Ian Desmond’s path to the Rangers all began earlier in the offseason, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The club let him know that they would have interest on the off chance that Desmond couldn’t find a multi-year deal and was willing to move to the outfield, says Grant, and that indeed turned out to be the case. “Things can change,” GM Jon Daniels explained. “You have to be prepared. You never know when a domino might fall. If you have any interest in that player, you have to express that early on.” Daniels has also made clear that he doesn’t believe there will be any difficulty in sorting out playing time when Josh Hamilton is ready to return.
Here’s more from Texas and the rest of the American League:
- Rangers co-owner Ray Davis discussed his organization today, and Grant has the story. Most notably, he said that the club can still add payroll for a mid-season addition after signing Desmond. As for that move, he explained: “It was a matter of need and Jon Daniels and Thad Levine finding a way to do things creatively. They came to us and proposed a creative deal. For me, this is a process where nobody other than the baseball people make the player decision. My only role is an economic one. They have a plan and decision they make long before they come to me.”
- Royals catcher Salvador Perez is excited at his new deal and hopes he’ll spend the rest of his career in Kansas City, writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. From the team’s perspective, despite a team-friendly contract already being in place, it made sense to swing another deal. “We went into Salvy’s previous deal with expectations that obviously he was going to be a terrific player,” said GM Dayton Moore. “We’ve always believed in him — as a talent, as a person, as a teammate. And he’s out-performed that contract. He’s an underpaid player in the game.” Noting the sacrifice that Gil Meche made when he left money upon departing the team, Moore explained that the motivation extended beyond pure baseball economics. “You focus on what’s right for Sal,” Moore said. “We’ve said from day one, that we want to create an organization that we’d want our own sons and family to be a part of. Well, Salvy’s family.”
- Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports wonders whether other clubs will follow suit in rewarding underpaid players. He cites Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks, Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs, Jose Altuve of the Astros, Chris Sale of the White Sox, Madison Bumgarner of the Giants, and Chris Archer of the Rays as others on team-friendly pacts. From my perspective, most of those players line up more as traditional second extension candidates, in that their teams may well see some value in doubling down on their investments in the way that has occurred in the past for Troy Tulowitzki, Evan Longoria, Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman, and others.
- As for Altuve, the Astros aren’t currently holding extension talks, according to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. Like his friend Perez, Altuve has greatly outperformed his own contract, which would stand to pay him just $25MM if Houston exercises its two options. As Drellich notes, though, Altuve would still stand to hit the market at 29 years of age and probably has a better chance at longevity than does Perez.
- White Sox skipper Robin Ventura says that he envisions Jimmy Rollins making the club out of camp, as Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune tweets. “I expect him to make the team, unless something happens physically where it wouldn’t work,” said Ventura.
The Rangers will always be cursed.
These owners have already soured in my eyes… There’s no more head baseball people in the ownership group with Greenberg and Ryan gone. After you account for the TV deal, Bob Simpson and Ray Davis aren’t spending any more money on payroll than Tom Hicks.
I wish fans like you would go away. You have no concept of how baseball is won and lost. They just won the division. They have a top 5-7 payroll. They just signed Desmond for 8mil. They get Darvish back. They brought in Hamels, Diekman, Dyson last summer. They have a top 5 minor league system.
What the hell else do you want? I’m fairly positive the Dodgers have already proven you can’t buy a ring.
Ok, so how about using an argument that has something to do with ownership. I wish people like you could argue significantly better. Shelling out $8M for Desmond was shocking considering that the owners had said they wouldn’t stretch payroll at all. Getting Darvish back, bringing in Hamels, Dyson, and Diekman all have nothing to do with ownership. Last season’s additions had to do with Jon Daniels, who is not part of ownership (SHOCKING, i know). Comparing the Dodgers to the Rangers without considering that they have entirely different front offices is ridiculous, pathetic, and lazy. Again, please address how the OWNERSHIP isn’t all that bad, instead of deflecting to praise JD & Co.
Ownership signs off on everything JD does. He didn’t add Hamels and Desmonds contracts to the payroll without their approval.
You act like if ownership doesn’t shell out a couple of 200 mil contracts every offseason then its a failure. I just don’t understand what it is you want from them? They have the 8th highest payroll in baseball. The top two teams? Yep the Yankees and Dodgers. Who was in the world series last year? Yep the Royals and Mets. 13th and 15th respectively in payroll. Money spent does NOT equate to winning championships. This team operates extremely well from ownership, management and coaching from the major leagues all the way down to rookie ball.
Once again I will say this one more time so maybe you will get it. Spending money does NOT!!!!!!! equal winning championships. Have a nice day.
No, the ownership group does not have to sign off on everything JD does. If it fits within the budget, he’s allowed to do what he believes is right. It’s obvious that you’re not a Ranger fan, and you didn’t suffer through the Tom Hicks era of not spending on supplemental pieces. I was here when a third of the payroll was spent on ONE player.
These owners aren’t passionate about winning; they are only in it for the money… in a market where all the other sports teams are owned by passionate fans who want to win above all else. You’re not looking at it from a fan’s viewpoint either. It’s not about what the payroll is, it’s what the owners are paying out of pocket. Rangers fans were ecstatic when the huge TV deal was signed, only to see payroll raised a minimal level when it went into effect.
You’re wrong again. I’ve lived in Ft Worth my entire life and I’m a die hard Ranger fan. I go to countless games at home and on the road. If you had listened to JD and Ray Davis speak they both mentioned that JD asked ownership for approval to bring Desmond in because the budget was already reached.
Tom Hicks wasn’t a good owner. He tried to make a splash with A-Rod and it backfired big time. He signed numerous ridiculous contracts that backfired. Things started going the right direction before the new owners got here. JD and Nolan righted the ship. They did so by focusing on developing minor league talent and spending their money wisely. This is a very talented roster. Every team in the big leagues has question marks. I’m glad that they are making wise decisions in regards to bringing in too many bad long term contracts because that’s how you become the Yankees. This ownership group has invested. They spent on Darvish, Andrus, Choo, they’re paying Fielder way more than he’s worth. You have to fill a few spots with cheaper players. You can’t freaking All stars at every spot on the field. Nobody has that.
I’ll put this roster up against any team in the AL and feel good about my chances.
The last year Hicks owned the team, the Rangers payroll was $68.6M. This was in the bottom third of all MLB payrolls. I think they are balancing all parts of the organization so that they don’t end up in the long term mess that the Angels are in. Also, they are paying their 2 left fielders a combined $8M. This despite the fact that both players had combined contract offers of $234M.
The last year Hicks owned the team, the TV deal covered a minuscule portion of that $68.6M. The new TV deal shells out $80M/year. $68.6 + $80 = $148.6. This was the offseason to splurge and bring in another true ace and not have question marks for 60% of the rotation, but instead, they decided they couldn’t/wouldn’t shell out any more money than Tom Hicks did. My comment is factually accurate.
Also, I’m unaware of any offer that Josh Hamilton had considering that he’s already under contract. The fact that the Rangers are only paying a minuscule portion of Hamilton’s contract doesn’t negate the fact that he’s raking it in for minimal performance.
Someone with a brain. I like you.
Darvish, Hamels, Perez, Holland, Lewis/Gonzalez/Griffin is a top 2 or 3 rotation in the American league.
You have this idea that money will make everything better. When time and time again that has proven to fail. Once again showing how completely clueless you are.
Actually Charles, you have the wrong idea. What you are thinking is teams that overspend on talent, the prime example you brought up being the Dodgers and Yankees. You have this idea, or rather this idea is fundamental to your argument (whether you believe it or not), that every team that spends big does so wisely. Your argument doesn’t account for the Giants who have increased payroll each time they’ve won the World Series and have won every other year for the last 6 years, and are on pace to win again this year.
And about the rotation?? 2 words: When HEALTHY… The Rangers #2, #3, and #4 starters this year combined for 370 innings over the last 2 seasons. Their #1 and #5 starters both single handedly topped that. It’s far from every year that numerous high-end work horses hit the market, and it’s uninspiring when a team can’t even pursue one because the owners don’t want to spend any more money than the previous owner did.
In the end, as clueless as you think I am, you don’t even have a clue what you’re arguing against. You THINK I believe the Rangers should spend just to spend money. However, the Rangers have need in starting pitching depth. As good as you think the Rangers rotation is, if I told you 3 of your starters have averaged less than 75 innings/year for the last 2 years, would you be comfortable with ownership holding onto $20M instead of targeting another starter? I doubt it. And if you say you are, not many people would believe you.
And you will always be an idiot.
charles stevens is a demacrat. forgive my spelling.
What? Maybe you should consider an education before you attempt lame ass insults.
stop calling people you disagree with names. you talk like a demacrat you clown. you are the idiot. make your opinion known of course but stop insulting people. you jerk.
Tycobb named after a KNOWN racist
Your parents must be so proud.
i knew you could express yourself without resorting to name calling charles. im proud of you. keep up the gpod work. its never too late to change. people like you just need a kick in the ass, you dumb dumb.
Ughhh Rays need to find some way to increase their payroll. Archer is signed through 2019 (2021 if both options are exercised, though an extension would probably buy out 2020 and 2021), but if he continues to improve and remains healthy I could see some renegotiation after 2018. He will require a contract at least as large as Longoria, and they need to lock up some of their other young guys like Kiermaier and Odorizzi. By 2018 they will also likely have Robertson/Adames, Snell, and a few other top prospects in the MLB with enough experience to gauge if they are worth extending.
For what it’s worth, I think they deal Odorizzi.
I don’t see the comparison between Salvy and the other deals mentioned. Really a stretch to compare. Salvy’s salary would be double what it is currently and that gap would widen as he enters 2 and 3 years of arb. The rest are being paid more like 75/80% of projected/comparable arb figures. That deal was way too unique and it would be silly to extend or throw money at any of the players mentioned by Rosenthal, its spring training he can come up with a better article than that as a reaction to the deal.
Yeah, all of the players mentioned are significantly better than Salvy too. What makes them similar is their importance to the clubhouse and city. Goldy, Altuve, Sale, Bumgarner, Archer are all A/A+ players, and Tulo, Longo, Braun, and Zimmerman were all A/A+ players when they signed. Perez is a good player but not on the same level as the rest.
You’re right by saying Perez isn’t on the same level as those players. But his value is integral to a small market KC roster. Being able to roll out a top flight catcher enables them to spread that typical below average positional value on to other positions. The catcher position is a whole that even many contenders struggle to fill with value. So while Perez’s value doesn’t translate to other positions as well…he’s absolutely a valuable asset for the Royals.
Similar to Joe Mauer’s value before MN took him off the dish…and Poseys value as long as the Giants keep him behind the plate.