Forget Greinke. Go get Price. Trade Kinsler. Prospects are just that-quit clinging to them. Use them. What good are they if they fizzle out in the minors. We could have had the world 2 yrs ago for M perez. Now not so much as then.For a bat try Carlos Gonzales, stanton. Forget the Uptons.. Toronto has catchers. Call em up. So to sum it up:
1. Trade Kinsler
2. Trade for Price
3. Get a catcher
4. Get a bat[Stanton Cargo etc]
5. spend some time with your family for Xmas.
6. Other minor deals after the holidays once dust settles.

7. And most of all-GET WELL Nefti & Colby

And remember a "good trade" is one that benefits BOTH teams. Teams will be more eager to deal with you in the future if they feel you are being fair with them. USE your prospects.

I agree with nearly all you propose. However you left out what I would consider the most important move for the front office this offseason.

H I R E E R I C!!

I just don't know how it would be possible to move Kinsler's contract and get anything meaningful in return. 5 years and $70M isn't cheap, and if you did that the Rangers would only have Jurickson Profar as a MIF in 2015 once Elvis walks in free agency. I'm opposed to salary dumping Kins based off one down year. I believe a rebound is in order for 2013.

And what makes you think Kinsler will bounce back? Is it the nice level swing he has? Or is it his declining range at 2b? If he is as good as you say there will be takers.

I think guns are good.

Trade Kinsler - To/for whom?

Trade for Price - trade who for Price? Andrus? If you just traded Kinsler then who's gonna play next to Profar?

Get a catcher - Who?

Get a bat - Who? If you just gave up a ton for Price who are you gonna put together for the dreamy player like Stanton or Carlos Gonzales?

Other minor deals - Like what?

Rationality is not important...

Im gonna go out on a limb here, but how about a deal that centers around Kinsler/Olt for J.Upton/Prospect arm. If its the right prospect maybe throw in someone like Sardinas to get it done.

Kinsler went to college in Arizona and would possibly be well recieved by the fanbase. People have alluded to they are both similar in their home/away splits. This puts an outfielder here with great upside. Hes young and contract friendly. It frees up dollars to go after Grienke hard. Creates space for Profar to play thats essentially "Wash-Proof". Arizona gets a young 3rd baseman they are seaking, one of the better 2nd baseman, and an excellent SS prospect (if the give up a decent arm prospect).

Whos says no? And why?

Posted this on another thread right before it turned into a pissing match over who was nicer than the other person ... anywho ... maybe it could get some talk here

Captain
First off I'm not that sold on J Upton, he's trending in the wrong direction. I know he's still young but... Also I'm not sure how J. Upton solves our issues? He is a right fielder and we still have Murphy and Cruz and although he might be an upgrade defensively I don't think he would be enough of an upgrade offensively to make it worth it.
Next if you trade Kinsler you have to hedge your bets a little with your minor leagers, we might lose Elvis to FA in 2 yrs, If that where to happen and Kinsler is gone you won't have a second baseman and Sardinas might be a pretty good replacement. So I don't think it's a good idea.

Eric
I know the markets thin and we are going to need offense but I still don't think he's getting 12.

I'm not in either camp when it comes to trading Elvis or Ian. That is, unless an incredible deal pops up that justifies Elvis being moved. (I just don't see us letting Ian go or us getting decent value for him.)

Frankly, I think we will start the season with Elvis, Ian, and Profar all in the lineup. Profar can get more time at 2nd base than 3rd base, but I would hope that both of them would spend time at DH. That also lets Profar break in at a much more reasonable pace than if either Elvis or Ian was gone.

If we have these three infielders, then there is very little chance that we will seen MY with an infielder's glove on (other than 1B.) But, my one hope this off season is that JD is actively scouring the other GMs to see who needs what relief to take Mr. Young off of our hands.

Edit on post above: "Profar can get more time at 2nd base than at SS, but I would hope that both of them (Ian and Profar) would spend time at DH."

@Captainobvious

Did you even look at Arizona's roster. They have Aaron Hill at 2B. He just finished the year with a slash line of 302/360/522/882 with 26 homers and 85 rbi. So why would they want Kinsler? Maybe they need an outfielder...

And what makes you think Kinsler will bounce back? Is it the nice level swing he has? Or is it his declining range at 2b? If he is as good as you say there will be takers.

The point isn't whether there will be takers or not, it's that you wouldn't be getting good value in return because of how poorly (to his standards) Ian played in 2012. His bat path was only complained about because he didn't produce to his norm in 2012; his lifetime wRC+ excluding this last year is 114. Solid. He's had the same swing since he came in the league.

His RngR was a little down this year, but still in the positive at 3.7. Defense can fluctuate from year-to-year. I'm also not convinced there wasn't some sort of injury he was dealing with.

I know I'm not the first one to bring this up, but remember that when you trade a player, you're also trading a bill for how much you owe him. We would be trading Ian for 5 years plus a debt of $75m. That's pretty close to even; we probably wouldn't get a whole heck of a lot. Unless we wanted to do a salary dump, trading Ian isn't likely to net us much. Why do you think Vernon Wells is so untradable? He's not great, but he's not the worst OF in the league. But with him comes a $42m debt.

If we trade 2 years of Elvis, and a debt of only $10m or so, I think we would get substantially more than we would for Ian. I just hope that, if they do decide to trade Elvis, they get something damn good for him.

So lets base everything on what Kinsler did 2 yrs ago? BRILLIANT. His defense was awful. TRADE HIM NOW

I doubt any team is going to take Kinsler with his splits and his new contract after his disappointing 2013 season. There's just too much risk. There are probably some teams that would take him if the Rangers were to just give him up and getting nothing back but most teams wouldn't even make that trade unless they were in desperate need of a 2B. His splits have always been bad and he never should have gotten such a contract but it is what it is. The real dilemma with Kinsler is if the Rangers don't trade him and he doesn't rebound and instead his 2013 numbers are similar to 2012 then the Rangers will be stuck with him unless they are willing to eat much of that contract. If he does rebound, and I think he will to some degree, then trading him would have been a mistake.

Before giving away either Elvis or a large portion of the farm for a bat, make Hamilton a reasonable offer. Bats are much easier to acquire than aces, so if Elvis gets traded it should only be for an ace. But make no mistake, the Rangers would have to give up more than Elvis for either Price. The Rays still have a lot of time on Price's contract and can wait until the 2013 trade deadline when his value is likely to be higher and the Rays do not make trades unless the trade is in their best interest. They will need at least one or two additional prospects but it will require giving up Elvis, who would then be traded by the Rays next season. That is how the Rays have "afforded" to be competitive in the eastern division. If the Rangers won't meet their price, some other team will.

I am not really all that excited for the off season because personally, I think it's going to be filled with a lot of disappointment. The Rangers really need pitching and if Hamilton leaves and his bat isn't replaced then the Rangers will need to obtain both Greinke and another pitcher at or near the level of Price to have a good chance at winning the division next season but I won't hold my breath for any of that happening. The FO has, in not so many words, stated that they won't compete with market prices for Hamilton which leaves doubt that the chances of signing Grienke are mcuh higher than the chances of signing Hamilton. Unfortunately, I am almost certain that the FO will not be willing to meet the Ray's price for either Price or Shields but, of course, I hope I'm wrong and the Rangers finally acquire do the ace the team really could have used that last two seasons.

"The FO has, in not so many words, stated that they won't compete with market prices for Hamilton which leaves doubt that the chances of signing Grienke are mcuh higher than the chances of signing Hamilton. "

Dark these are 2 different animals! Hamilton not getting "market price" is because he's a head case and his body is breaking down and the rangers have had enough of his song and dance. if he wants to play here for cheap I think they would gladly have him back but not at 20m a year.
Grienke on the other hand is an ace without the injury history or the drama and I think the JD is going to be in the bidding at 22m for 5 or 6 yrs.
It's not the money it's the player!

"So lets base everything on what Kinsler did 2 yrs ago? BRILLIANT. His defense was awful. TRADE HIM NOW"

Did you not read what I said? Or do you think Ian isn't worth shit and we should cash in on getting 1-2 (likely not 1st tier) prospects for him? Because I think you're dead wrong if you think that.

Just read this on MLBTradeRumor:

Longtime Tigers owner Mike Ilitch told Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News that he wants a World Series title, no matter the costs. "I don't worry about the investment, I want to win," Ilitch said. Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland say they want to win a championship for the 83-year-old owner.

Josh and Greinke to the Tigers?

I and many others have speculated the price of WAR will be rising. To me, this raises the issue of whether WAR should be valued linearly. I suspect if you are a billionaire who is willing to spend to win without limitation, you are more likely to pay a higher WAR value for the Hamilton and Greinkes than for average players who make less of an impact on a team's won/loss record.

The Tigers have a chance to win it this year. If they do, I doubt they'll go all out on Josh and/or Greinke. If not, well, I suppose count them in the many teams that will likely bid for them.

@Roy
Oops. I was thinking he was becoming a free agent this year. Hes not a FA till next year.

I still think Elvis is the kind of player you keep. I get it that he represented by Scott Boras and it wont be cheap to keep him, but hes still the kind of player you build around if you have the chance. I dont believe he will get Jose Reyes money on the opening market. I dont feel that defense gets paid like offense. When i see Elvis the best comaprison to a former player I can think of is Ozzie Smith/Omar Vizquel, and i think Elvis will be paid in that ballpark (relative to current day salaries). By that time our new TV deal will be in full force and we should be able to keep him.

With that said, we still have a problem of finding room for Profar to play. When you factor in the Wash roadblock its going to be difficult to get him on the field. Best way is to try and find another home for Kinsler (IMO). What team out there needs a second baseman thats among the best in the game and seems to be paid accordingly?

Do you guys think Ian could be part of the CarGo trade? That would handle part of the money issue, add some quality young players and see if they bite. Maybe M Perez and R Ross, knowing the Rockies need pitching.

Cargo isn't going anywhere. He's only due $71M over the next five years, meaning acquiring Ian (5/$70M) in return would essentially offset that money. It makes no sense on their end.

Kinsler, M perez, Buckel for Cargo in A HEARTBEAT

I'm not sure how well Cargo would do away from Coors and in the AL. Not confident enough to give away Ian for him, considering they'll both cost about the same $.