Did productive winter meetings set up Rangers for rush of player acquisitions?
The winter meetings for Jon Daniels and other MLB general manager are an exercise in sleep deprivation.
Phones buzz. Minds race. Eyes stay open long into the night.
The record shows that the Rangers were among the busiest teams this week at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, with their biggest move a three-year, $30 million agreement with right-handed starter pitcher Lance Lynn.
The Rangers acquired two infielders, Carlos Asuaje and Patrick Wisdom; traded away two players, outfielder Drew Robinson and left-handed reliever Alex Claudio; and even were active Thursday in the Rule 5 draft.
Daniels’ phone won’t suddenly go completely silent this weekend, and thoughts of the Rangers’ next moves will continue to pop into his head. But this weekend will be about recharging – phones and minds – ahead of what could be a busy rest of the off-season for the Rangers.
The winter meetings were productive enough that moves could be coming relatively quickly.
“I thought so,” Daniels said. “We came in with some things that were already teed up or had already discussed at length. We had a general sense for free-agent starters, and we felt like that was going to happen this week.
“We had a number of other discussions, probably more trade than free agent so far. We’ve had conversations at a level where things could move. I think everybody is juggling some options. You usually see a bunch of deals being made four or five days after leaving here. I think everybody gets home decompresses, and says, ‘All right, let’s act on that.’ That leads to a domino effect.”
The off-season has already been the busiest Daniels can remember, in large part because of they hired Chris Woodward as manager and made a number of changes to the coaching staff.
Also, the Rangers have been revamping their analytics department and research and development, and they have made additions to the front office.
Next up, more player acquisitions.
“There will be more moves,” Daniels said. “Obviously, we’ve got to address something for 2019. Some of that may come first. Some of that may be behind other moves that are more long-term in nature. I don’t know how it’s going to be choreographed.”
The Rangers are expected to announce the Lynn deal, which is pending a physical, next week. The Claudio deal with the Milwaukee Brewers produced either the 40th or 41st overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft in June.
Each deal, including the acquisitions of Wisdom and Asuaje, met both of the Rangers’ goals for these meetings – the 2019 roster and the long-term rebuilding plan. That will continue to be the course going forward.
The Rangers still have at least one starter who needs to be acquired, and Daniels said that the Rangers will be adding to their bullpen after losing Reed Garrett in the Rule 5 draft but acquiring Jordan Romano. Jurickson Profar has been one of the Rangers’ players discussed, but a team would have to bowl over Daniels to get him.
“He’s our starting third baseman,” Daniels said. “We would have to get really meaningful value to consider moving him. Where we are, we’ve got to be open-minded.”
The same holds for right-hander Jose Leclerc, the Rangers’ 2018 Pitcher of the Year.
The reliever market has been slow to develop, unlike last year, and free agency in general has been slowly paced. Daniels said that gave the Rangers time to focus more on trades.
Trades that would interest the Rangers would be for quality prospects who have more control financially than players they would be surrendering. Shipping out Claudio for a premium prospect is an example, though a deal for Profar or Nomar Mazara would likely have to be for prospects closer to the majors.
“We were able to accomplish a few things here and have the groundwork laid for others,” Daniels said. “When the timing of that is, I don’t know.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 2:53 PM.
