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Rangers Hire Bobby Wilson As Double-A Manager

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Former catcher Bobby Wilson signed on with the Rangers organization to manage their Double-A affiliate, per a club announcement. That also indicates that his playing career is coming to a close.

Wilson, 36, appeared in parts of ten MLB seasons but just passed the threshold of one thousand career plate appearances. He was only a .203/.258/.304 hitter in the majors … which only serves to amplify the degree to which he was regarded for his work as a backstop.

It was once an annual tradition around these parts to cover the many minor moves involving Wilson. Those days are over. But he’s likely to return to MLBTR’s pages before long as a managerial or coaching candidate in the majors. Wilson has long been posited as a future skipper and will launch right into that career path now that his playing career is over.

Upon breaking into the bigs in 2008 with the Angels, Wilson kicked off a five-year run in which he appeared consistently with one team. He went on a journeyman run thereafter, spending time in the majors with the Rangers, Rays, Tigers, Twins, and Diamondbacks in addition to minor-league stints with the Yankees and Dodgers.

Latest On Gerrit Cole

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Teams will be making their initial offers to Gerrit Cole in the coming days, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (via Twitter). Cole, the top free agent in this year’s class, is a near-lock to exceed David Price’s $217MM guarantee, the current record contract for a pitcher.

Which teams figure to be in on Cole? The Yankees are seemingly committed to bringing Cole to the Bronx, and Peter Gammons of the Athletic somewhat cryptically tweets that the Bombers “were not denied” in their pursuit. Nevertheless, Passan’s sources hear that the Angels and Dodgers do remain in the running alongside the Yankees as favorites for Cole’s services. Both LA organizations have previously met with the Southern California native, as have the Yankees.

While that big-market trio seems to have moved to the forefront of the Cole race, other teams may still yet enter the mix once the time comes to put formal offers on the table. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reiterates (via Twitter) the Phillies’ and Rangers’ interest. Recent indications, though, are that Philadelphia and Texas seem to be more focused on fellow Scott Boras client Anthony Rendon.

That interest in Rendon, who himself figures to handily exceed $200MM, suggests that both organizations have ample spending room should they set their sights on Cole instead. However, the Phillies have already made one massive outlay on starting pitching this offseason, signing Zack Wheeler to a $118MM deal. The Rangers, meanwhile, have seemingly plugged two holes in their rotation via smaller deals for Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles. With that in mind, it seems to make sense for those two clubs to turn their attention to the position player side of things.

With the Cole market seemingly heating up, he figures to be the center of attention at next week’s Winter Meetings. With some of the sport’s biggest spenders eyeing him, Cole will surely break the bank whenever he makes the final decision.

Yankees’ “Total Focus” On Gerrit Cole

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The Yankees “total focus” remains on reeling in the winter’s big fish: ace starter Gerrit Cole, per MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman. That Cole is a priority for the Yankees is old news, though Heyman’s characterization certainly seems to stake a higher degree of urgency to the Yankees’ intent.

The nostalgic among us can take this opportunity to think fondly of the Yankees of yore, who routinely targeted their man in free agency with this kind of fervor. It’s been a few years since a free agent made this kind of impression on the Yanks, though they attacked the opportunity to trade for James Paxton last offseason with similar drive.

The urgency isn’t shocking coming off 2019, which proved an interesting campaign in New York. Injuries decimated the roster, but the offense never missed a beat no matter who stepped into the void (hello, Gio Urshela). They coasted to 103 wins and a division title, defeated the Minnesota Twins in the playoffs as they are wont to do, only to see the favor repaid in full by the new powerhouse of the day Houston Astros. The Yankees found themselves booted from the playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons by the Astros, making this pursuit of the ex-Astro Cole feel all the more crazy-eyed. That said, there is rarely a free agent with Cole’s pedigree, and if they’re going to channel the ghost of Steinbrenner and go all-in for a free agent, Cole is a worthy target.

Which is, of course, exactly why interest in the right-hander runs so rampant. As Heyman put it, the Yankees “don’t want to be denied” in their pursuit of Cole, but there is no shortage of contenders, including both LA teams, the Rangers, and the Phillies (who are a little crazy-eyed themselves these days). All five clubs have ample cause to pull out all the stops for Cole – on paper, they’re not alone.

White Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers, Twins Among Runners-Up For Jordan Lyles

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Before Jordan Lyles signed his two-year, $16MM deal to join the Texas Rangers rotation, there was no shortage of interest in the big righty. Though we don’t know which (if any) of these teams made official offers, we do know that the White Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers and Twins were among the teams with interest, per MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Without financial specifics, it’s presumptuous to assume much in regards to the interest level of these four clubs, but the size of the contract inked by Lyles at least hints at a low-scale bidding war for the back-end rotation arm.

The Brewers interest is not surprising, given they acquired Lyles around the deadline in each of the past two seasons and he pitched to a 2.45 ERA (4.42 FIP) to close out 2019. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out that the Brewers have now lost the bidding on each of their free agent targets thus far (except Justin Grimm!), suggesting either limited payroll flexibility or disciplined judiciousness on the part of GM David Stearns. Of course, Lyles signed for more than most would have guessed, and Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas signed for a combined 8-years, $137MM, a stratum the Brewers were hardly expected to reach. On the plus side, should the Rangers scuffle and Brewers stay in the race, we could see the rare baseball trade turkey, when a team successfully strikes for the same player at the deadline for three consecutive seasons.

The Twins and White Sox are two of the more eager starting pitching hunters this offseason, so their inclusion on this list is no surprise either. Both teams are likely to sign a couple of veteran free agents before the winter is out. As for the Blue Jays, they have less urgency given their timeline, though Lyles certainly fits the mold of the type of free agent they are likely to target.

Winter Meetings Preview: Rangers

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  • The Texas Rangers have their sights laser-focused on Anthony Rendon, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Recent additions have more-or-less locked their rotation class, with Kolby Allard, Joe Palumbo and Brock Burke looking like the 5 through 7 options behind Lance Lynn, Mike Minor, Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles. Should prices drop on starters like Dallas Keuchel or Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Rangers could add further pitching in the right deal and potentially explore flipping Lynn or Minor, tweets Grant, though that’s less a strategy and more of the “open to anything” ethos employed by most front offices. Otherwise, the group of internal candidates, if expanded, would include Taylor Hearn and Tyler Phillips, plus any vets they are able to grab on minor league deals in the mold of Edinson Volquez (though Volquez himself is more likely ticketed for the pen if he makes the team). The Rangers reportedly offered Zack Wheeler a $100MM contract before he signed with Philadelphia, so the pursestrings have been loosed. For now, however, they’re stuck in traffic waiting to see if the “Adrian Beltre treatment” can sell Rendon on playing the latter half of his career in Arlington. 

Dimensions For Globe Life Field

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The Rangers have announced the dimensions for Globe Life Field via a press release posted to Twitter by Sam Blum of the Dallas Morning News. The 2020 season will mark the Rangers’ first in their new ballpark in Arlington after 26 seasons in the stadium original known, aptly, as the Ballpark In Arlington. Globe Life Field is set to open officially on March 23, 2020, just across the street from Globe Life Park.

The distances of the wall from home plate has been orchestrated with a rather inventive flourish to honor players whose numbers have been retired by the Rangers. The new park will be 329 feet down the left field line, to honor Adrian Beltre’s #29, 407 feet to straight away centerfield, in honor of Ivan Rodriguez’s #7, 410 feet to the deepest parts of the ballpark just to the left and right of dead center, in honor of Michael Young’s #10, and 326 feet down the right field line, in honor of Johnny Oates’ #26, who managed the club from 1995 to 2001.

Franchise history is also immortalized in the power alleys: 372 feet to the left field power alley to commemorate the team’s first year in Arlington (1972) and 374 feet to the right field power alley to commemorate The Turnaround Gang, the 1974 squad that went from 59 to 84 wins to record the first winning season in Rangers’ team history. The walls will be eight feel tall from foul pole to foul pole. Not to be forgotten, there will also be a distance marker 334 feet from home plate in left to honor Nolan Ryan’s #34.

In a recent piece from the Dallas Morning News, Evan Grant quotes Rob Matwick, the Rangers’ VP of Business Operations, as saying, “We think the park is going to play fair. We have taken the design and done testing in wind tunnels. But in fairness, until we start playing games, we won’t really know.”

There is certainly the possibility that the park will play differently depending on if the dome is open or closed, as well. The 5.5 acre retractable roof was closed for the first time yesterday morning. Work will continue for the next few months in preparation for the official opening just before Opening Day.

Rangers To Sign Jordan Lyles

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The Rangers have reached an agreement with free-agent right-hander Jordan Lyles, pending a physical, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. It’ll be a two-year, $16MM contract for the Ballengee Group client, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. Lyles did not crack the top 50 of MLB’s best available free agents entering the offseason, making this significant payday all the more surprising.

This is the second major starting addition this offseason for the Rangers, who previously signed fellow righty Kyle Gibson to a three-year, $28MM deal. He and Lyles will presumably join high-end holdovers Mike Minor and Lance Lynn to comprise four-fifths of the Rangers’ rotation in 2020, while Kolby Allard figures to have the inside track on the last spot in their staff.

This type of deal for Lyles would have been unthinkable just a couple months ago. The 29-year-old struggled through the first half of 2019 as a member of the Pirates, with whom he posted a dismal 5.36 ERA across 82 1/3 innings. But Lyles turned his season (and maybe his career) around after the Brewers acquired him from the Pirates before the July 31 trade deadline. The Milwaukee version of Lyles put up a stellar 2.45 ERA over 58 2/3 innings, though the rest of his numbers weren’t really all that impressive. Lyles logged 9.8 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 4.79 FIP as a Pirate, and he recorded 8.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 4.42 FIP after heading to the Brewers.

Lyles will have to keep proving he’s for real, but his pact with the Rangers continues a nomadic career. A first-round pick of the rival Astros in 2008, Lyles pitched for five different major league clubs before agreeing to sign with the Rangers. As that fact suggests, Lyles hasn’t been particularly effective in the majors, but the Rangers are prepared to bank on him as a solid mid- to back-end starter over the next couple years. And the Lyles pickup further indicates the Rangers are hoping to break their three-year playoff drought in 2020, when they’ll open a new stadium. He and Gibson are now in tow, and Texas has shown interest in top free agents such as third basemen Anthony Rendon and Josh Donaldson. They were also part of the sweepstakes for Zack Wheeler, Cole Hamels and Howie Kendrick before they signed elsewhere.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest on Rangers' Pursuit Of Anthony Rendon

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The Rangers feel like they’re in solid position on star third baseman Anthony Rendon, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. It appears as if the possibility of a shorter deal at a premium AAV might hold some appeal to the Rangers as well as Rendon. But it’s tough to gauge the likelihood that he’ll land in Texas. Per Sullivan, the sides have yet to launch “serious negotiations” on the price tag. You can be sure that Scott Boras will not rush into a signing if he feels competition can drive the price up yet further, so there’s likely some market development yet to come.

Rangers Sign Kyle Gibson

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Dec. 6: The Rangers have announced the deal. Their 40-man roster is up to 39 players.

Dec. 5: The official price tag is $28MM in guaranteed money over three years, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter links) with $3MM more available to Gibson in incentives.  The front-loaded deal will pay Gibson $11MM in 2020, $10MM in 2021, and $7MM in 2022.

Nov. 27: The Rangers are poised to make their first big addition of the winter, as they’ve reportedly agreed to a three-year, $30MM pact with free-agent right-hander Kyle Gibson. The agreement is pending completion of a physical. Gibson is a client of Rowley Sports Management.

Assuming the physical checks out, the agreement represents an important early marker on the market for starters. There’s a bevy of hurlers and quite a few teams working on matches at the outset of free agency. Gibson ranked 19th on MLBTR’s list of the top fifty free agents.

The reported three-year, $30MM term hews closely to the model that the Texas organization has adopted with Mike Minor and Lance Lynn in recent offseasons: identify an upside starter and pay a slight premium in terms of years in order to lure him into the fold. The total outlay doesn’t represent a large-scale risk for a team with the Rangers’ payroll track record — particularly with a new stadium in the offing in 2020. That said, Gibson isn’t exactly a sure bet to break out in the same manner as Minor and Lynn have in Arlington.

At 32 years of age, Gibson is older than many first-time free-agent pitchers — and not because he signed a contract extension that delayed his path to the open market. Injuries, most notably Tommy John surgery, delayed the former Mizzou star and first-round pick’s path to the big leagues. He didn’t dbut until he was on the cusp of his 26th birthday and didn’t pitch a full season in the Majors until he was indeed 26.

Gibson showed real promise with a strong full season of work in 2015 before turning in matching 5.07 ERAs in both 2016 and 2017. He turned the corner in 2018, when he ran up a 3.62 ERA over 196 2/3 innings. His 2019 results are disappointing by comparison. After a late lull, he finished with a 4.84 ERA in 160 frames. Those results, it should be noted, can in some ways be attributed to recent health troubles — though none involving his arm. Rather, Gibson lost roughly 25 pounds last winter due to a bout of e-coli, and he was never fully able to put the weight back on and build up to full strength. Late in the season, he missed time due to further gastrointestinal issues when he diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.

All that said, it’s worth drilling down beneath the surface-level numbers with Gibson even more so than with most free agents. The lanky 6’6″ righty struck out exactly one hitter for every inning he pitched and posted a career-high 13.1% swinging-strike rate in 2019, and he carried a characteristically strong 51.4% ground-ball rate.

Gibson has also taken a major step forward with his slider in recent seasons; what was already an above-average pitch for much of his career generated a career-best 26.7 percent swinging-strike rate over the past two years. Gibson’s changeup, too, has been an outstanding offering at times and has generated a near-60 percent grounder rate dating back to Opening Day 2018. Combined with a fastball that has averaged 93.6 mph over the past two seasons, Gibson is armed with a quality three-pitch mix — even if his four-seamer isn’ta swing-and-miss offering at all.

The big question from a performance standpoint is the long ball. Gibson has always been a bit prone to coughing up dingers when hitters manage to put the ball in the air. Last year, he allowed home runs on 20.4 percent of the balls put in the air against him and served up an average of 1.29 big flies per nine innings pitched. He’s also never had particularly strong command of the strike zone, evidenced by a career 3.2 BB/9 mark (identical to his season-long total in 2019).

At a minimum, it seems reasonable to hope that Gibson will settle in as a steady and durable back-of-the-rotation arm — just the sort of piece the Rangers so badly need. That outcome would make this investment something of an overpay, but it’s also easy to see how better health could bring about a Minor/Lynn-esque breakout for Gibson and make his contract look like a similarly savvy bargain pickup for president of baseball operations Jon Daniels and his staff.

Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported that the two sides were closing in on a deal (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that a deal was in place (via Twitter). Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reported the contract terms (via Twitter).

Rangers Sign Nick Ciuffo, Wei-Chieh Huang To Minors Deals

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The Rangers announced that catcher Nick Ciuffo and right-hander Wei-Chieh Huang have been signed to minor league contracts.  The two players and utilityman Rob Refsnyder (whose signing was reported last week) will all receive invites to the big league Spring Training camp.

Chosen 21st overall by Tampa Bay in the 2013 draft, Ciuffo has yet to deliver on that potential, with just a .248/.293/.344 career slash line over 1844 minor league plate appearances and 19 MLB games on his resume.  That said, Ciuffo doesn’t turn 25 until March, and he has displayed a knack for throwing out baserunners and framing pitches.  He represents a no-risk depth option for the Rangers, though Texas already has multiple glove-first backstops in Jose Trevino and Jeff Mathis.

Huang returns to the Rangers after being non-tendered earlier this week, a move that was more about clearing roster space than saving money since Huang isn’t arbitration-eligible for several seasons.  The righty only just made his MLB debut in 2019, appearing in four games and tossing 5 2/3 relief innings.  Acquired in 2018 as a player-to-be-named-later in the trade that sent Jake Diekman to the Diamondbacks, Huang has some interesting potential as a relief or swingman piece, though he exhibited severe control problems as he climbed up the organizational ladder in 2019.  Huang issued 25 walks over 31 Triple-A innings, and five free passes over his brief time with the Rangers.

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