Will Rangers keep young core players in tact until best pitching prospects blossom?
Here’s something to chew on while chewing on the Texas Rangers’ rebuild:
The club likes its core group of position players, many of whom are 26 or younger. Everyone should know their names by now – Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara, Jurickson Profar, Rougned Odor, Ronald Guzman.
The issue is that the best of the best pitching prospects in the farm system – Hans Crouse, Cole Winn and Cole Ragans -- are at least two or three years away from the majors. Not included is a trio that finished last season at Double A Frisco, and Taylor Hearn, Jonathan Hernandez and Joe Palumbo could pitch for the Rangers at some point in 2019.
But just when the pitching prospects are going to be ready to compete in the majors, the position players will be headed toward free agency.
The rebuilding stars aren’t all aligning, in other words.
“If we haven’t signed them,” general manager Daniels said Sunday.
And that’s part of the puzzle Daniels and his staff are considering as they navigate through this rebuild, ETA TBD. Don’t expect any extensions to come out of this week at the annual MLB winter meetings, but it would be a surprise if the Rangers didn’t try to lock up certain players before the 2019 season begins.
“That’s something we’ll evaluate this winter,” Daniels said. “It’s more of a spring timing if we do go down that path, but it’s something we’re going to look at.
“Lining it up … that’s a lot of the challenge, but it doesn’t always go the way you think it’s going to go. Guys get hurt. Guys come quicker. Guys come slower. Guys are late bloomers. Some guys take on a role that you wouldn’t necessarily expect.”
Daniels said again Sunday that the Rangers want to keep their young big-league players rather than trade them, but they are also willing to listen if teams come calling. That’s happening with right-hander Jose Leclerc, who finished 2018 as the closer, and the surplus of young outfielders.
The Rangers, though, believe there’s more upside in, say, Mazara and Gallo and are unwilling to let them go on the cheap. Profar will enter the season with an everyday job for the first time in his career.
His value might be higher than the others, despite his throwing woes and at least one less year of control.
The Rangers have discussed giving Leclerc an extension, with the goal to buy out a few years of his free agency. That’s the same goal for any young player receiving an extension, as Odor did before the 2017 season.
But a rebuilding team has to consider all options, from extending core players to potentially dealing them away for premium prospects.
“We’re going to look at everything through the lens of what does it mean for us now and what does it mean for us long-term, with probably a heavier weight on the long-term,” Daniels said. “If something made sense there … . We’re not looking to move these guys, but we’re open on a lot of things.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2018 at 9:27 PM.
