he couldn't hit any worse than moreland and he'd provide superior defense

I think we'll see Olt @1B against lefties, more than not. Seems logical and even pragmatic,
if Olt makes the 25man andstays. Probably see his share at3B and the OF also. UNLESS,
Wash wakes up and realizes Olt is no a proven pro. I can't see him bench rot, if he's healthy.
Maybe Washgoes back to teaching form and brings back an aggressive team once more?
Have we ever seen such a team w/such talent, with so many questions of when, where, what's?

We will if he's in the majors. I suspect that, like Profar, he'll start the season in AAA.

Wtf are you talking about? Mitch is a very good defensive 1b. He's not been bad at the plate when healthy either. He deserves a shot to seize the position outright in a healthy season.

As for Olt, I'm sure he'll start in AAA and if he's tearing it up and Mitch is failing to grab the position outright or gets hurt Olt will get the call up and at least platoon with Moreland.

Also, Moreland's defense isn't bad. He probably won't win any gold gloves, but it's above average. The biggest problem with Mitch so far is his inability to succeed consistently against LHP, so he's not a proven full-time player yet. This winter he hired a LHP to personally train with him, so maybe, just maybe, we'll see some improvement in that regard. If we don't, I suspect Olt comes up before too long, unless he just can't hit in AAA at all.

Thnx for that astute analysis Rom ro.

If Olt doesn't wrestle the job from Moreland in Spring Training, I suspect he'll be the first one called up if there's an injury to any one of Beltre, Berkman, Cruz or Moreland. And I'd say the chances of at least one of them hitting the DL by the beginning of May is pretty good. I'd like to see Olt get some ABs in AAA while he improves his defense at 1B and the COF spots. In addition to his hitting ability, position flexibility is probably his greatest asset at this point.

^^^^
Still unable to post anything of substance. Why do you keep following me around. It's like you have some unhealthy fascination with me. Get help boy.

That was directed @not that Eric.

Beltre has a bat that could carry him at 1b, but he wouldn't be a special player at 1b. Kinsler has a special bat at 2b, but would be a pretty normal LF. Olt and Profar look like they can handle 3b and SS respectively so moving them from there just makes them lesser players.

My guess is that Olt spends very little, if any time, before September on this active roster. The thing that would change that is an injury to Beltre. Same thing goes for Profar, he isn't likely to spend much time on the active roster barring an injury to Elvis. It just doesn't make sense to burn service time for either of them, lowering their trade value and long term value, to use them as bench players.

@Rom ro
Are you having trouble spelling MORON, instead of Rom ro? Or is it Homer or homo?
Ah, it's really RangerHomerSimpson?

^^^^
Back to school little boy.

Romeo,

If a troll appears on a forum and nobody feeds him, is he really there?

I try every day to read every Ranger story out there, from many perspectives. But, you're killing me smalls. I freaking love BBTIA, but some of you dudes are a beating. Pure beating.

Still unable to post anything of substance. Why do you keep following me around. It's like you have some unhealthy fascination with me. Get help boy.

Wink..

Mitch Moreland in almost 300 major league games is a sub .800 OPS hitter at 1B. Without looking I'd guess he's in the bottom quarter of batters at his position. In his rookie run he was pretty good at battling pitchers and had a good on-base percentage which off-set his relative weak power for his potion, but we haven't seen that in the last two years. Maybe he has an extra gear and it will reveal itself this year, but personally I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't at least get a platoon player to pair with him.

Moving him to 1B would diminish his value. He doesn't have a + bat yet, his D isn't as good at 1B, and now we have Berkman to man 1B.

Or, why not just trade him for a first round pick?

It seems to be me that the real question we should be asking is why they were not willing to either move Kinsler to a different position or out of town completely. Olt's hitting seems pretty iffy to translate into a serious power threat at the big league level. Yet Profar is better at 20 than Elvis was and we moved the face of our franchise to another position when he was coming off a GG season in order to get him in the lineup. Wash is way to enamored with Kins and its gonna hurt the team in the long run.

Moreland's career UZR at first base is -1.4. Not near-elite. Not above average. Even a tick slightly below, actually.

Romeo,

If a troll appears on a forum and nobody feeds him, is he really there?

I feel like we need the "Philosoraptor" meme for this.

Moving him to 1B would diminish his value. He doesn't have a + bat yet, his D isn't as good at 1B, and now we have Berkman to man 1B.

This is the correct answer to the OP.

Like Mike Youing's extention, I'll never understand Kinsler's extention signing either.
JD handled both contracts, correct?

"Like Mike Youing's extention, I'll never understand Kinsler's extention signing either."

It's simple. Ian Kinsler is one of the top-5 2B's in baseball.

Much of the talk centered on said player's "value" seems to suggest that "value" is determined in a vacuum.

For example, while Olt is a more valuable piece in a vacuum as a third-baseman, he might be more valuable TO THE RANGERS as a first-baseman. In other words, if Olt could produce an .850 OPS while playing solid D at 1st base, his value to the Rangers would be higher with him at 1st base (as opposed to stashing him in AAA to play third).

Obviously, one can then counter by arguing that, if Olt is not going to play third, Texas should trade him for an equally valuable first-baseman (and thus, receive more production than the Olt-at-1st would yield). But that argument relies on the assumption that there is a first-baseman version of Olt out there who a team would be willing to trade. That may or may not be the case.

And until an available/comparable first-baseman is identified, I don't agree with the unwavering belief that Olt must play third to maximize his value. IMO, you can't simply ignore team needs.