I have read most of the posts on here concerning Greinke, Upton, etc. And I watched the Blue jays get a whole lot better last week. SO now I am wondering if we are goign to do anything at all??? I understand that we are waiting on Greinke and Hamilton as well as Napoli to some extent. But really the way I see it, we need a CF, C, bullpen pieces, and a TORP. It seems that maybe Sanchez is a better deal than Greinke and may come cheaper or a trade with Tampa for Shields would be good. SIgn a freakin catcher already and figure out what to do with Soto. As far as CF goes, either announce that we are going with Martin/Gentry and not signing a big bat or sign someone already. It seems that the market is running away from us right now. Anyone else feel this way?

nope

It takes time. We didn't sign Beltre until January. We didn't trade for Napoli until January. It takes time.

Nice. Simple and to the point. Nice response David.

Yes, you may be right Aaron, but we traded for Napoli in January. I understand it takes time sometimes, but when you see the Jays do what they have doen this offseason with Melky and the Marlins. It does seem jsut a tad frustrating. Maybe I am more like Nolan when he says stuff like he wants the Hamilton thing done with already.

We don't need a CF very badly. Martin deserves a chance to succeed at the highest level; he has nothing left to prove at AAA. Gentry is obviously amazing in the field and has shown to be pretty good with the bat, though without much pop, for longer than some people thought he would be. He's a worthy candidate for a platoon with Martin, even if not an everyday man.

We probably need a catcher most of all. Lots of people seem to think the Rangers will non-tender Soto. If they do we have...um...Luis Martinez? Yeah... Now, look at the catcher market. The pickings are pretty slim, and not very desirable. Napoli, Russell Martin, and Kelly Shoppach are the only ones that look like okay options. Alternatively, the Rangers could trade with the Blue Jays for one of their zillion catchers, or possibly another team, but unless someone snatches up one of those aforementioned guys, catcher might wait to be addressed until after Greinke signs, as that would substantially affect their budget.

The Rangers will definitely need a few more relievers. Nobody would feel good about throwing a bunch of inexperienced guys out there behind Nathan. That, too, can wait until after the Greinke signing, unless it doesn't cost much.

They obviously need one more pitcher for the rotation, and I would prefer it not be Perez. If it's not Greinke, then they could try to pry Shields away. He's getting pretty expensive for the Rays, and the Rangers can probably afford to pay him $10m a year if they aren't paying through the nose for Greinke.

They need a solution at 1B more than they need a CF. They could continue to roll with Moreland, who has shown great stuff in short bursts, but overall has not hit like you want a 1B to, and is in his prime now.

If they decide to seriously pursue a CF, it should not interfere with their plans for the above.

The market is not running away. The only notable guys I see that have signed already are Affeldt, Cabrera, Hunter, and Ortiz. Even though this FA class is weaker than desired, there are still plenty of quality guys out there. I don't like the waiting game, either, but I'm pretty sure it will not be in vain. There will be moves, and some of them should be pretty exciting.

NOPE...Chuck Testa

Wow dude you need to calm down. ONE team made a few trades that really aren't going to go much of anywhere (I always felt Josh Johnson is overrated due to NL stats, Reyes is so-so, Cabrera is a time bomb). That would have been a good trade for the Rangers last year to push them over the top but I don't think it makes a ton of sense for the Jays.

At any rate, you are panicking because the following free agents have signed:
1) Old guy who can barely hit
2) Old big guy who hits well that everyone knew would stay put
3) Steroid guy

Am I missing anyone?

Correction on #1: he can hit. But he's still REALLY OLD. I almost wanted the Rangers to sign him so the MY haters can eat shit when Hunter does the same thing but oh well, now it's the Tigers problem.

This probably won’t be a very popular opinion around here but I’ve been sort of pushing it for a while: Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward.

Over the past 3 seasons we’ve dealt away a lot of talent from the top of our farm system. We’ve more than doubled payroll. We signed a few contract extensions that looked better then than they do now.

This team doesn’t have a ton of holes. We need a catcher and somebody to slot anywhere #1-5 in the rotation. Throw in a couple of bullpen pieces and we’re solid candidates for another 90+ win season. But it isn’t that simple. Our revenue streams are maxed out short-term. We don’t have many guys at AAA that look like their ready to help us in 2013. A few of our best AAA trade chips have seen their value take a hit due to poor performance in a small sample (Martin, Olt, Perez) or because they’re literally running out of options (Butler, Borbon). We’ve been running this ship at full sail since December of 2009 and the rest of the fleet is starting to catch up to us.

I’m not saying this to bring on doom-and-gloom predictions. I’m saying it because I think the Texas Rangers fanbase became extremely entitled in rather short order. Now everyone wants to win year after year – at a Championship level, mind you. This is really shocking to me because I know a lot of guys here have been following this team for as long or longer than I have and even when we were losing 100 games in a season the Rangers were still a good draw. The fans should be used to failure and willing to accept it occasionally. But all I hear is ‘win, win, WIN’.

Most of the threads I’ve seen lately (and avoided) are advocate the same thing; let’s rob Peter to pay Paul. Sell off those guys that will make <$10M over the next 6-7 years for one guy who will make that next year alone. And you know what? That works great for 2013. But the magical prospect tree won’t bear fruit forever and one day when the last fruit falls to the ground and spoils, Rangers fans in Adam Eaton, Cliff Lee and James Shields jerseys will all look around and wonder what happened. They’ll watch in October and think what could have been if Gonzales, Davis, Hunter, Strop, Erlin, Teagarden, Salty and the rest never left Arlington the way they did.

We might trade for Upton, d’Arnaud or one of the Ray’s pitchers and that would be cool for 2013. But I can honestly say I’d rather watch a 2013 team of Profar, Olt, Martin, Perez, Grimm, Scheppers, Kirkman, Gentry, Moreland & Joey Butler fight for 81 wins than see half of those guys gone for a temporary improvement, a guaranteed increase in payroll, and less certainty in terms of team-control. It’s going to be fun to read reports from our rookies in Arizona and we’ve got a bunch of guys at high-A ready to make a jump. This organization is still going strong but our competitive advantage in the international market has shrunk dramatically and we haven’t ever had the greatest luck in the draft. We need to start holding on to the guys that can contribute in Arlington.

Again, just my opinion on the matter.

Henchmen
I got no problem with anything you just said. other than the 81 wins I'm right there with you.

Patience and time do more than strength or passion.

-Jean de la Fontaine

Actually I live in North Carolina and I have watched the Rangers High A team (Myrtle Beach Pelicans) since they became the Rangers High A team, short of Buckel who made the jump to Double A and Font who made it to the bigs this season I really don't see too many ready to take the next step. The catcher sorry I don't recall his name right at the moment is probably the best they have in High A and he is not near ready yet. Maybe Difazio who tome projects to be a DH type is ready for double A but no tmuch higher. The 2011 High A team bore a lot of fruit from Zaneski at catcher to Ross, Ramirez, Leoux at SP, to McGuiness, Olt, Garcia, in the infield to Prince in the OF.

Having said all of that, I agree with you on letting the prospects come up and play. I am good with Martin in CF, Zaneski at C, Moreland at 1b, Profar at 2B, Andrus at SS, Beltre at 3B, Murphy/prospect in LF, and Cruz/prospect in RF, with Young and whoever as the DH. A rotation of Darvish, Holland, Harrison, Ogando, and Perez would be fine with me. Scheppers, Kirkman, Ross, Grimm, Nathan, Font in the pen sounds good to me too. However, it might not get us 81 wins. It would show us and the rest of the league what those guys can do at the big league level. Then you can trade or sign what you need for 2014 with a better class of free agency.

All I was saying is if that is what we are going to do someone tell us. The suspense is what is driving me insane. Not that I think every good FA is gone, far from it. I jsut want to know what is going to happen. I do not think that the team will go all prospects though. But I can see a Martin/Gentry platoon in CF. I really think you will see a new catcher or two and a new SP. Other than that, I am not real sure what/who will be in a Rangers uniform next season. I am totally in favor of trading Kinsler, Cruz, Young, Holland, and maybe Murphy if it makes the team better. To me the only untouchables are Feliz, Darvish, Harrison, Profar, Andrus, and Beltre. Maybe Ross is a little tougher to pry away from me too. But the others are fair game. Even i fyou trade them for prospects.

But I agree with you on most of your points Henchman.

It's not exactly good business to broadcast your plan to the world 4 weeks into the offseason.

That does not help me much Romeo. I feel like a five year old on Christmas Eve!!

I know, but this is how they operate and it's the right way. Thank god some of us aren't running the rangers huh? :)

There are big moves to be made this offseason and from a selfish perspective I wish they would hurry up and happen so I can stop checking twitter every five minutes.

The Winter Meetings are Dec. 3-6 for anyone who doesn't know... that's what I'm looking forward to now. Should be hectic.

I'll assume this is your first hot-stove on BBTIA? "Get used to disappointment."

Just wait for the December meetings. It's all foreplay until then...

In fairness, I'd like to point out all the acquisitions the Rangers made at the winter meetings last year:

12/9/11 - Signed Alberto Gonzalez

I don't anticipate this year will be that quiet, though.