Quick Hits: Rangers, Castillo, Ziegler, Butler
By charliewilmoth | July 19, 2014 at 4:38pm CDT
The Rangers believe they can be competitive in 2015 and therefore won't be trading players like Yu Darvish, Adrian Beltre or Elvis Andrus, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports. Even with a number of talented young infielders in their system, they don't want to trade Andrus, who is an important figure in their clubhouse. They will, however, consider dealing Joakim Soria and Alex Rios. The Tigers have shown interest in Soria, and the Mariners, Blue Jays, Giants or Royals could all be fits for Rios. Reliever Neal Cotts could also fetch a nice return for Texas. Here are more notes from around the big leagues.
The Cubs, White Sox, Braves and Giants all have interest in Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez writes. Sanchez notes that Castillo has received comparisons to Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kenny Lofton. All teams throughout MLB are likely to be represented at Castillo's showcase next week.
The Tigers have asked about the availability of reliever Brad Ziegler, but the Diamondbacks are likely to keep him, tweets FOX Sports' Jon Morosi. Ziegler has pitched well this year and is under contract for $5MM in 2015, with a reasonable option on his services the following year.
Billy Butler believes the Royals should pick up the $12.5MM 2015 option on his contract, but if they don't want to, he's willing to renegotiate so he can stay in Kansas City, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star writes. "My numbers throughout my contract suggest they should (pick it up)," says Butler. "Maybe not the way I've necessarily played this year, but that's the reason you play a full 162 games. … That's the reason why you have a track record." Butler has struggled this year, with a .272/.324/.354 line in 383 plate appearances that's well below his career norms.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article762548.html#storylink=cpy
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Arizona Diamondbacks Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Texas Rangers Billy Butler Brad Ziegler Rusney Castillo
Minor Moves: Shackelford, Valdespin, Shreve
Giants Notes: Cabrera, Aviles, Sabean, Scutaro, Pagan
DarthMurph
Butler's numbers show that the 12.5 option is a gamble that a small market team should not take, but it's good to see that he believes that they should pay him.
KCBandit
I'm sure that all players think that they deserve to be paid as well. Butler has been a good piece for the Royals in the past but with him being too much of a liability on the base paths and in the field, I think the Royals should move on from Butler and look towards a new path in the DH role.
TigerFan1968
Bad comment by Billy. It has been a funny year with some serious power outages in players like Cano,Butler,Hardy. But all three have kept their BA reasonable and are coming around a bit in the power department.
Ben-Dessa Anderton
Rios seems to have given up. Of course he has done that elsewhere so I guess it should be no surprise here. Hopefully the ankle he rolled today doesn't hinder a potential trade. Even with the club option, if he can bring suitable parts back, I'd say go do for it. As for Beltre and Darvish, I'd say keeping those two is a no brainier. Even though Beltre has seen one of his worst defensive years, the guy still hits the ball.
Andrus will be tough to move anyways with all that money kicking in 2016. His defense is above average but nothing to write home about, and his stick still doesn't seem to have progressed with age. It's been a while since the a Rangers were potential sellers, so I will sit back and appreciate the nice run. Even if it has not netted a championship. It's a far cry from some of the baseball I've seen in years last. Hopefully 2015'will be better. Even with their health, they have some issues to control.
Excuse me, next year Elvis begins that nice pay day.
Texasstarsaddles
The Rangers are making a huge mistake. They need to rebuild. They cannot realistically expect to compete until 2016 or 2107. The Rangers are becoming more and more like the team across the street, a team that fails to see the need to rebuild and that clings to mediocrity thinking magic can happen. I think JD keeps Rios, Beltre and probably even Soria which will enable the Rangers to win about 80 games next season instead of 70 or so. I am sure one or two of their older players will break down next season so they can use that as an excuse for the .500 record. Unlike the team next door though the owner and GM are not the same person so maybe they will eventually get tired of what is happening.
I think the comparison to the team across the street is a stretch. That situation has been going on for twenty years. This seasons team was built with an expectation that it would compete. I think if all cylinders had clicked, they could have. I am not going to say they would have seen Oakland type results. I just think many would not be seeing things in such a downward manner.
The gamble on Harrison was bold and it backfired badly. The a Fielder deal looks horrible now. The Choo signing seems pointless. I am all for giving things time to work. Look at the Angels. They stunk for a few years after making big time FA moves. It's just now paying off. I won't say the Rangers will experience similar results but I also don't think you rebuild after one disastrous season. If he team they built had been involved since day one and similar results were found, I'd think otherwise. I think to be fair to the front office, you give it another year.
Remember, if your a fan, the bad baseball we have been subjected to. We have also never been a winner and suddenly turned a loser. Don't count the late 90's, please. The same GM now is the same one that built two WS teams.
Jaysfan1994
It's not like they have to worry about fans giving up on the team, even in the uncompetitive years, The Rangers are always a top draw in baseball.
You may be surprised. I never saw the wagon fill up so fast after the first trip to the WS. Everyone immediately jumped off the Cowboys wagon and shifted to the Rangers. When Josh Hamilton said, " this isn't a baseball town", he was right. There are good fans here. But as Troy Aikman once said, "DFW is a winners town". It's true but that is the case across most of the US sports landscape anyway. Luckily this area has all the major sports to choose from.
There once was a day you could walk up and get any seat in the house five minutes before first pitch. Now you have to pay quite a bit more. Naturally ticket prices increased but demand also increased. This team will be an afterthought before long. Which is fine by me, you can easily identify the suddenly interested fans from the ones that have been around watching this for a long time. It is funny hearing those that became bigger fans over the last few years complain about his season though. Many really believe Nolan Ryan made all the success happen.
stl_cards16
"This team will be an afterthought before long. Which is fine by me"
You sure sound like a hardcore fan.
Maybe some enjoy the bandwagon type fan hanging around. I am sure in places like St. Louis, one has to worry less about that, as they have many generations of fans. I've watched the Rangers finish dead last many more times than I have seen them finish first. I guess those types of fans only standout when things begin to go sour. They missed everything that led up to success yet seem to know every reason for current failure. Perhaps I shouldn't worry about it and just enjoy the game I love and the team I call my own.
Hamilton didn't know what he was talking about. His whole premise was faulty and a flat out lie. He said he noticed attendance dropping off from a Thursday night to the Friday night right afterwards. He said he asked Marlon Byrd why that was and Byrd told him it was because of high school football implying that folks showed up in lesser numbers on a Friday night than the previous night simply because they were attending High School football games. The only problem with that is if you look at the attendance numbers during HS football season the Rangers always had a bigger crowd on Friday nights than they did the previous night. Hamilton lied.
Go look at historical attendance. If you live here, you know good and well football is always front center. This is a baseball town when things are going well. They are on pace for 400,000 fewer fans this season than last. This isn't a baseball town. Can it be? I hope. I've been going to games for a little more than 30 years. Winning cued in attendance.
What I said was Hamilton's whole reason for saying that was a lie and it is. Attendance doesn't suffer at the Ranger games due to HS football. That is a bald face lie.
Well that part is true.
Dynasty22
Why do they need to rebuild? They have been absolutely ravaged by injuries.
Their offense is atroicious and the injuries didn't hamper that too much. The catchers who replaced Soto probably hit better than Soto would have. Odor did as well as Profar could have been expected. Fielder was in decline last year and really can't be depended on to ever be that good anymore. If the pitching had stayed healthy this year the offense would have let the team down and they would have been a .500 team or slightly better.
Now because of long term injuries the pitching is in shambles also. They will not compete next year and probablly not in 2016 either so keeping Beltre, Rios, and Soria is pointless if we can get a good return for them.
When Jake Smolinski is batting fifth of course it's atrocious. They have used nine different 1b. Most of those had to be converted. At a point what exactly do you expect?
I wouldn't argue the pitching situation. They gambled on Harrison to be what he was. Not a good idea. I am of the thought that continuity goes a long way.
And your using a lot of "could be's and probably's" in your argument. I think if many thing,this season proves that depth goes a long ways. It's been a scramble since day one.
Smolinski's bat has been a huge upgrade over Fielder's bat. That tells you all you need to know about our offense when healthy. It could even be argued that Giminez and Chirinos are upgrades over Soto. The way Odor has played it can be argued that him replacing Profar was a push. We never really had a good DH. For those reasons I wouldn't expect our offense to improve too much next season. It will be atrocious next season as well.
Fielder was hurt all along. Smolinski is a career minor leaguer.
Yes, Smolinski is. That is how far Fielder has slipped.
Fielder was not subject to any medical treatment last year nor was he subject to any medical tests before the trade was finalized. Therefore, he was deemed fit by both clubs when the trade went down. His decline last year was due to the fact that guys his size decline much sooner than other guys in better shape. His father was the same way. He was a bad pickup and him being on the team next year doesn't mean that the offense next year will be any better than this year.
I think the issue went undetected as Jon Daniels was quoted I. Saying those specific injuries are not looked for. Guess we have to wait and see. It wasn't as if Kinsler was playing his well in a Texas.
NickinIthaca
Kenny Lofton, aka Willie Mays Hayes. I certainly miss watching Lofton play…
steimel
White Sox going for the All-Cuban team! Woohoo!
Shane Flannagan
Lets get it done Theo/Jed. Imagine a lineup next year of Castillo OF, Alcantara OF, Rizzo 1st, Bryant 3rd, Baez 2nd, Castro SS, Castillo C, (another OF). Thats a lineup that can make the Cubs competitive if we can sign one of the big time SP also.
How about Russell?
He's not ready yet. I think he's on the Kris Bryant path. Might start off at AA next season and then in AAA around May or June and play out rest the year there. We will see Russell in 2016
I think you underestimate him. But you could be 100% correct with the plethora of middle infielders the Cubs now own. I think had he not suffered the hamstring injury he'd be on the cusp of a big league call up.
Cubstein
Before the injury Russell was projected to get a cup of coffee this year. Don't see why he would be pushed back all the way til 2016. He may stay in AA the remainder of the season or he may get promoted in two weeks when some guys get the call after the deadline and play the remainder in AAA. Assuming no further setbacks we see him after he is safely past super-2 status next year (Late June early July).
Bryant is the easy choice to move to the OF. He has a strong arm and questions about his ability to play 3B. With the log jam of IFers, even if he proves he could play 3B, he's not going to be a GG caliber 3B like any of these other guys could be.
Baseball is a "what have you done for my lately" kind of sport. I like Butler, but he just doesn't have it anymore.
KJ4realz
That's basically all sports…
josebatista89
It would be smart for teams that are in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes to wait after the July 31st deadline to see how he pitches.
IZZONE
Diamondbacks want catching right? Ramon Cabrera and Melvin Mercedes for Ziegler.