TODAY: The Rangers may hold off on acquiring a starter due to Cashner’s relative progress, Sullivan writes. While the righty still may be a longshot to make Opening Day, Cashner might not be out of action for too long, so Texas could get by with internal options. Griffin, for instance, improved his stock with a good four-inning outing on Saturday.
FRIDAY: Cashner’s outlook seems reasonably positive, per an update from MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets. The righty will have an injection before beginning a new throwing program this weekend, says Sullivan. Notably, follow-up visits to the doctor have not revealed any “major” problems with his arm.
YESTERDAY, 1:00pm: Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail now says, more definitively, that Cashner will not be ready for the start of the season, tweets Wilson.
10:07am: Right-hander Andrew Cashner has suffered a setback in his recovery from biceps tendinitis and will be shut down for another few days, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The latest injury troubles for Cashner now have his readiness to open the season in doubt, and Cashner is likely to undergo an MRI to give the Rangers more information on the issue.
Beyond that, the Rangers saw their catching depth take a hit, as Brett Nicholas will require surgery to repair a torn meniscus and be sidelined into April (Twitter link via MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan). Furthermore, Sullivan tweets that Jurickson Profar jammed his left middle finger while playing in the World Baseball Classic, though there’s no indication that the issue is serious.
Certainly, the larger issue for the Rangers is Cashner’s timeline. Signed to a one-year, $10MM contract this winter, the oft-injured Cashner was penciled in as a likely fourth starter behind Yu Darvish, Cole Hamels and Martin Perez. Tyson Ross was signed this winter to serve as a fifth starter as well, but it was known at the time his deal was finalized that he wouldn’t be ready come Opening Day.
Cashner been dealing with biceps tendinitis since at least last week but was at least playing catch from a distance of 120 feet on Tuesday, Wilson notes. Even that level of activity, it seems, will be halted for the time being, however.
Texas does have a number of alternative options for the final two spots in the rotation, though none is without his question marks. A.J. Griffin is once again in the mix, though he posted an ERA north of 5.00 in 119 innings with the Rangers last season. Former first-rounder Chi Chi Gonzalez is another option, but the 25-year-old had an unimpressive season in Triple-A last year. Nick Martinez, Eddie Gamboa, Tyler Wagner and Yohander Mendez are all also on the 40-man roster, though Mendez has already been optioned out of big league camp. Veteran righty Dillon Gee is also in camp on a non-roster deal and has been healthy to this point.
While pulling one starter (or a combination of starters) from that mix to fill one spot in the rotation seems doable, it may be asking a lot of that group to ably fill two slots in the rotation of an expected contender in the American League West. It’s not yet known exactly how long Cashner will miss, but if he’s deemed to require a significant absence, then certainly one can imagine the Rangers looking to the remaining free agents or to some lower-profile trades to help fill out the rotation. Longtime Rangers fixture Colby Lewis remains unsigned, as do righties Doug Fister and Edwin Jackson (though Texas reportedly decided against making an offer to Jackson after watching him throw last month). Any talk of Texas adding an arm is, of course, speculative in nature to this point, however.
As for Nicholas, his injury thins out the Rangers’ catching depth but isn’t likely to have a significant impact on the team’s big league roster. Jonathan Lucroy and Robinson Chirinos are the clear top two catchers in the organization, although with each playing in the WBC, Nicholas’ injury does leave Texas a bit thin on catching options in camp while that tournament is in progress.
Doug Fister signing in 5, 4….
No reason not to have Colby back on another cheap deal at this point
Rotator cuff, latisimus dorsi, cut thumb during hunting, and a slew of back, neck, tendon and shoulder injuries. And somehow he’s a safe enough bet to give 10 million too. The over/under for DL trips this year is set at 2.5
Where is the idiot that was against the Rizzo for cashner trade now?? Oh wait that was me. I really thought cashner was going to be a ace. I hope he comes back.
I can’t remember a pitcher-for-hitter trade that was won by the team getting the pitcher. I’m probably wrong but it’s always like Rizzo-Cashner or Hamilton-Volquez, feelis like the team getting the hitter almost always comes out on top.
Feel free to bring up examples proving otherwise though, I’m really blanking on any.
I guess you could argue Kluber (Ryan Ludwick I believe was the big hitter in that one, though I think it was a three-teamer) and maybe Porcello/Cespedes.
The porcello/cespedes one seems like a stretch, since cespedes was an all star that year while porcello was pretty mediocre. (Plus the fact that trading cespedes later netted Fulmer)
Yes on Kluber. The Tigers ultimately got Michael Fulmer out of the Porcello trade who is better and cheaper than Porcello so still a win for them.
He’s not better than the Cy Young winner.
Look at their ERA’s. Fulmer is better. Porcello winning the CY was a complete joke anyway.
Rick Porcello probably wasn’t even a top 3 pitcher in the AL last year. But wins matter sooooo much to voters apparently
Yup. No 22-4 and Porcello isn’t even in the conversation for the CY, even if he pitched exactly the same.
Yee of short memory. The Rick Porcello of 2016, is the same Rick Porcello that got pounded in 2015. Which version you prefer doesn’t matter because they are both Rick Porcello. You just don’t know which one will appear this season. My guess is somewhere in the middle. I’ll take my chances with Fulmer.
Look up Nolan Ryan.
In your opinion, other than ERA, in what way was Fulmer better than Porcello last season? I typically don’t think of ERA as the best measure since it is based on subjective errors. FIP, WHIP, H/9, HR/9, BB/9, K/9 are all less subjective and Porcello was as good or better in all of them.
Pineda-montero is one that comes to mind even though Pineda has been up and down
member Anthony Rizzo? i member
You are full of memerys
member han solo? where mah berries at
Well there’s a shocker.
I still don’t get why they didn’t just keep Holland for an extra $1 million.
Because Holland is an even worse injury risk
Not enough to justify switching to a guy that you have no idea if he could even remotely stay afloat in the AL. His numbers have been horrible in the NL for a few years now.
3.85 FIP in 2015 and 3.09 FIP in 2014. He’s been far from terrible before last year and he pitched better than his numbers show last year. He certainly hasn’t played to his potential but calling him “terrible” is just incorrect.
JUST SIGN COLBY
Lol
Waiting for someone to say they’re surprised…
I’m surprised…..not.
I am surprised he got 1 year 10 mill.
Personally, had the Padres stuck with Cashner as a bullpen piece they would have made the rizzo deal more equal. He had all the tools to be an elite closer/ set up man.
But, at least Preller actually got some decent pieces for Cashner. Naylor and Capps was a definite overpay.
You don’t trade a controllable MVP contender for a bullpen piece
2016- Rizzo was 4th
2015- Rizzo was 4th
2014- Rizzo was 10th
2013- Rizzo was wasn’t even top 25
Hasn’t even come close to MVP in any season.
In the one year cashner was used as a bullpen piece he posted 10.10 k/9, 3.69 bb/9, 53% GB rate, and a xfip of 3.06. He had the stuff to be an elite and dominant closer had he stuck with it.
Thus, they then trade a MVP candidate for a CY Young Candidate as elite and dominant closers do garnish CY Young votes. Or, at the very worst, he is an elite set up man.
Also, weren’t you the one who said it’s easy to get decent production from 1B? There is a premium on pitching for a reason in this league. Because its not easy to find it. You can find a decent 1B option in this league, you won’t always find decent pitching that is available on the market.
Yup. 4th in the MVP voting. Where was Cashner in the Cy Yoing voting? Exactly.
I didn’t say it was easy to get decent production from 1st base or really any position. I said that it’s harder to get decent production from SS than 1st base and it is.
Cashner’s has only ever had success as a starter. As a reliever he just walked everyone. He had a great run as a starter in 2013 and 14.
In the end, without that trade the Padres as a team would have won more games in every year after it. That is the only reason we need to not make it.
If 4th in MVP voting “isn’t even close”, then I’ll take “isn’t even close” every day of the year.
Saying Rizzo was a controllable MVP candidate at the time of the trade means that you could also say Cashner was a controllable Cy Young candidate. 20/20 hindsight is not a gift that is unique to you.
I said at the time Rizzo would become an MVP candidate so no, this isn’t hindsight.
The big hurt is defending the Padres Trade for Cashner??? Hahahaha
He also defends the Matt Kemp trade and thought the rebuilding Phillies should trade for James Shields.
Wow….31-53 and this bum gets 10 Million a year!
And please don’t comment on how bad the teams were that he pitched for. Cream rises to the top!
One injured year after the next.
YIKES! what a bad decision by the Rangers!
Padres traded him away at the perfect time and got a Capps, Cosart, and Naylor for him and Guerrero. Some kind of nice.
Cosart is trash
Yeah, every 26-year-old guy that has a 3.92 ERA and throws mid-90s is trash. Sure. What are you going to say next, that wins are a great measure of pitching performance?
Here is a prediction for you. Cosart will go to the Padres pen and put up an ERA under 3.00 and be one of the top setup men in the game over the next few years.
I look at him and see a mirror of Daniel Hudson.
You padres fans talk a lot…last time you talked this much was about your ROCK STAR GM making all those BRASH and BOLD moves to get you to the pennant.
Sorry Charlie….stilll second division.
Top set up men in the league over the next couple of years…..PLEASE
Yes, the Padres definitely got rid of him at the absolute best time. I just hope that new pitching rule they made doesn’t affect Capps when he comes back from TJ surgery this season.
Capps could be the Padres closer by the end of the year and if he ends up in the pen Cosart’s stuff could take him from a failed starter to a very good reliever. You can overcome not having a 3rd plus pitch in the pen, especially when you throw 95. I saw Naylor play in Greensboro and I was not impressed compared so some of the other players that have come through here.
In other news, the sky is blue, water is wet, and people are still starving in Africa.
only in Africa?
Cashner is loser. It was one of worst trades on baseball history giving up Rizzo. Rizzo,Forsythe, Turner, Gyorko, and Grandal would of been nice IF.
Wow padreforlife…not according to the wizard of MIB Traderumors….Westcoastryan!
We’re all crazy and he’s the smartest buy in the room.
No, just you. Setting a new standard…
Oh a comment from the peanut gallery….or should I say the nut bin.
Please stop. If you want to insult people there’s plenty of places on the internet to do that.
Smartest buy? Since when am I for sale?
I consider you in the mark down bin.
I remember seeing Cashner throw 100 and striking out the side in a game against the Dodgers in 2012 and thinking he could be a great closer. Vin Scully said something about that too. What happened to him?
The Cubs had him relieving at one point as well. He kept getting hurt then too
Thoughts and prayers.