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Offseason Review Chat: Texas Rangers (3/3/23)
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Tony M
11:45
Sleeper who might contribute in 2023 more than people would expect?
Steve Adams
11:48
I don't think you can really call Josh Jung a sleeper, but I think he can be a 20-homer bat for them and handle 3B just fine this season.

A lot of people seem to have kind of forgotten about Jonathan Hernandez, but this is a guy who averaged 98 mph on his sinker before and after TJS. The command wasn't great in '22, post-surgery, but in '20 he walked only 6.4% of his opponents.

He has huge late-inning potential -- the type of guy who can strike out around a quarter of his opponents with a grounder rate in the upper-50s or even 60s (he was at 62.4% in last year's 30 innings).

He's a really intriguing reliever.
Luois
11:49
Does Marcus Semien see any time at Shortstop this year or is he strictly a 2nd baseman?
Steve Adams
11:50
He played a few games there in both 2021 with the Jays and 2022 with Texas, so even since moving to 2B, he hasn't been a strict, full-time player there. I imagine he'll get some innings at SS again. If Seager's out for a bit or just needs a breather, they can plug Semien in there and go with Miller or Mathias or any number of options at second in Semien's place.
Jack
11:51
Do they Rangers quietly have one of the worst outfields in baseball? Unless you are an Adolis Garcia believer, I'm not sure there is much argument otherwise. It seems like they could have used a solid free-agent OF instead of bulking up on #3/4 starters this off-season.
Steve Adams
11:53
Garcia's ceiling is limited by the penchant for whiffs and subsequent poor OBP, but he's going to play good defense, run well and hit for power. Taveras, I'm not sold on as a hitter but do think he can play plus defense with enough bat to make him a defensible glove-first everyday option.

Left field is rough. As I said before, I think the Rangers should've done more there and will be looking this summer.

As far as loading up on 3/4 starters, I think I pretty clearly view Eovaldi and Heaney in a different light than you. I had them among the best arms available on a per-inning basis this winter, with durability/health being the primary concern there.
11:55
The addition of a slider for Heaney just completely transformed him. He had the best swinging-strike rate of any pitcher (starter or reliever) with at least 70 innings. He struck out 35.5% of his opponents and did so with a better-than-average walk rate. The guy has always had an appealing K-BB% profile, and now he's missing bats at an elite level
Injury risk, of course, but he's a lot better than a No. 3/4 starter for me (when healthy). I'm buying into last year's changes and thought the Rangers got a great deal on him.
Josh
11:56
What's your projected order for the new Rangers rotation come Opening Day? DeGrom is the obvious SP1 but was wondering how you think the rest of the roto will fill out behind him.
Steve Adams
11:58
I don't think the order matters all that much, and however they start the season doesn't hold much relevance, because it'll be changed sooner than later. As soon as one person needs to miss a start or the weather acts up and a doubleheader's thrown into the schedule, the whole order can change.

If I'm hazarding a blind guess: deGrom, Perez, Gray, Eovaldi, Heaney -- but like I said, I  don't put much stock in that sort of thing since it'll change almost immediately.
KS Rangers
11:58
Is Shohei Ohtani on our radar in the offseason? Is it a real interest?....Should I get my hopes up?
Steve Adams
12:00
Ohtani's going to be on everyone's radars, and the Rangers have shown they're willing to spend at a level commensurate with the top spenders in the sport. In that sense, I think it's fair to kind of do some dreaming and wishful thinking, but the competition's going to be so fierce for him that I think any fan of any team who is singularly fixating on Ohtani next offseason is setting themselves up for disappointment.
12:01
Basically, sure -- go ahead and hope for it. The Rangers are generally a feasible landing spot. But don't expect it, because the odds for the field are greater than for any one team.
Lou
12:01
Does Ezeiquel Duran see significant playing time? Where would he play or does he go to AAA?
Steve Adams
12:02
He had a pretty tough debut last year, and there's no obvious spot for him to get even semi-regular playing time unless they want to play him in left field. I think the best thing for him is regular at-bats in Triple-A, and he can be one of the first guys up in the event of an injury if he's healthy and hitting well.
Rangers13
12:03
A combo MiLB question, who do you see possibly making debuts this year? Where do you see Rocker starting High A or AA?
Steve Adams
12:07
Rocker's already pitched in the AFL, and the Rangers were comfortable dropping Leiter right into Double-A (even if the results weren't great). Starting him in AA wouldn't shock me, even though I'd generally skew a bit more cautious.

Some guys who could debut this year? Owen White reached AA last season, will probably start there, and if he keeps at last year's pace he'll be an option by mid or late season. Justin Foscue's probably in Triple-A to begin the season after showing well in AA last year, so he's on the cusp as well.
Zac
12:07
Justin foscue- trade bait, insurance policy, or future outfielder?
Steve Adams
12:08
He's a bat-first guy anyhow, so if he ends up at 1B or in LF it wouldn't shock me. I don't think they'll expressly treat him like someone they're GOING to trade, but he ought to be available this summer if there's no spot in the big league lineup for him.
12:11
Alright, I've gotta wrap this up. I'm on Twitter for questions @Adams_Steve. Sorry for all the questions I couldn't get to. As always, we had far more questions than could reasonably expect to be answered. I appreciate the participation though!

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Have a great week, everyone!
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