I have tried to think of a scenario that involves Elvis, Profar, and Kinsler all staying, and I cannot see one that makes financial sense for the Rangers. We can all thank Scott Boras for that. Assuming that the Rangers are not going to throw insane money at Elvis when Profar can play the same position for league minimum, it's only a matter of time before JD cashes in and ships Elvis elsewhere.

The Rangers will make a strong attempt to extend Elvis, BUT YEAH that is about it. So it gets down to best time and opportunity, which often is July or another team is in crisis mode over a shortstop.

JD hopes and prays kins has a breakout 1st half. Then trade Kins for Andre Either & some minor league prospects. As kins contract is fron loaded and either is backloaded. If kins is healthy he's an allstar. Thats if we get Elvis loccked up longterm with SATAN as his agent. If kins starts mediocre. Then it will be Elvis by trade deadline. Especially as AAA Profar is lighting it up.

I don't think JD "hopes and prays" for a situation where he trades for Andre Ethier.

JD hopes and prays kins has a breakout 1st half. Then trade Kins for Andre Either & some minor league prospects. As kins contract is fron loaded and either is backloaded. If kins is healthy he's an allstar. Thats if we get Elvis loccked up longterm with SATAN as his agent. If kins starts mediocre. Then it will be Elvis by trade deadline. Especially as AAA Profar is lighting it up.

There's something anatomically wrong with the entire body of this statement.

(a) JD's existence doesn't hinge on whether Ian Kinsler has a good 1st half.
(b) Andre Ethier is not and will never be part of any contingency plan.
(c) The Dodgers don't have prospects.
(d) Kins's contract goes $13M/$16M/$16M/$14M/$11M
(e) Ethier is spelled like this.
(f) Scott Boras is not Satan. He's the best agent in baseball. Satan does not exist.
(g) Profar is not going to be in AAA.

Goodnight, and may the fake god have mercy on your soul.

May He have mercy on YOUR soul for not believing in Him and for your blasfamous comments.

If I was a god, then I would at least demand that my followers knew how to spell blasphemy correctly. I would really prefer literate followers. And, ones that never wear jean shorts to Ranger's games.

I agree with Eric on Scott Boras. The guy is a great agent. He negotiates the best price for the players he represents. I'll never understand why we demonize players and their agents for trying to get the best deal in a career that is likely to last through one or two negotiated contracts. These guys are the talent.

Why do guys like Davis and Simpson get a pass for how much they are making in this deal when I have yet to see either of them field a ground ball?

Elvis is not going to be traded. The Rangers didn't re-sign Hamilton. They didn't sign Greinke. They didn't re-sign Napoli. They didn't, or couldn't, re-sign Koji. They didn't re-sign Adams. They traded Young, and about 38% of his salary, to the Phillies. They aren't bringing back Lowe. They are dumping Oswalt and his 5 million bucks. Scott Feldman is gone. And, it's questionable whether they will re-sign Nellie Cruz after next season.

This year's ranger squad will be talented, albeit young and CHEAP.

The money is there to re-sign Elvis. If anyone gets traded, it will be Moreland OR Kinsler and his contract. Dynamics have changed since Kinsler signed that deal.

At any rate, I wouldn't trade ANY of them. Adding AJ and Berkman, a healthy Cruz, Kinsler, Beltre, and Murphy, as well as steady improvement from Elvis, Profar and Martin, will be enough offensively.

With Andrus and Profar in the middle of your defense and Beltre-Kinsler/Moreland on the corners, your defense will save enough runs to make up for the loss of Hamilton.

Also, why would you trade people and lose leverage? What IF Andrus walks? You have Kins and Profar. What IF you can extend Elvis? Then, Kinsler or Moreland become expendable. The one guy underpinning this is Profar. You ABSOLUTELY CAN'T trade trade him.

On a similar note, why trade Olt? I love Beltre, but do you realize he's been playing in the Majors since age 19? I believe that was something like 1998. Do you trust Adrian's body? If so, for how much longer?

For that matter, why trade Perez? Colby Lewis and Neftali Feliz have been brilliant in Ranger blue and white. However, they are now question marks. Tanner Scheppers? Same, young, cheap insurance. Martin? This guy ripped up the minors like a mad dog with a rag doll. Honestly, i'm more curious about him than Profar.

Easy Rangers fans. Everything will be OK (I think). Just imagine how screwed up the Angels and Dodgers will be, very soon. All of those expensive contracts. They'll be under water with many of them. It's gonna be a fun ride.

Peace

"Why do guys like Davis and Simpson get a pass for how much they are making in this deal when I have yet to see either of them field a ground ball?"

Spoken like a guy who has never owned his own business, and never will.

The ability to field a ground ball at a high level has no inherent financial value to Andrus (or to anyone, for that matter). And apart from guys like Davis and Simpson, who take the risk of creating a context in which it has some marketable value, Andrus is just a guy who knows how to play one role in a game. For their ability to monetize that and their willingness to take the risk of doing so, Davis and Simpson are (and rightfully should be) rewarded handsomely in the total equation, and demonizing them for making money in the process says more about your business myopia than it does them.

"On a similar note, why trade Olt? I love Beltre, but do you realize he's been playing in the Majors since age 19? I believe that was something like 1998. Do you trust Adrian's body? If so, for how much longer?"

I agree with this. Beltre and Cruz are a hamstring away from a 15 day DL. Olt can back up both positions.

Actually DRSEUSS, the Rangers team salary will be very close if not exceed last years. Currently it sits at about $122m. However, the Rangers do program about a $120-130 RANGE. So there is thought / room to add a free agent starter, if for under $8 m, and would be a fit. Aside from an Upton or Stanton highly unlikely trade add, the Rangers are ready as is for Surprise. JD's focus will turn away from free agents and replacing Hamilton's bat [Berkman if healthy goes along way in that respect] and focus on extensions for: Harrison [FA 2015], Murphy[FA 2014], Andrus [FA 2015] and possibly even Cruz[FA 2014]. So next year no free agent exodus. The $122 projects also likely arbitration final numbers. This may be even a good time to negotiate with Boras over Andrus. His hands are currently loaded trying to find deals for Bourn, Lohse, Soriano. So if he can not come out smelling like roses, and find new loopholes in the current Players Agreement, it may end poorly for his clients, which is not good for business; and consequently affect Elvis to the benefit of the Rangers.

SMH @ welle763

Question: How many Scott Boras clients have signed extensions instead of testing the FA market? I can only think of one, Jerred Weaver from LA. If that is the case, then the chances of signing Andrus to an extension are remote and the choice is between keeping Andrus for two years and trading him now.

You keep Andrus if you belive that you have a strong chance at winning a WS in the next 2 years. As currently constructed, I don't think you can say that about the Rangers, unless they can trade for Upton or Stanton. The latter would cost 4-5 top prospects, including Profar, but adding Stanton would make the Rangers a WS contender for the next 2 years. Upton would cost much less, but he is not the elite talent that Stanton is.

If you cannot obtain either of those two hitters, then it makes the most sense to trade Andrus now in order to maximize his value. Like Texas, Andrus would have the most value with a team that is a WS contender AND could use a top flight SS to put them over the top. Only 2 teams, I think, meet those criteria, STL and DET.

STL has one of the best farm systems in MLB and currently has Rafael Furcal at SS who is 35. Putting Andrus in the middle of their INF would be a huge upgrade and with the major league talent they curently have, the Cards would be one of the favorites to win a WS over the next 2 years. We should be able to get 2-3 of their young, talented players for Andrus ( Lynn, Rosenthal, Matt Adams. Miller, Taveras, to name a few).

DET has an even greater need for a SS as Peralta cannot make up for the limited range of Cabrera at 3B. Their farm system is weak, but they do have a couple of young players (Smyly, Porcello, Dirks, Castelanos, Garcia) that would strengthen the Rangers long term.

Bottom line - the Rangers should attempt to pull off another Texiera type deal and try to land 3-4 prospects for Andrus. Without either Stanton or Upton, the Rangers will be a very young team in 2013. Adding 3 talented young players for Andrus puts them in excellent position to win it all in 2014 and beyond.

I can absolutely see a scenario in which Profar doesn't break camp with the team. He has options and at this point really has no position on the team unless you push Kinsler into the OF. I really expect either an Elvis trade or Profar in the minors. Especially since keeping him down through 5/17, something I heard yesterday, would give an extra year of control.

Also, @eric

You don't believe in God. We get it. Move on.

What's wrong with wearing jean shorts to a Ranger's game????? I absolutely love the way people wear "cool" stuff because it is "different" like ass-hanging-out-the-back-with-skidmarked-undies but jean shorts are not cool. Wassup with that?

Spoken like a guy who has never owned his own business, and never will.

@ansel,

glad you start a dialogue by making it personal.

I do own my own consulting business in IT storage design. Have so for the last 20 years. So there's that.

If you go back and re-read my statement, the question I posed was why players and agents are demonized and not ownership for financial decisions. My point is that I don't see anyone complaining that we should spend a lot more money that the $125M which was budgeted.

Sure, baseball owners have the cash, which is mostly inherited and taxed under what the players pay. Nevertheless, they get taxpayers to build stadiums and invest in roads and infrastructure. Of course, you have con artists like Hicks who doesn't even use him own money to "take the risk." Yeah, what a noble group of guys.

Bouton, so you're an outsourced type of "consulting" employee rather than one who works for a company internally. Whoop de doo. Not remotely close to the same as owning a business, where you have overhead, take risks, envision a money-making business, design a business plan to make it happen, employ people, and so on.

Yet you smugly continue to take shots at owners, for being owners, which shows you have no clue about what ownership of a company brings to the table, in essence trying to denigrate them as people who must be where they are as an owner because they have somehow gotten a free ride in life, and by implication deserve nothing.

With that background, it's no wonder that you see nothing wrong with the Rangers paying much more than a player is worth for his services. If you had ever worked a business with the constraints of a budget, then you might understand that running a business is about choices, and disciplined spending. When you color very far outside the lines, as Boras tries to make happen, you end up with a mess.

Also, @eric

You don't believe in God. We get it. Move on.

No disrespect, man, but I believe if posters bring morality into discussions to justify their positions, I'm just as entitled to give the opposite end of the spectrum.

@eric: "His agent isn't Satan." would have sufficed. Everything after that was absolutely unnecessary, irrelevant to the discussion, and can only be reasonably interpreted as an attempt to provoke people.

@ansel,

I have three employees and we consult and provide billable installation services for certain projects (SAN consolidation, tapeless backup). I pay my employees well, but I have had to fire some (incompetence, sort of right up your alley) and let others go since they were offered more elsewhere. I never expected the taxpayers to pick up the tab for my office, which most baseball owners have demanded. Nor, do I ask my employee for a "home town discount." Your instincts about me are all incorrect, Kreskin.

You might be learning disabled, since you continue to claim I made statements that were simply not made. Where did I ever suggest that we should overpay players? I stated that that an agent has every right to ask for what the market is willing to pay. Boras is not holding a gun to these owners. Boras will let Andrus play in Texas in two years if we pay him the most money.

Please tell us about your business acumen. I'm guessing fluffer.

Wait, someone thinks Elvis won't re-sign here as a free agent? That's a novel idea. I've never heard that before. Please, let's discuss this more.

With the new free agent rules, qualifing offers and loss of draft picks Boris' clients have been hurt. Today news has filtered down that Boris has realized that his stratagy is flawed and he is tring to work a deal for Bourn with Atlanta and expect he will follow suit with his other clients. That gives us hope that Andrus will resign knowing he will get a qualifing offer from the Rangers.

Bouton, you're the one who decided that bashing those who own businesses for nothing more than the fact they are owners was somehow contributory, so we know who you are. But you play a great internet poser. I bet that gets you far in real life. Congrats.

There was a time when the players got screwed... daily / monthly / annually... that time isn't now.

And, every dollar they pry out of ownership doesn't come out of the owners' pockets - it comes out of ours.

That's why the players get demonized.