2K24: Texas Rangers

[revo]

They need to figure out what to do with Profar. If he is long term, he needs a position. If I was Bannister, i would be considering moving Beltre to 1B and letting Gallo and Profar fight it out for 3B. If nothing else, the defense would improve.

J

The kid's hitting .364 with 2 HRs in his short stay so far. I realize the Rangers are playing well, 10 games over .500, but Moreland and Fielder have been underperformers.

Moving Beltre works; how about moving Desmond to 1B? Or heck, just bench Fielder and have Profar DH for the rest of this season!

[Ken]

The kid's hitting .364 with 2 HRs in his short stay so far. I realize the Rangers are playing well, 10 games over .500, but Moreland and Fielder have been underperformers.

Moving Beltre works; how about moving Desmond to 1B? Or heck, just bench Fielder and have Profar DH for the rest of this season!

I doubt Beltre ever moves off 3B. He's been a great 3B through his career and he takes pride in it. Obviously his range is more limited now but overall he looks good playing 3rd. Defensive metrics seem to support that as well.

[revo]

Profar starting over Fielder at DH for the second straight game.

Oh by the way, Fielder still has $120m on his contract, which runs through the 2020 season!

[onejayhawk]

I doubt Beltre ever moves off 3B. He's been a great 3B through his career and he takes pride in it. Obviously his range is more limited now but overall he looks good playing 3rd. Defensive metrics seem to support that as well.

There is no doubt Beltre can still play 3B. The defensive improvement is from replacing Fielder/Moreland off 1B. Desmond at 1B with Profar in LF makes some sense. Does JP has the chops for OF? He played about four OF games back in 2013 with some awful defensive resluts.

J

[Ken]

There is no doubt Beltre can still play 3B. The defensive improvement is from replacing Fielder/Moreland off 1B. Desmond at 1B with Profar in LF makes some sense. Does JP has the chops for OF? He played about four OF games back in 2013 with some awful defensive resluts.

J

I understand from a strategic standpoint.

Just from watching the team every day, Beltre isn't moving positions. Whoever they would slot into 3B when Beltre was moved would instead just move to 1B instead. He's the old pro in the clubhouse and he's good at 3B, there's no huge reason to move him and they won't do it, IMO.

[virgonomic]

Here is the Rangers BO today. Is there a worse choice for cleanup than Odor? Why not flip him and Mazara?

3B J. Profar 2-3
CF I. Desmond 0-3
RF N. Mazara 1-3
2B R. Odor 0-3
LF R. Rua 0-3
DH P. Fielder 1-3
SS E. Andrus 0-2
1B M. Moreland 2-3
C B. Holaday 1-2

[DMT]

Here is the Rangers BO today. Is there a worse choice for cleanup than Odor? Why not flip him and Mazara?

3B J. Profar 2-3
CF I. Desmond 0-3
RF N. Mazara 1-3
2B R. Odor 0-3
LF R. Rua 0-3
DH P. Fielder 1-3
SS E. Andrus 0-2
1B M. Moreland 2-3
C B. Holaday 1-2

IMO having their best three hitters slot 1-2-3 makes a lot of sense. Best record in AL, hard to criticize.

[chancellor]

Here is the Rangers BO today. Is there a worse choice for cleanup than Odor? Why not flip him and Mazara?

3B J. Profar 2-3
CF I. Desmond 0-3
RF N. Mazara 1-3
2B R. Odor 0-3
LF R. Rua 0-3
DH P. Fielder 1-3
SS E. Andrus 0-2
1B M. Moreland 2-3
C B. Holaday 1-2

I think he was the right choice. I'd rather have the higher BA/higher OBP hitting 3rd instead of 4th.

[Ken]

Here is the Rangers BO today. Is there a worse choice for cleanup than Odor? Why not flip him and Mazara?

3B J. Profar 2-3
CF I. Desmond 0-3
RF N. Mazara 1-3
2B R. Odor 0-3
LF R. Rua 0-3
DH P. Fielder 1-3
SS E. Andrus 0-2
1B M. Moreland 2-3
C B. Holaday 1-2

I don't normally get into day by day batting order conversations, since it has been calculated that they matter very little outside of getting your best hitters the most ABs; but what specifically makes Odor a bad choice to hit cleanup?

I'm not sure if you go with the typical ideas of having your 4th hitter as a power hitter, but if so, you asked for if there is a worse choice. And based on that question, the following hitters on the Rangers have lower ISO either this year and in their careers:

Jurickson Profar (career)
Ian Desmond (both)
Nomar Mazara (both)
Ryan Rua (both)
Prince Fielder (this year)
Elvis Andrus (both)
Mitch Moreland (this year)
Bryan Holaday (career)

(By the way, as a shortcut, that's just a list of everyone else in the lineup!)

[jamesfredette]

That Profar guy can play. I just hope hes finds enough ABs the rest of season. Could save teams with holes at 2B

[revo]

Colby Lewis out two months with a strained lat. too bad, he was having a big year.

[Erik]

Colby Lewis out two months with a strained lat. too bad, he was having a big year.

I guess I made the right decision to dump this week.

[swampdragon]

Desmond has been putting up incredibly high numbers (top ten) but his future expectations dont seem anywhere near where he is today?

What team will he be on next year?
Back to shortstop?

and where would he rank (similar players) based on previous seasons?

[revo]

Desmond has been putting up incredibly high numbers (top ten) but his future expectations dont seem anywhere near where he is today? -- Says who?

What team will he be on next year? - Who knows?
Back to shortstop? - Who knows?

and where would he rank (similar players) based on previous seasons? - Hard to say -- his contract push years have obviously varied dramatically. Is he the guy he was three seasons ago? Last year? Or this year?

Hope this helps!

[onejayhawk]

Desmond has been putting up incredibly high numbers (top ten) but his future expectations dont seem anywhere near where he is today?

What team will he be on next year?
Back to shortstop?

and where would he rank (similar players) based on previous seasons?

Desmond is swinging less and swinging OSZ a lot less. 8% of his GB have moved to LD, which contributes to a career high BABIP. Although .396 is high, it's not stratospheric. The HR/FB% is up, but the new home park could be a big factor in that. A lot of his improvement seems to be hitting smarter and his home park helps significantly. The flip side is that he is almost 31.

He's turned into a fine CF. Since they need a CF for the next season or two, I expect the Rangers to try to keep him. It has been a happy signing, so Desmond will probably be ammenable. The Ranger already have a star grade IF in Profar, so Desmond is unlikely to play more than a few games on the IF.

J