Rangers general manager Jon Daniels suggested last week the club could reduce beleaguered second baseman Rougned Odor’s playing time. Manager Chris Woodward was even more aggressive Thursday in saying the Rangers need better from Odor, telling TR Sullivan of MLB.com that he’s “obviously got to show some improvement.” Otherwise, the Rangers will “have to make some decisions,” Woodward said, adding: “We are willing to withstand some lack of production, but this is the big leagues. I hate to say it, but you’ve got to be good to play every day, and he knows.” Woodward believes the rest of the season will be critical for Odor, who has turned in abysmal production for the second time since 2017. Prospect Nick Solak has been eating into Odor’s playing time of late as a result. Contrary to the inexpensive Solak, Odor’s causing a sizable dent in the Texas payroll. He’ll earn a guaranteed $36MM from 2020-22, including a $3MM buyout for ’23. Finances notwithstanding, Woodward will be reluctant to continue penciling Odor into the lineup if he continues putting up bottom-of-the-barrel numbers.
- The Padres are anticipating a heated second base competition next spring between Luis Urias and Ty France, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Urias is the more hyped player of the duo, as he’s not far removed from a run as an elite prospect, but San Diego doesn’t want to simply hand him a starting job. The 22-year-old has recorded weak offensive totals since he debuted in the majors last season, having logged a .191/.302/.289 line through 202 trips to the plate, though Urias has been much more productive this month. He also laid waste to Triple-A pitching earlier this season. France, 25, has been even better this season at that level, where he has performed like one of the premier hitters in the minors with a jaw-dropping .399/.477/.770 line and 27 home runs over 348 PA. However, like Urias, France hasn’t done much at the big league level to this point.
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington is seemingly leaving the door open for the club to promote one of its top prospects, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, when rosters expand this Sunday. The 22-year-old hasn’t thrived overall this season in his first action at Triple-A, where he has batted .266/.334/.420 in 459 plate appearances, but he has caught fire since a slow start. Asked if the defensively adept Hayes’ recent success with the bat could lead to his first major league call-up, Huntington told Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (subscription required), “It could in theory.” However, as you’d expect, Huntington went on to indicate the Pirates don’t want to rush him to the game’s highest level. With that in mind, Pittsburgh “probably” won’t summon Hayes to the majors this year, Biertempfel writes.
- White Sox star Yoan Moncada has already changed positions once during his short career. After playing second base from 2017-18, he has lined up at third for the entirety of this season. While Moncada told Scott Merkin of MLB.com he expects to continue at the hot corner “for a very, very long time,” he’d be willing to move elsewhere if it helps the team. That’s unlikely to happen, per Merkin, though he notes the White Sox could do a 180 if they’re able to land, say, third baseman Anthony Rendon in free agency. In that case, Moncada could shift back to second or even the outfield – two areas that have been weak points for Chicago in 2019.
The White Sox are not signing FA Anthony Rendon. Moncada is solid at the hot corner and at the plate. They will prioritize a lefty-hitter this offseason in free agency or via the trade route to balance off a batting order that leans heavily right-handed. That player will most likely be their new right-fielder.
The White Sox are also set at 2B with future AL Gold Glove Batting Champion Nick Madrigal.
Hitter friendly is one thing, ty Frances numbers are absolutely absurd. You just have to try him at the next level until it takes. He’s broken the minor league game
His numbers have been bad in the majors and his defense has been worse. France is a 1B or a DH. In the NL you have to play defense and he is bad at every position he has played in the minors and the majors. The best thing the Padres could have done would have been to include him in a trade for a starter when he was hitting .400 in AAA in July.
Spoken like someone who has clearly never watched him play. His defense is pretty good at third base and he’s been serviceable at 2B so far. Nobody’s going to confuse him for Manny Machado with the leather, but he’s good enough to hold the job down at 3B and be an option at 2B at the very least.
I’ll always love the punch, I hope you have many horses and great lands roughned sr.
Solak is better than Odor. Texas should not have locked down a prospect so young like they did Odor, now they have to “eat crow” on him, or keep him and make him change positions because 1B is the only place his bat plays.
That’s the last place his bat plays. 2b? Maybe, he’s still a roadblock in an AL lineup, and his glove doesn’t justify being one
Yes they need to eat crow and play solar, he’s not a good defender but his bat is real. But they have Calhoun, choo, pence for a few more weeks.
GM Daniels really screwed up by “locking down” Odor for 5 years. Didn’t think Daniels was a betting man, but he went out on a limb and signed Odor to that insane contract. Chalk it up as a huge miscalculation and hopefully learn from it.
Its past time for Jon Daniels to move on.
JD is a fine GM. He gambles on some players, but wants to lock down homegrown talent that might blossom into a superstar. What’s wrong with that? You can move on.
Daniels has redeemed himself the last 2 off seasons with getting Lynn and minor for a combined 66 million for 6 seasons. It turned out to be a bad gamble for odor but I’m not going to slam him for it. He was a 22 who hit 33 bombs. It wasn’t out of the question for this guy to develop further as he actually reached his prime. He didn’t and the K issues got worse but that’s the risk you take locking in a young player. The guarantee was definitely a little high for that gamble though.
You’re both trolls or morons. Minor, Lynn, 5 years of complaining about choo, only to realize he’s the exact lead off signed up for. Not to mention the andrus/Harrison gold mine, the best 3rd baseman in how many years. Murphy for the roided up (but fun) gagne. Yes this is just a long way of me calling you morons. You’re morons.
Odor’s bat plays at 1B but not second? In what world did second baseman start outhitting first baseman? Another ridiculous comment from ol S4. A .666 OPS plays nowhere but catcher. That’s what Odor is slashing. I don’t know how you rationalize this crap you say.
ah yes, jbigz12 one again being a clueless troll and not understanding how low the depth chart is league-wide at 1B while its stacked at 2B, and how power-only guys like Odor actually can survive at 1B right now, but 2B is actually more stacked than 1B when it comes to offense. Its not 1970 anymore, genius.
How do you even know about this site, when you have absolutely no clue about baseball, period?
A .677 OPS does not play at 1B. And 2b is not a more “stacked” position. That’s complete nonsense that he can move over to 1B because “his offense profiles better there.” That’s an absolutely idiotic statement on its face. A .677 OPS (64WRC+ ) plays nowhere but catcher for one thing. Doesn’t even play well there.
But I suppose next you’re going to tell me that 2B have higher WAR as an argument for why odor would be better at first? I can tell you why that’s a load of crap as well if you’d like. Or are you going to go to the argument that 2B has more “studs” like Torres and Altuve? Because that has absolutely no bearing on the depth of the 2B position. Either way it’s categorically wrong.
At .192 I am not sure his bat plays anywhere.
lolol his bat dosent play at 1B?
That position usually means you have a good bat?
His is bad soooo his bat prolly plays sweet in the PCL though
Does Rendon have a brother in law on the White Sox? Or is he buddies with Slappy Jay? Maybe Molasses Jay can recruit him? It worked wonders with Machado.
Sarcasm alert!
@Plot Thickens
Astute observation. Though I fear the uneducated might confuse your voice of reason with trolling. But we both know better, right?
I wonder how long we are beat this dead horse…oops, I’m sorry, I meant acknowledge this riveting analysis. Thank you for bringing this to our attention again in case some of us forgot.
From what I’ve read on these comments for months, some people won’t get it. Just trying to help.
If you don’t like it, then I apologize and I will not use this alert on your posts, in respect for your awesome screen name. Seriously, it’s awesome!
To my knowledge the White Sox don’t have any friends or family connections to Anthony Rendon in their system. After last offseasons fiasco I don’t expect them to pursue any this winter in order to not sign him. lol
What the White Sox did instead is to sign Fernando Tatis Jr.’s brother Elijah during the most recent international signing period. They will keep him around long enough to entice Fernando to return to the organization once he is eligible for free agency. lmao
Any decent free agent player wants no part of the Chisox. How can you not realize that. Largest contract Reinsdork ever handed out was for $69M.
What’s Odor’s sunk cost?
11 million a year then the
3 million buyout? They
are just going to have
to eat it. Feel bad for
the guy but management
has a point.
Ranger front office screwed up and they have to live with it. Daniels had to have consultations with other scouts before he signed Odor to that lucrative deal. I would call it very bad advice, and Daniels bought into it.
There are far too many stupid observations like yours on here. The Rangers can’t just assume all their players will tank and not sign their youngsters to long term deals. And for anybody….anybody…to guarantee which players will soar and which will not, well they don’t exist, bubba. Even known superstars have tanked after big contracts and they were superstars! JD took a chance with ownership blessing and it isn’t working out. Get over it.
I love how “I disagree with this observation” = “stupid”
People are allowed to have their own opinions, if you disagree then prove them wrong using facts and stats. Calling it stupid or moronic is only going to get these sections closed down and yes, I need to stop feeding the trolls too….
Thanks “strike four” for the support. What “madman” doesn’t know I have been in this business for over 50 years so I think – with experience – I know the in’s and out’s of this game. He is just another one of those “loudmouth” Odor fan boys who probably buys “stupid” bauble head action figures and wears silly costumes and props in heavy makeup to Ranger games. I have no need for the immature.
The only reason for the Pirates to bring up Ke’Bryan Hayes now is if they need a shiny object.
There is no reason to give up a year of service time for a lost September.
Josh I agree.
He has also not particularly deserved a call up as he has not developed into a bona fide hitter at this point.
They need to use this last month as a test case for several players more advanced than Hayes.
I think the Odor thing is more of a threat. Than actual playing time.
Do the Rangers have better options waiting in the minors. ?
3 more years at a good price. There is no way this guy gets booted from starting… Just something for him to think about.
It seems he’s a headcase player. Bad start. Got hot. Road it thru July. Then tanked. . . Maybe the team went down and he checked out. Got in a slump and didn’t care to get it together. Also injuries to other players can impact the lineup. All factors.
I rooted for the guy to get over .200 plus. But this month has been the worst. I think more tinkering with his swing is in the works come off-season…….
Not in the minors, the point is that Solak has been hitting and needs a place in the lineup. Bench odor and let Nick play.
Odor needs to overcome a tendency to “swing for the fences” and it has cost him from helping the team. His SO rates are hideous which seems to indicate not able to pick up pitches thrown at him. The “badass” attitude on the field doesn’t help his image at all.
They literally called up his replacement a few weeks ago. The story even mentions him. Nick Solak.
I think it is all in his head! He needs to put away the “macho thing” that’s going on with him. Seems the “Bautista incident” was a “turning point” for him and it has been down hill ever since. As for his lack of production, he needs to throttle down from that HR swing each time he takes a pitch! All he has to do is make solid bat contact, and that can be easily accomplished by dialing down the “gorilla swing!” Get the bat in the hitting zone and zoom your chances rise in getting on base. Some have said that he has poor pitch recognition technique, that may or not be so, but tempering that swing can pay dividends for him. He is a good second baseman though.
Would LOVE to see the Mets go “all-in” and sign Anthony Rendon to like a 7-8 year contract. The thought of having a lineup with Rendon, Alonso, Conforto & McNeil is insane.
+ Cespedes
Don’t forget Robbie cano and Jed Lowrie.
France sucks
This is an articulate, fully thought out argument. Kinda hard to argue given the facts and analysis you’ve presented. Wow.
The Texas Rangers are currently just running an extended training camp. Daniels pulling ever media stunt he can to put fans in the seats but when all said and done, they are playing terrible baseball. I’m guessing TV rating are bottomed out. Its Bob Simpson and Ray Davis’ club they are the only ones that can turn this around. Team has decent coaching. Jon Daniels cannot judge baseball talent and I question the people around him either their ability or their job is being hampered by interference. He calls it a rebuilding year, We will see. Daniels has done nothing in the past two winters to improve the ball club. I doubted a rumor there are players that will not play for Daniels but now I wonder. Odd but a fact, Nolan Ryan was the Rangers CEO and provided us with playoff teams. Ryan is now The Executive Adviser to the owner of the Houston Astros, who won a world series and have been a playoff-caliber team ever since. Those are just facts. The rest is just observation from a long-time Ranger fan.
Odor was on the cusp. He earned the contract. The problems started after the contract signing. Daniels had the middle infield set. Odor not performing was not predictable. Everyone was excited for the signing. It’s time to bench, deconstruct, trade during the off-season. He is human and he is trying. I’m sure his lack of productivity is just as frustrating for him as it is for fans.
It’s not that Daniels can’t judge baseball talent, it’s that he can’t draft and develop it. The Rangers are one of the worst teams in baseball at developing their young talent. Daniels knows this. He’s targeting teams who are capable of developing players when he makes trades. Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and the Dodgers brought the Rangers Burke, Solak, Gibaut, Allard, & Calhoun. Those were good trades by Daniels.
I like Nolan and I think he helps plenty in a front office but the dude joined Texas and later Houston after most of the hard work had been done in rebuilding. I don’t get why people still give him 100% of the credit and act like he’s got some magic touch.
Nolan Ryan convinced Bob Simpson and Ray Davis to buy the Rangers. After they restructured the organization, firing some Nolan guys like Jackie Moore, Nolan resigned and his team ownership was bought out. Simpson and Davis then extended Daniels contract. If you think Daniels is part of the problem, then so are Simpson and Davis.
“Daniels has done nothing in the past two winters to improve…” Minor? Lynn? Pence? Martin? Santana? Those are 5 deals that have worked out great for JD. Your observations are garbage.
Yes, he gave them a chance and got lucky, they sure helped us to our 67-71 .486 record so far this year. Still, don’t change my observation.
Nolan can cross his arms and will himself a playoff winning team and if he doesn’t get it, he will punch your head.
Doesn’t Odor have the option to opt out of his contract after this season?
why on gods earth would he do that lololololol?
What Jvall77 said
What about odor and choo for Myers + 7mil and a mid level prospect? Change of scenery trade
I think a Myers-Odor trade could be worked out, but SD would have to throw in the cash to even out the salaries. Neither player has any value. Not sure SD has much interest with Urias.
I said that for awhile Myers to Rangers. The contract could be reworked because taxes much lower in Texas. Angels did similar thing when sending Josh Hamilton back to Rangers
Daniels and Preller are BFF’s also
Maybe not so much after Emmanuel Clase for Brett Nicholas. I’m sure Preller feels he needs get the better of Daniels next time they make a trade.
Preller doesn’t get best of anyone in trades aside from Tatis and Paddack.
Odor is pretty much done. The writing was on the wall when Texas traded for Solak and played him solely at 2B. He’s here to replace Odor.
All I see are certain posters being negative, talking trash, and never offering anything constructive to any conversation, specifically in regards to White Sox discussions. If you cannot at least offer something more constructive than ‘The Sox owner sucks’ the org only is ‘ and ‘the GM does not know what he is doing’ garbage comments, then do the rest of us a favor and go away. I mean really, take a break, go take a walk, smell some flowers or something because your lives obviously are not fulfilled if you feel the need to only be negative all the time you post. I can only imagine what your personal lives are like if you apparently glean so much satisfaction from being so negative in a message board.
I get there are trolls all around, and no org, GM, or owner, is perfect, but man, you guys are nothing but negative 24 hours/ 7 days a week especially when it comes to the Sox and their fans.