Rangers 2012

[idrivea4banger]

hes gone

[71chevellejohn]

Rangers won't make initial offer to Hamilton
Texas GM Daniels says club will let slugger test free-agent market

ARLINGTON -- Josh Hamilton has made it clear the Rangers will get the "first chance" at re-signing him. The Rangers are declining that offer.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said Tuesday the club will not make an offer to Hamilton before he becomes a free agent after the World Series.

"We're not going to make a kind of preemptive proposal at this point," Daniels said. "I think that effectively what we decided internally and agreed on with Josh and his representatives during the spring was that was the process -- we're going to let it play out. If you put yourself in his shoes, if you've got this far, you're going to test the market, find out what's out there. I think that's understandable.

"The realities are when a guy goes out and tests the market, [and] you get 'this close,' you're not going to preempt it. I think he's going to go out there, test the market and then come back to us. No door's been closed. We're also very realistic about when a star player hits free agency at this point, the history of them returning to their original club. I think we have to prepare both ways and prepare the club for the possibility that he's not back. But we haven't closed any doors."

Hamilton last spoke about his contract situation on Friday after the Rangers lost to the Orioles, 5-1, in the American League Wild Card game. He said it was "50-50" that he would return to the Rangers.

"It was one of those things where I'll go home and spend some time with the family and figure out what's going on and enjoy them right now, then think about what's going to transpire from here on," Hamilton said.

Hamilton just finished his fifth season with the Rangers, hitting .285 with 43 home runs and 128 RBIs. But the season did not finish well, for him or the Rangers. Hamilton hit .256 with one home run and five RBIs in the last 11 games, he missed five of six games on a road trip through Seattle and Anaheim because of a problem with his eyes, he committed a crucial error in the final regular-season loss to the Athletics and he was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against the Orioles.

"Obviously, I think Josh probably would have liked to finish stronger, and we would have liked to see him finish stronger," club president Nolan Ryan said. "Will it impact our position as far as going forward? No, I don't think so. We'll consider the entire season, because it is an entire season that affects the outcome. We've agreed with Josh's folks early on that we would not negotiate during the season. ... They want to go out and see what the market will bear, and we'll see where we are at some point in time."

Hamilton will automatically become a free agent the day after the World Series ends. In order to receive Draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere, the Rangers must submit within five days a "qualifying" one-year offer to Hamilton that is equal to the average salary of the 125 highest paid players.

Hamilton is the biggest issue facing Texas this offseason. However, the club has other needs to address -- including starting pitching, bullpen, catching and the outfield -- if Hamilton does depart.

Daniels made it clear the Rangers are still in a "win-now" mode.

"I think as far as expectations going forward, nothing's changed," Daniels said. "We expect to win next year and for the long term. We've had a heck of a four-year run here, making the playoffs the last three years, close to 300 wins over that period, counting the postseason. A ton of firsts, a ton of accomplishments. A lot of things we're very proud of.

"That doesn't take away from the sting of how we finished. That's the reality is we've got something here we're extremely proud of and are going to continue to build off that. We want to turn this four-year run into a 10-year run, into a 15-year run, into a 20-year run and create that standard long term. I think we owe our ownership that. I think we owe our fans that."

In other words, the Rangers have no interest in beginning another major rebuilding project, although there will be significant changes to the overall look of the team. That will be more than obvious if Hamilton departs.

"We've got to get better," Daniels said. "We've got to get back to what we're good at, and that's making good baseball decisions. We need to find a way to complement our core that we're fond of and expect to have back. We want to find a way to build on this and get back to where we want to be, competing for the world championship year after year."

Hamilton is not the only potential free agent. Catcher Mike Napoli is, too, along with pitchers Ryan Dempster, Mike Adams, Koji Uehara, Roy Oswalt and Mark Lowe. The Rangers are also expected to decline a $9.6 million offer on Scott Feldman, making him a free agent.

Other potential decisions include whether to bring back Geovany Soto as the club's catcher, moving Alexi Ogando into the rotation, the future roles of Ian Kinsler and Michael Young, as well as finding ways to fit young prospects like pitcher Martin Perez, outfielder Leonys Martin and infielders Jurickson Profar and Mike Olt into the big league mix.

The Rangers also expect to be active in a free-agent market that is relatively strong in starting pitching. But the club is not ready to offer any specifics at this embryonic stage of the offseason.

"We're going to look to get better by evaluating every possibility," Daniels said. "There might be opportunities to bring new people in or by promoting people from within. The last two offseasons we basically had two [significant] moves. Two years ago, it was Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli. This past year it was Joe Nathan and Yu Darvish.

"I think our people made tremendous evaluations. We were fortunate to hit on those guys. Just by the nature of free agency and going through the winning cycle, we have more decisions to make this winter. We may have to rebuild the bullpen, we may have to look at different spots. For me, that's exciting. It's a chance to put our best foot forward and make some calls."

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121009&content_id=39638048&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

[mustang_marc]

Rangers Roster For 2013


Players Under Club Option

Scott Feldman $9,250,000 ($600,000 Buyout)

GTFO! Buy him out.

[Vertnut]

Bring back BobbyV...

Yeah. Let's REALLY finish off the franchise.

[Rick Modena]

Bring back BobbyV...

[bucky]

I know BJ Upton is a free agent, but does anyone know who else is a free agent in the outfield.

Also I might look and possibly sign Torii Hunter if its cheap. He lives in the DFW area and he had that issue with his son not too long ago. If its a very reasonable deal then why not, have some of that home cooking.

No one that will replace Hamiltons production but we all know the bidding for him will probably go 5 years 100+ million and i just don't think the Rangers will get into those numbers. I hope they don't. We still need pitching as that 5th spot in the rotation absolutely killed us the last month of the season. M. Perez pitching game one of the A's series was horrible.

Its also time to throw the younger players out there everyday. Washington rode his veterans way past there useful life this season and it showed with the sloppy situational hitting and poor fielding and baserunning.

[pHILSANITY07]

Updated 10-5-12

Catchers
Rod Barajas (37) - $3.5MM club option, no buyout
Henry Blanco (41) - $1.24MM mutual option
Gerald Laird (33)
Russell Martin (30)
Brian McCann (29) - $12MM club option with a $500K buyout
Jose Molina (37) - $1.5MM club option with a $300K buyout
Mike Napoli (31)
Wil Nieves (35)
Miguel Olivo (34) - $3MM club option with a $750K buyout
Ronny Paulino (32)
A.J. Pierzynski (36)
Humberto Quintero (33)
David Ross (36)
Carlos Ruiz (34) - $5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Brian Schneider (36)
Kelly Shoppach (33)
Chris Snyder (32) - $4MM mutual option for 2013 with a $500K buyout
Yorvit Torrealba (34)
Matt Treanor (37)

First basemen
Lance Berkman (36)
Jason Giambi (42)
Eric Hinske (35)
Aubrey Huff (36) - $10MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Casey Kotchman (30)
Adam LaRoche (33) - $10MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout
Carlos Lee (37)
James Loney (29)
Xavier Nady (34)
Mike Napoli (31)
Lyle Overbay (36)
Carlos Pena (35)
Ty Wigginton (35) - $4MM club option with a $500K buyout

Second basemen
Jeff Baker (32)
Robinson Cano (30) - $15MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Mike Fontenot (33)
Orlando Hudson (35) - $8MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Maicer Izturis (32)
Kelly Johnson (31)
Adam Kennedy (37)
Jeff Keppinger (33)
Jose Lopez (29)
Ryan Theriot (33)

Shortstops
Jason Bartlett (33)
Yuniesky Betancourt (31)
Ronny Cedeno (30)
Stephen Drew (30) - $10MM mutual option with a $1.35MM buyout
Alex Gonzalez (35) - $4MM vesting option. Details here.
Cesar Izturis (33)
Jhonny Peralta (31) - $6MM club option with a $500K buyout
Marco Scutaro (37)

Third basemen
Miguel Cairo (39)
Eric Chavez (35)
Mark DeRosa (38)
Brandon Inge (36)
Maicer Izturis (32)
Jose Lopez (29)
Placido Polanco (37) - $5.5MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout
Scott Rolen (38)
Ty Wigginton (35) - $4MM club option with a $500K buyout
David Wright (30) - $16MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Kevin Youkilis (34) - $13MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Left fielders
Melky Cabrera (28)
Jonny Gomes (32)
Scott Hairston (33)
Josh Hamilton (32)
Eric Hinske (35)
Reed Johnson (36)
Andruw Jones (36)
Austin Kearns (33)
Carlos Lee (37)
Ryan Ludwick (34) - $5MM mutual option for 2013 with a $500K buyout
Juan Pierre (35)
Juan Rivera (34) - $4MM club option for 2013 with a $500K buyout
Delmon Young (27)

Center fielders
Alfredo Amezaga (35)
Rick Ankiel (33)
Michael Bourn (30)
Curtis Granderson (32) - $15MM club option with a $2MM buyout
Scott Hairston (33)
Angel Pagan (31)
Cody Ross (32)
Grady Sizemore (30)
B.J. Upton (28)
Shane Victorino (32)

Right fielders
Matt Diaz (35)
Kosuke Fukudome (36)
Torii Hunter (37)
Andruw Jones (36)
Ryan Ludwick (34) - $5MM mutual option for 2013 with a $500K buyout
Xavier Nady (34)
Juan Rivera (34) - $4MM club option for 2013 with a $500K buyout
Cody Ross (32)
Ichiro Suzuki (39)
Nick Swisher (32)

Designated hitters
Bobby Abreu (39)
Johnny Damon (39)
Travis Hafner (36) - $13MM club option with a $2.75MM buyout
Raul Ibanez (41)
Hideki Matsui (39)
David Ortiz (38)
Luke Scott (35) - $6MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Jim Thome (42)
Delmon Young (27)

Starting pitchers
Scott Baker (31) - $9.25MM club option
Erik Bedard (34)
Joe Blanton (32)
Bartolo Colon (40)
Aaron Cook (34)
Kevin Correia (32)
Jorge De La Rosa (32) - $11MM player option with a $1MM buyout
Ryan Dempster (36)
R.A. Dickey (38) - $5MM club option with a $300K buyout
Scott Feldman (29) - $9.25MM club option with a $600K buyout
Jeff Francis (32)
Gavin Floyd (30) - $9.5MM club option
Freddy Garcia (37)
Zack Greinke (28)
Jeremy Guthrie (34)
Rich Harden (31)
Dan Haren (32) - $15.5MM club option with a $3.5MM buyout
Roberto Hernandez (32) - $9MM club option
Tim Hudson (37) - $9MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Edwin Jackson (29)
Hiroki Kuroda (38)
Francisco Liriano (29)
Kyle Lohse (34)
Derek Lowe (40)
Paul Maholm (31) - $6.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Shaun Marcum (31)
Jason Marquis (34)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (32)
Brandon McCarthy (29)
Kevin Millwood (38)
Jamie Moyer (50)
Roy Oswalt (35)
Carl Pavano (37)
Jake Peavy (31) - $22MM club option with a $4MM buyout
Anibal Sanchez (29)
Jonathan Sanchez (30)
Ervin Santana (30) - $13MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Joe Saunders (32)
James Shields (31) - $9MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout
Carlos Villanueva (29)
Chien-Ming Wang (33)
Kip Wells (36)
Randy Wolf (36)
Chris Young (34)
Carlos Zambrano (32)

Closers
Grant Balfour (35) - $4.5MM club option with a $350K buyout
Jonathan Broxton (29)
Matt Capps (29) - $6MM club option with a $250K buyout
Brandon League (30)
Ryan Madson (32) - $11MM mutual option with a $2.5MM buyout
Brett Myers (32) - $10MM vesting option with a $3MM buyout
J.J. Putz (36) - $6.5MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout
Mariano Rivera (43)
Fernando Rodney (36) - $2.5MM club option with a $250K buyout
Joakim Soria (29) - $8MM club option with a $750K buyout
Jose Valverde (35)

Right-handed relievers
Jeremy Accardo (31)
Mike Adams (34)
Luis Ayala (35)
Miguel Batista (42)
Shawn Camp (37)
Todd Coffey (32) - $2.5M club option for 2013 with a $300K buyout
Francisco Cordero (38)
Juan Cruz (34)
Octavio Dotel (39) - $3.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Chad Durbin (35)
Kyle Farnsworth (37)
Jason Frasor (35)
Kevin Gregg (35)
Jason Grilli (36)
LaTroy Hawkins (38)
Clay Hensley (33)
Livan Hernandez (38)
Bobby Jenks (32)
Brad Lidge (36)
Matt Lindstrom (33)- $4MM club option with a $200K buyout
Derek Lowe (40)
Mark Lowe (30)
Brandon Lyon (33)
Guillermo Mota (39)
Juan Carlos Oviedo (29)
Vicente Padilla (35)
Brad Penny (35)
Joel Peralta (37)
Chad Qualls (34)
Ramon Ramirez (31)
Jon Rauch (34)
Francisco Rodriguez (31)
Takashi Saito (43)
Rafael Soriano (33) - $14MM player option or a $1.5MM buyout
Carlos Villanueva (29)
Jamey Wright (38)

Left-handed relievers
Jeremy Affeldt (34)
Sean Burnett (30) - $3.5MM mutual option with a $250K buyout
Tim Byrdak (39)
Randy Choate (37)
Pedro Feliciano (35) - $4.5MM club option
Brian Fuentes (37) - $6.5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Mike Gonzalez (35)
J.P. Howell (28)
Will Ohman (35)
Darren Oliver (42) - $3MM club option with a $500K buyout
J.C. Romero (37)
Hisanori Takahashi (38)

Guys that are in bold are guys that caught my interest.

[pHILSANITY07]

I know BJ Upton is a free agent, but does anyone know who else is a free agent in the outfield.

Also I might look and possibly sign Torii Hunter if its cheap. He lives in the DFW area and he had that issue with his son not too long ago. If its a very reasonable deal then why not, have some of that home cooking.

[pHILSANITY07]

The more i think about it the only ones i would like to see back next year are Harrison,Darvish,Adams,Beltre,Uehara, and Profar. Everyone else including all the coaches can GTFO

I'd add Murphy to that list, he was pretty good this season.

Hopefully this will bring back that fire and desire to win it all for next year.

[bucky]

The more i think about it the only ones i would like to see back next year are Harrison,Darvish,Adams,Beltre,Uehara, and Profar. Everyone else including all the coaches can GTFO

[Lone Sailor]

They got complacent. They thought they had a golden path to the playoffs.

Certainly can't get anything past you, can they.

[Mustangfreak]

IMO they should keep Harrison and Napoli around.

[pHILSANITY07]

Rangers Roster For 2013

Signed for 2013 ($85.75 million)

Michael Young $16,000,000
Adrian Beltre $16,000,000
Ian Kinsler $13,000,000
Joe Nathan $7,000,000
Yu Darvish $9,500,000
Nelson Cruz $10,750,000
Elvis Andrus $5,050,000
Leonys Martin $3,250,000
Derek Holland $3,200,000
Colby Lewis $2,000,000

Players Under Club Option

Scott Feldman $9,250,000 ($600,000 Buyout)
Yoshinori Tateyama

Arbitration Eligible (estimated $20.5 million)

Geovany Soto (FA after 2013)
David Murphy (FA after 2013)
Koji Uehara (FA after 2014)
Matt Harrison (FA after 2014)
Neftali Feliz (FA after 2015)

Contract Renewable

Alexi Ogando (Arb eligible after 2013)
Mitch Moreland (Arb eligible after 2013)
Craig Gentry (Arb eligible after 2013)
Michael Kirkman (Arb eligible after 2013)
Brandon Snyder (Arb eligible after 2014)
Robbie Ross (Arb eligible after 2014)

Free Agents

Josh Hamilton (See ya)
Mike Napoli (Can stay if it's for a reasonable price)
Roy Oswalt (Already left town, GTFO)
Mike Adams (Didn't look too great down the stretch but would keep if the price is right)
Mark Lowe (DIAF)
Ryan Dempster (GTFO)

not calling you out, but where did you get this info?

[pHILSANITY07]

I'd resign Napoli if the price was right
Resign Mike Adams, he's been a good arm for us and I think he likes being in DFW alot.

Everyone else can go lick windows on a departured plane. In other words, GET THE FUCK OUT

[BERT]

That's some Buck Showalter bush league stuff to try and stir up some chit. Wash today said it didn't happen

Yeah like wash would admit to it. He's been fucking up for two years now