Out of the bargain bin, will Rangers’ willingness to spend in free agency be rewarded?

SURPRISE, Ariz. – A travel story, since the Rangers are pretty much on the road: When I went to Rome for the first time, I ended up on a Saturday afternoon visit to the Vatican, which was supposed to end in the Sistine Chapel. But it was time to prepare things for Sunday morning, which meant making tough decisions.

“Here we have the Etruscan Museum with artifacts from the founding of Rome that are thousands of years old,” said the tour guide, moving somewhere between jogging and sprinting. “And… we won’t see it. Go on.”

It’s quite a transition back to the Rangers and free agency of the past few years. Come annually this week in October as there were no playoffs to attend, the front office meets with the team’s pro scouts to consider off-season acquisitions. A notebook about upcoming free agents is handed out … and the rangers jump to the end of the book where the bargains are listed.

Not so this week.

“We haven’t started with the first page in the past few years,” said Jon Daniels, president of the baseball business, on Tuesday after the second of three scheduled marathon meeting days.

“We kind of skimmed it. It was a good year this year. the [scouts] have a lot of freedom to make recommendations and really engage with the players. It was definitely more fun. “

If you’ve heard this before, stop us: The Rangers are planning on spending money this winter. Much of it. Perhaps not to the extent of the proverbial “drunken sailor”. Maybe more like a gently humming naval officer.

The point is, there are real dollars. In the first week after the season, Daniels said the Rangers would revert to a payroll “in line with market size,” whichever way you define “market size” is in the top tier of the MLB. The qualification is: you won’t necessarily make the leap in a single year. More like two.

The current state of the rebuild can best be explained this way: Daniels and GM Chris Young see it as nothing more than a two-year process in which the Rangers combine substantial financial resources, high draft picks and a replenished farm system to jump back into real life Disputes. Many teams have two of the three elements available at the same time. The difference, the Rangers believe, is that they have the financial change too.

When asked if the Rangers were happy with where they are in the process, Daniels turned the question around.

“We’re happy where we’re going,” he said.

Young added, “I would say ‘optimistic’ is the right word. We are optimistic that some of the things we have planned and are doing will prepare us for success. “

In the market for free agents this means: Daniels and Young have convinced the owners to do everything necessary to attract top-class free agents, the “core position players” discussed by Daniels (of course, without naming them). You need to be willing to spend seven years – or more – in top dollars in order to land one of the shortstops on the market. If you want Marcus Semien or Trevor Story you better be ready to get almost seven years. If you want Carlos Correa or Corey Seager, think closer to a decade.

Ever since the Rangers signed Shin-Soo Choo for seven years and $ 130 million in 2013 and added about $ 80 million in commitments as part of the Ian Kinsler-for-Prince Fielder deal, the group of owners has been shying away from big deals return. In the past seven years, they haven’t done more than three years or more than a $ 30 million commitment. They found some bargains but not core players. Did you feel burned? Maybe. Main owners Ray Davis and Neil Leibman don’t say much. But their actions speak. And Daniels talked about it.

“We made two big commitments, made two big bets at the same time,” he said. “Prince in particular was a challenge because he had never missed a day in his life. … what is the word? We all learn from our experiences, right? But we are open to it. We are open to a long-term contract for the right player. “

Now you can have all of the debates about who is the right player. And how to get them to Texas.

If Freddie Freeman from Atlanta doesn’t make it into the free agency, the “right” player is almost certainly a shortstop. This class is led by Correa. And it’s also a perfect example of the challenges the Rangers will face. New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman has previously stated that shortstop is a significant “need” for the team. Likely translation: Carlos, it’s your time in New York.

After that there are different cases for each of the others. The story would like to be in Texas. Seager could be the prime example of the winning culture the Rangers seek to infuse their clubhouse with. Semien will land in the top 5 in MVP voting for the second time in three years, is determined and persistent and, as the oldest of the group, may be more willing to make the shortest of the long-term deals. They all bring significant assets with them. They all also pose a significant risk.

Sure, there are challenges in landing them. But the challenge of landing one is something the Rangers love. You’ve spent enough time scrolling to the bottom of the book and waiting for everything else to end before getting to work.

+++

More Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News can be found here.

[ad_1]