Maybe it is the passing of time but a few weeks ago after the Josh fiasco I was ready to jump off the nearest building as a fan. How could JD let this happen?? Let Josh walk and not pick up anyone at all??

Now I have taken the time to look at things from a different perspective and this team looks really good, especially if we can get a decent RF to replace Nelly. I like Martin in CF, Murphy in LF, Profar, Andrus, Berkman, Beltre, AJP, and Gentry as the fourth OF. Then the bullpen looks good to me with the addtions of Soria, Lindbloom, Beliveau, and Frasor. The rotation I always thought was a strength but I ain't skeered of Perez as the #5 starter.

I am not in favor of bringing in Bourn and I am on the fence about Lohse. I really don't think either one is worth the draft pick and money combo.

Call me crazy but this team is exciting on paper. There are still some questions like what do we do with Kinsler and or Cruz? Are we goign to get Upton? Is there another starter out there that can fill the #5 hole (like I said Perez is cool with me then Colby comes back in June or so)?

I still don't think were a WS contender, but if you make the playoffs anything can happen. I can't wait for the season to start so we can find out how good we are going to be. But I can't wait to see Profar, the emergence of Darvish, and young guys like Leonys and Olt.

I think JD has avoided bad long-term contracts and maintained flexibility. But unless you see AJ or Berkman performing at a really high level, the Rangers have added only a few wins this offseason. Now, a trade for Justin Upton could change that in a hurry.

I just read an article on the Rangers homepage about Berkman being the first domino...anyway the writer there projects Olt, Martin, and Profar at RR. Which would make the infield, Beltre, Andrus, Kinsler, and Moreland (not bad at all) and the outfield Murphy, Gentry, and Cruz (not bad, but a major power loss even doubles power with Gentry). Berkman is the DH, that is a given but where everything else shakes out is anybody's guess. Personally I wonder what Kinsler would look like in the outfield, I know his arm is not near Cruz's but the glove should equal that out and Kinsler is goign to give you the same power as Cruz with a hopefully higher OBP. I guess the real question is what is better Kinsler 2B and Cruz RF or Kinsler RF and Profar 2B or even Kinsler 2B and Olt RF?

Are the Rangers really a better team with any of the three (Martin, Profar, or Olt) in Round Rock? I don't think so. But on the other hand if they are not going to play everyday then they do need to be at RR where they will play everyday.

OR KINSLER 2B AND PROFAR RF. OF a choice as to who can play / move to right field with the least challenge and be the best on defense from Kinsler, Moreland, Olt or Profar. My opinion, Profar with out a second thought. May be in Surprise this can be realized, and in two years likely move him back to short, but in the meantime play full time in right. Does bring up two questions: What about a trade for Upton? and what to get for Cruz?. Cruz would have no real place in that scenario, so trade him or move him to left, in a Murphy/ Cruz platoon.

I think Profar is in AAA unless we trade Elvis. It just makes too much sense to keep him down the 6 weeks or so and get an extra year of control when we don't really have a place to play him. Olt we have more of a spot for, but I don't think we want to use Olt as a platoon bat with Moreland.

Martin to me is the most likely one to make it on the opening day roster. He's on the right side of the platoon. He's one of three players we have that are ready to play in CF right now, and I think the team is basically done with Borbon.

I do think it will be very interesting to see what happens with the start of the year if we don't make any other moves.

I would have to agree with RFan. JD's managed to add 2 quality, albeit old, guys that can fill valuable roles to 1 yr deals, which isn't an easy thing to do. However, a middle of the lineup with Berkman, Beltre, AJP, and Cruz doesn't excite me... but if you throw Upton into that mix, then we could have something really special, especially if Berkman is, and remains, healthy.

I wanted a true, full time DH with a big bat and we got one in Berkman... but what does that mean for AJP? Is the expectation to have him catch 100 + games now... or will Wash split his playing time 50/50 with Soto, and is AJP going to be ok with only 300-325 ABs? Wash will want his bat in the lineup (over Soto's) but is it reasonable to ask a 36 yr old to catch 100 + games in constant, unforgiving 105 degree heat because that's the only way he's going to get regular playing time. Who the heck knows! If Wash is good at only 1 thing, it's managing personalities, so I'm sure he will work it out... and the revolving DH door is now a thing of the past, which makes me happy.

1 more question/comment; the thought of David Murphy as our starting LFer worries me. Wouldn't it make more sense to move Kins to LF and have Elvis and Profar up the middle, with Moreland (or Olt) playing 1B? I cannot for the life of me figure out why anyone would even entertain the idea of moving Kinsler to 1B. Isn't 1B where you stick the fat kid that can't run? If you're going to play Profar at 2B, the logical thing to do is to move Kinsler to LF, where his speed is in asset. He doesn't have the arm to play RF but he can definitely play LF. If he proves he can handle LF, you would have a pretty fast OF in Kinsler, Gentry/Martin and Cruz.

By putting kinsler at 1B you get your best lineup out on the field on a consistent basis. If you move Kinsler to the outfield, you're going to put Moreland into the everyday 1B job. Maybe you say Olt is ready to platoon with him, but he didn't look nearly as ready as Profar last year and I think he would be much more effectively used as a trade chip for Upton. If Napoli were still around or Berkman didn't have faulty knees Moreland might not be a necessity, but Moreland only has a projected WAR of 0.9 according to FanGraphs. Here's the outfield plus 1B with Moreland (let's look at wOBA from fangraphs projections since WAR projections could change if Kinsler slides from 2B to OF):

1B: Moreland (.318)
RF: Murphy (.330)
CF: Gentry/Martin (.305--this is the average of their projections)
LF: Kinsler (.344)
average wOBA: .324

Here's the outfield plus 1B with Kinsler at 1B

1B: Kinsler (.344)
RF: Cruz (.340)
CF: Gentry/Martin (.305)
LF: Murphy (.330)
average wOBA: .330

Now, here's where it gets fun (and why you trade Olt for Upton and then use Cruz to get some pitching)

1B: Kinsler (.344)
RF: Upton (.371)
CF: Gentry/Martin (.305)
LF: Murphy (.330)
average wOBA: .338

The only drawback I see is without Olt, you need a backup infielder ala Brandon Snyder, but this way you get to play Profar everyday and you get the maximum pop and speed out of your lineup. I've heard "But Moreland's defense is so good at 1B," but I can't imagine Kinsler having any problems as good as he is in the field at 2B. Plus anything will look good out there with the memory of Michael Young in the field so fresh in our mind.

It is a monumental mistake to move Kinsler off second, he is consistently rated in the top 5 second baseman in the ML, and performs at to high a level at SECOND. Can he rake with the Fielders and Pujols, NO, but not far behind. AT second with the top echelon, yes. Also do not cut Moreland short. AT full time plate appearances, would you take .275 with 30 hrs and 100 rbis, in what is being labeled a poor year. That is his numbers with projected 652 at bats, which looking at it a different way is Rafael Palmeiro numbers without 'roids.. So as I see it there are then three options for Profar: [1] send him down to Round Rock, but if he is ready to hit mlb pitchers, this is pointless. [2] trade Andrus so Profar can play full time shortstop. or [3] get him reps in the outfield at Surprise, then Opening Day play him full time in left or right. Murphy and Gentry then slots in as the fourth and fifth outfielders , with Murph getting his customary 400+ at bats. Martin is ready to take over in center, and get Hamilton's once 2013 projected at bats there. Cruz trade to the Mets for Johan Santana and $20m. Yes, $20 million. Cruz salary is $10.5, Santana's $25.5 with $5m buyout of 2014, difference $20 m. Mets would at least get a power hitting outfielder, the Rangers get a fill-in for Lewis until healthy at the least, only if Santana passes his physical, or their sought after TORP. Santana is the wild card of wild cards, if healthy- he still can perform at ace level for a commitment of just the 2013 season at 34.

HELLO... Kinsler's ankle holding up in the OF?

les,

Moreland only had 3 ABs last year in the 6 hole. The rest were in the 7, 8, and 9 holes, with the majority coming in the 9 hole. Last year the Rangers 9th place hitters has 569 ABs, so even if Moreland was in the lineup every single day I do not think he would get to 652 ABs. I highly doubt he would get to that many ABs even if he was the "everyday" first baseman since he had a .239 avg last year with 3 HR in 46 ABs against lefties. He was a much more serviceable .281 against righties, so I don't think he's horrible; instead, he should be used as a utility/platoon/bench piece that can play against RHP every now and then. When Moreland goes into the lineup, you can give Kinsler/Andrus/Profar a day off to keep everyone fresh.

I sort of understand the "Kinsler is more valuable at 2B since he ranks at the top of this position but is in the middle of the pack at 1B" argument, but on any given day it seems like you want to score as many runs as possible by having the best bats in the lineup while also putting the best defense on the field. I don't have a problem believing Kinsler could play good defense, and Kinsler at-bat instead of Moreland seems like a slam dunk. It's been posted earlier that the Rangers have the best rated infield in the bigs, so if part of that production comes from 1B instead of 2B, who cares?

Of course, all of this is assuming Profar is ready to roll and as awesome this year as we all hope he is. If not, keep Kins at 2B and hope for the best with Moreland.

well, maybe not. please don't shoot me for posting evan grant.

http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/01/rangers-expect-ian-kinsler-to-remain-at-second-base-profar-likely-headed-for-minors.html/

Seriously, why did everyone think Kinsler was actually going to play 1st for the majority of the season?

^Yup

You guys miss the point. The Rangers have a RF and CF. Gentry's defense is worth 4 WAR even if he doesnt hit, but his hitting is worth 1 WAR too. Martin's defense is reputed to be nearly as good as Gentry's, so much that they talk about using Martin in CF instead of Gentry against RHP. Therefore, Martin's defense would have to be worth more than Cruz total performance last year, and Martin's offense and strong arm would help too.

Best outfield is Murphy 3 WAR, Gentry 5 WAR and Martin 3 or 4 WAR. Cruz is DH/4th OF or traded to avoid his salary. Cruz at DH and Berkman at 1st would produce more WAR than Moreland at 1st and Berkman at DH, but either is ok with me.

I'd much rather have Upton in the OF and Profar SS than Profar in AAA. I'm not to thrilled about the idea of Moreland 1B, but it may be better than putting Kinsler there. Kinsler looks like a fairly avg. first basemen.

Trade for Stanton and sign Lohse. We will go to and win the 2013 World Series.. I think both will happen soon.

Gentry's defense is not worth 4 WAR. Lets keep it real.

Jon Heyman, "[the] Rangers [are] still looking for more after adding Berkman. MBourn, JUpton, Kyle Lohse could be in play"

"Gentry's defense is not worth 4 WAR. Lets keep it real."

I agree with that. But his UZR/150 over the past 2 seasons is 30. That would translate into 3 fWAR IF he actually sustained it over 150 games. And Baseball Reference gives him 2.8 dWAR over the past 2 seasons even though he only played a little over 1,000 innings (or roughly 110 games). The guy is a beast in the field and he really just needs to be replacement level with the bat to be a good CF.

I think the real questions surrounding Gentry as an every day CF are (1) could his body hold up for an entire season given his style of play and (2) could he achieve replacement level with the bat if he has to hit righties.

Gentry is my favorite Ranger player. He plays like his job depends on it (which it does). He's exciting on the bases. And he has incredibly rare defensive gifts. He makes impossible plays look routine. He covers an absolutely amazing amount of ground in CF. Gentry main flaw seems to be that he's failed to convince Wash that he has value.

Another tidbit about Gentry. Over the past 2 seasons, he's posted 4.6 fWAR and 4.4 bWAR in the innings equivalent of 110 games. That translates into 6.3 WAR over a 150 game season. Now I'm not arguing that Gentry is a 6 WAR player. Playing 110 games over 2 seasons is easier than playing 150 games in one season. And a substantial fraction of his PAs have come against lefties, which wouldn't be the case if he were an every day player. That said. I suspect that you could make an argument that he's one of the most underappreciated players in baseball.

If he would have said over a full season, Gentry could be worth 4 WAR defense+BsR then I would be all for it. 40 runs saved? C'mon now and I'm already skeptical with UZR as is.

Baseball reference credits him with more runs saved than fangraphs. And baseball reference uses DRS, not UZR. Both metrics view him as a beast.

Don't care how they view him. As I said before, he isn't worth 4 WAR on defense no matter how much of a fan you are (and I'm a huge fan). There isn't much to discuss here.

JD DID WHAT???

Very ODD & wrong heading... most know that *Ryan headed the Berkman signing.
JD & Staff just continue to be very very quiet. Small money saving moves only.
He gets paid for this? Not much brain work. Most in here could have made similarly
as smart moves. Maybe Ryan has taken the lead in running the whole 2013 shA-bang?