2024 Texas Rangers

Brewers force a game three while San Diego completes a sweep of a depleted Braves team. One more wild card game tonight in Milwaukee then on to divisional series.

HornHuskerDad said:
Not sure the Royals can beat the Yankees, but I'd love to see it happen.
Click to expand...
The Yankees sat at number two on my anyone but list at the beginning of these playoffs and have now been elevated to number one, so we can all be Royals these next couple of days.
 
Well my Astros did what they do quite well.......lose playoff games at home (as all Ranger fans remember quite well). I had made a comment earlier about Hinch getting revenge on Jim Crane and it came true. This year's team can be described in three ways: 1) A decimated starting rotation, but somehow they found their way through that, 2) a very bad clutch hitting team. their overall stats show well, but they rarely hit when they needed it and 3) an overpaid and under performing bullpen. Their pen cost them 15 games this year and of course were responsible for the Game 2 loss. With Hader, Pressley and Montero (released), they have about $50mm of invested salary in their bullpen. Dana Brown was nuts to sign Hader to a 5 year deal at $19.5mm per year.

This may have been the Astros final year to win the division championship as the team will certainly lose a few players, most notably Bregman. Breggie will be looking for a 5 year $30mm per year type contract and given the Astros will have $61mm/yr of dead money entering into the 2025, I doubt Crane will pony up the money necessary to sign him. Take away the $61mm (Jose Abreu, Lance McCullers, Rafael Montero and.........Zack Greinke) and it would be a different ballgame. Thank goodness Verlander did not vest in his option year and he can quietly go away and find another club to take on his injury prone career.

The Rangers will need to revamp their team and find some pitchers that will stay healthy. My big question about them is their hitting. Was 2023 an anomaly or did they simply all have bad years in 2024? Next year we will probably know.

Padres seem to be playing the best ball in the early playoffs and I can't see the Tigers or the Royals advancing. I'll pull for the Tribe in the AL as like most fans, I can't stand the Yankees. That said I'll go with the Pads in 6 games over the Indians (I refuse to call them the G's).
 
FWHORN said:
Never been happier to have half of my World Series pick go down in the wild card. AJ Hinch with what has to be the sweetest revenge.
Click to expand...

Do you like AJ for beating the Astros or hate AJ for making the Astros good in the first place?
 
guy4321 said:
Do you like AJ for beating the Astros or hate AJ for making the Astros good in the first place?
Click to expand...
I have to admit absolute mixed feelings about AJ Hinch. He built the best team in baseball and did it the right way which I think all of us who are baseball fans can admire even if it isn't a team we cheer for.

But then once he built the best team in baseball he watched as cheating started and he actively knew cheating was happening. Now he told his players not to do it and actively did things to impede them from doing it but he didn't step up and actually prohibit it and put a stop to it. He knew it was still happening. So that has to go in the negative column.

But then he also became the fall guy when the players should have been the one taking the hit not him and for him (and the GM) to be the only guys fired/punished seemed incredibly not fair.

But then the last two days and over the course of this year he showed his managerial acumen by managing a team that had no expectations into making the playoffs, a truly incredible job, and then managed two great playoff games to win a WC series against a much better team.

Hinch really is someone that the ledger has marks on both sides so yeah I guess my feelings about Hinch are mixed but at least for today I love him for ending the 7 straight ALCS run of the 'Stros and for making sure that the last team in Texas to be in or win a WS remains the Rangers.
 
Hookem G said:
This may have been the Astros final year to win the division championship as the team will certainly lose a few players, most notably Bregman.
Click to expand...
I am not sure you lose Bregman. Altuve certainly was leading the calls for bringing him back. 5 years at 125M might do it which is same deal Altuve got and after the crap show that Boras had ast off season maybe Bregman gives Houston a slight hoem town discount. Your pitching will be significantly better next year and you still have Yordan who is just incredible, Tucker, and a future HOF'er in Altuve.

I would still make Houston the odds on favorite to win the AL west. I think it is clear that the Rangers will go as far as their hitting will take them next year and yeah we have to see if the real Texas offense was 2023 or 2024, and frankly it doesn't have to be 2023 it just needs to be closer to 2023 than it was to 2024 because the Rangers should be well set with pitching if they can bring back Eovaldi and Yates.
 
FWHORN said:
I am not sure you lose Bregman. Altuve certainly was leading the calls for bringing him back. 5 years at 125M might do it which is same deal Altuve got and after the crap show that Boras had ast off season maybe Bregman gives Houston a slight hoem town discount. Your pitching will be significantly better next year and you still have Yordan who is just incredible, Tucker, and a future HOF'er in Altuve.

I would still make Houston the odds on favorite to win the AL west. I think it is clear that the Rangers will go as far as their hitting will take them next year and yeah we have to see if the real Texas offense was 2023 or 2024, and frankly it doesn't have to be 2023 it just needs to be closer to 2023 than it was to 2024 because the Rangers should be well set with pitching if they can bring back Eovaldi and Yates.
Click to expand...
This morning there was lots of optimism that Bregman would be resigned. But Boras has a way of screwing things up, although given the disastrous signings of some of his clients this past year hopefully Bregman will be very diligent in how he proceeds. Would I like him back? Certainly, but he simply is not the player he was in 2018 and 2019. Horribly slow starter which means he is a liability for the first two months. Its hard to justify paying someone $25mm-$30mm and he provides no productivity for two months.

Who would you rather have Bregman or Tucker? I cannot see the Astros signing both. Here's one that may be surprising. The Astros should test the interest for Framber Valdez. He will be in his final arbitration year and I don't think he will ever get over his inability to handle the emotional swings of the game. When he is on he has Cy Young award potential, but he stumbles too often. If the Astros could move him for younger arms and/or a 1B who can actually hit that would be a plus.
 
Boras will stretch things out in an attempt to extract the last penny. Any team dealing with him has to assume the player will walk and work from there.
 
The Mets get a ninth-inning rally and beat Milwaukee to crush another small market team's dream in the last WC series.

The division series are set to start tomorrow and there are certainly some interesting matchups. I still see the Dodgers and Phillies advancing but San Diego is a real threat and the Dodger pitching is so questionable if I was actually putting money on this I might lean Padres. The Mets are living on borrowed time but there is a certain something about them that makes them a team to watch. I will be rooting for KC and Detroit in the AL, but I think the Yankees and Guardians advance. Detroit has Skubal and a lot of chaos for pitching and not much else. Meanwhile, KC has Ragans and Lugo to pitch but no offense and I do not see them holding down the Yankees offense like they did the Orioles. So I am picking the four teams with home-field advantage which means I will get at least two and probably three of these wrong just like the wild card so put your bets on Detroit, KC, NYM, and San Diego.
 
Cleveland won 4 of the last 5 against Detroit if that means anything. Detroit has two SP's and a very complementary BP. A toss up.

The Yankees won 5 out of 7 against KC so they should win. However at times during the season, the Yankees went dead.

In September the Mets actually beat the Phillies in 4 out of 7. Philidelphia should win, but after watching the Mets in the WC series, I would not count them out.

Dodgers had a 5-8 record against the Pods in 2025 but won 2 of 3 in September. Another tos -up.
 
A lot of evaluation coming up for Young, other
Rangers decision makers, with Bochy input.

Unfortunately, several big names that I love will not return due to status and big $ demands. Sad Eovaldi will go away...

My hope is Mahle, DeGrom, Gray, Bradford and Leiter can form a formidable starting bunch in 2025.
 
WorsterMan said:
A lot of evaluation coming up for Young, other
Rangers decision makers, with Bochy input.

Unfortunately, several big names that I love will not return due to status and big $ demands. Sad Eovaldi will go away...

My hope is Mahle, DeGrom, Gray, Bradford and Leiter can form a formidable starting bunch in 2025.
Click to expand...
Until Spring games say otherwise, Rocker will probably be the fifth starter with Leiter in long relief/spot starter.
 
Last edited:
HornHuskerDad said:
I sincerely hope CY can come up with a viable plan to keep Eovaldi and Yates.
Click to expand...
For the Rangers to challenge Houston next year this has to be a major part of any viable plan. de Grom and Mahle are way too injury prone and depending on Rocker and Leiter is way too much of a gamble. Eovaldi as our ace and Bradford as the next up set up a Ranger rotation that can be a playoff team if de Grom and Mahle each give you 20 starts and Rocker is just solid. Yates at the back end with 30 plus saves again solidifies a bullpen that has some arms. The lineup needs to be closer to 2023 in scoring than 2024 and if so that can equal 12 more wins to get to 90 and get to the postseason where it’s all about getting hot at the right time.
 
FWHORN said:
For the Rangers to challenge Houston next year this has to be a major part of any viable plan. de Grom and Mahle are way too injury prone and depending on Rocker and Leiter is way too much of a gamble. Eovaldi as our ace and Bradford as the next up set up a Ranger rotation that can be a playoff team if de Grom and Mahle each give you 20 starts and Rocker is just solid. Yates at the back end with 30 plus saves again solidifies a bullpen that has some arms. The lineup needs to be closer to 2023 in scoring than 2024 and if so that can equal 12 more wins to get to 90 and get to the postseason where it’s all about getting hot at the right time.
Click to expand...
I agree, but we have yet to see how much money Davis lets CY play with.
 
Trading Cole really stings now. I don't know if that trade put us over the top last year but if it did, it was worth it. But dang... one of our own leaves the farm and becomes superman. UGH.
 
All four division series are now tied at 1 and the home-field advantage for now rests with the lower seed in all four. Last year we didn't have a single game 5 in this round, this year we may be headed to several.
 
Rangers have officially ended their deal with Diamond Sports. Where they end up in 2025 is "unclear" right now.
 
ViperHorn said:
Rangers have officially ended their deal with Diamond Sports. Where they end up in 2025 is "unclear" right now.
Click to expand...
On radio today they talked about the Rangers doing their own streaming service like what the Stars have but one that is paid instead of free. There are a lot of options for the Rangers.
 
FWHORN said:
On radio today they talked about the Rangers doing their own streaming service like what the Stars have but one that is paid instead of free. There are a lot of options for the Rangers.
Click to expand...
The owners of two of the four major sports teams in the area do not do anything for free so get position yourself with the best streaming service and pray.
 
What are the prospects of an all NYC World Series? The Mets are a great example that anything can happen once you get into the playoffs. The Padres made a big mistake starting Cease last night, and have opened a very wide door for the Dodgers to pull this out. Still hoping the Padres can win.....my dislike for the Dodgers is second only to the Yankees.
 
Watching the Dodgers throw a bullpen game in an elimination game in the Division Series I came to the sad realization I know exactly where Nathan Eovaldi is headed next year for 30 Million plus a year for multiple years and it aint Arlington.

HornHuskerDad said:
detest the Yankees - I'd love to see the Royals win. Or Detroit. We really don't need a Subway Series.
Click to expand...

The Royals had a real chance to beat the Yankees last night and blew it, if they can win today they have Cole Ragans for game five but I have a sinking feeling the Yankees arent going to let this go to a game 5. Would love to see KC beat the Yanks and I will be cheering hard for it but I just don't see it happening. I am not sure Detroit or Cleveland can beat the Yanks in a seven game series either. The team with the best chance of stopping the Yanks left may be San Diego but they have a coin flip game tomorrow and Shohei Ohtani and that Dodger offense can win any single game all on their own.
 
I do not want the Yankees to win the pennant nor the World Series. I can handle any one else over them. Yes, even the Dodgers :puke:
 
Yankees and Mets are through to the LCS' and the other two spots will be determined today in LA and tomorrow in Cleveland. I cannot believe the Dodgers can have the payroll they have and the lineup they have but have such serious questions at their starting pitching in the playoffs. They are going with Yamamoto tonight but does anyone have any faith he even gets to the fourth inning let alone five or more. The Padres have Darvish so that is a gasoline fire waiting to start for them too, though to be fair he was solid in game two of this series and has been solid most of the year for them. The Padres really screwed up pitching Cease on short rest in game four.

Other than the Yankees none of the remaining playoff teams have solid starters past their one or at best their two and even though the Rangers found a way last year with only two solid starters (and a reasonable three with Heaney for the DS, LCS, and WS) to get the World Series win, having a solid starting rotation at positions one through four for the playoffs is such an advantage.
 
Well, I definitely didn’t have the Dodgers winning two to nothing in a pitchers duel on my bingo card for game five of the division series but Darvish and Yamamoto both pitched very well and Darvish is the hard luck loser. Dodgers and Mets in the NLCS. I had the Dodgers in the World Series as my pick so I will stick with them but the Mets have seemed like a team of destiny for the last couple of weeks and it should be a heck of a series.
 
FW, the Dodgers only win in the playoffs when everyone has written them off.
In other news on the Jung front:

1728743110301.png


I am not as sure about the prospects being as good as new, but that tendon had some use.
 
Cleveland beats Skubal and Detroit to get to the ALCS. Unfortunately, I have a hard time seeing them being able to beat the Yankees and frankly I think the ALCS doesn't go past five games. Yankees and Dodgers in the World series, TV execs dream.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top