were willing to put pitcher Chris Archer in the deal. A source said the Rays were close to doing business with the Rangers, but told the Cubs they could get Garza if they included Archer in the deal.

The Cubs huddled and decided to do the deal. If they had said no, the Rangers would have added Garza to the rotation. The Rays ultimately really wanted Archer.

[GTBrian23]

At the end of the day you gotta have what the other person wants. Thats twice this off-season we have struck out on trades for good pitchers because of this

[mustang_marc]

Kind of glad that didn't get done either. Aside from Lee, growing our own is just as good as anything out there on the market. Holland has shown glimpses of being really good...and I'd like to see him mature this year in a Rangers uniform. We are dealing from a position of strength (strong farm) and we don't need to deplete that. We were in 1st place last year with our home grown stuff...and that's the way to keep payroll in check.

[GTBrian23]

Looks like the Rangers a looking for a backup DH?? in case Young has to fill in somewhere in the infield I am assuming. Thome seems like a class act but not sure about this, is is getting way up there in age. Not that he would be playing everyday



The Texas Rangers are in serious pursuit of Jim Thome, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

According to sources, the Minnesota Twins are also interested in the free agent slugger.

Thome spent last season in Minnesota after signing a one-year, $1.5 million contract in February. He spent most of his time with the Twins as the designated hitter, hitting .283 with 25 homers and 59 RBIs in 276 at-bats.

Thome has played for five teams in his 19-year MLB career. The lefty became a star in Cleveland, helping the Indians supplant the Twins as the AL Central's top team in the mid-1990s.

After three years in Philadelphia, Thome returned to the division with the Chicago White Sox in 2006.

His solo homer in Game 163 in 2008 propelled the White Sox into the playoffs and sent the Twins home early for the winter. He was traded to the Dodgers late in 2009, but wanted to return to the White Sox in his home state of Illinois to finish his career.

The White Sox decided to go in another direction at designated hitter, so Thome wound up taking a deal with the Twins.

[BP]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110107&content_id=16405048&vkey=news_tex&c_id=tex

Holland, Moreland, Sundberg and Grieve are all scheduled to be at Academy on Bryant Irvin tonight for a meet and great. They haven't really advertised it so it shouldn't be too crowded. Lots of other stops as well.

[bcoop]

Rangers signed CJ and Nellie both to 1 year contracts yesterday, to avoid arbitration. Surprised nobody else has mentioned it yet.

[Kenny_Stang]

Glad they got those two taken care of, they still have Hamilton, Frankie Francisco, and O'Day to wrap up. Also there was some speculation of them trying to work out a multi-year deal with Andrus who will be arbitration eligible next year.

[mstng86]

Hadn't heard this.

Francisco is really a liability IMO. Not sure we need to really covet him in anyway.

[Lone Sailor]

I heard it on the radio last night, but it really wasn't news to me as I didn't think they wouldn't come to terms before the deadline.