Rangers Notes: Daniels, Palumbo, Beltre

In his latest GM Q&A, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com sits down with Rangers GM Jon Daniels and discusses a number of trade- and front-office-related topics. The interview ranges from Daniels’ entrance into the industry, to his hiring as a general manager at the age of 28 to a number of trades (both good and bad) that he’s made as the Rangers’ top decision-maker over the years. Daniels candidly admits that he was in over his head when he was first named GM. “I’m still surprised,” Daniels tells Feinsand. “Very green at the time; admittedly not ready for it. But what are you going to do, turn it down? ’A contract to be the GM for a Major League team? No, sir, I’m not ready.'” Daniels goes on to detail the lessons he learned early in his tenure, including a vital one from his first major trade: one that sent Alfonso Soriano to the Nationals.

“The mistake we made was not in trading [Soriano], but when we made the deal for [Brad] Wilkerson, [Armando] Galarraga and [Terrmel] Sledge, no sooner had we made the deal and agreed to it at the Winter Meetings did we have 15 clubs calling on Wilkerson,” Daniels recalls. “…Had we engaged clubs on Brad Wilkerson at that point, we could have done pretty well. … [Y]ou make a deal and you have the new player, the bright shiny object, and you fall in love and don’t want to be open-minded to at least considering other things. That was the mistake we made.”

The entire Q&A is a highly recommended read. And once you’ve processed that, a bit more on the Rangers…

• Rangers minor league lefty Joe Palumbo has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, and Tommy John surgery is on the table as an option, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Palumbo rates as the club’s No. 6 prospect at MLB.com, No. 8 on Keith Law’s list at ESPN, No. 9 per Baseball America, and No. 7 per Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen. The scouting reports on Palumbo range peg his ceiling anywhere from league-average starter to late-inning lefty, with multiple mentions of a significant uptick in the southpaw’s velocity last season. Unfortunately, the injury to Palumbo could wipe out a full season of development and sideline him into next summer. The 22-year-old posted a 2.24 ERA with a 122-to-36 K/BB ratio and a 50.2 percent ground-ball rate in Class-A last season and opened the 2017 campaign strongly for the Rangers’ Class-A Advanced affiliate.
• Adrian Beltre still isn’t close to running at full speed as he rehabs a calf injury, writes MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. While Beltre was doing light running as recently as Wednesday of this week, there’s still no firm timetable on when he’ll be able to begin a rehab assignment, let alone actually return to the Rangers’ lineup. In his absence, Joey Gallo continues to get an extended look and has impressed manager Jeff Banister. “I think he has done a stellar job handling it physically and mentally,” Banister tells Sullivan. “I haven’t seen any reaction other than he is engaged and ready to play.”