Did Texas Rangers POBO Chris Young mess up by leaving prospect Cam Cauley vulnerable to Rule 5 Draft

Did Texas Rangers POBO Chris Young mess up by leaving prospect Cam Cauley vulnerable to Rule 5 Draft

Did the Rangers make a massive mistake leaving one of their top prospects off the 40man roster and thus eligible for rule five draft? All that more on this locked on Rangers. Let’s get into it. You are Locked On Rangers, your daily Texas Rangers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. You are locked onto the Texas Rangers, the first and best daily Rangers podcast. I’m Bryce Patrick, a crippingly addicted Texas Rangers fan, covering this team for 12 seasons, including all seven as the founder and host of this podcast. Thank you all so much for making Lock on Rangers your first listen every single day. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network in the country. You can follow me on Twitter, Bryce Patter, and follow the show at locked rangers. Hit subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and on YouTube where the best way you can help grow the show is to comment nearly any single thing below. Now on today’s show, we are getting into the weeds talking about rule five protections. Who the Rangers protected from the rule five draft by adding them to the 40-man roster, who they didn’t protect, who they should have protected, and who might just get taken. Before we get into all of that, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today. Now, the Rangers protected three players this week from the rule five draft. If you don’t know what the rule five draft is, it is one of the most complicated parts of baseball. It It is just a weird big machine that not a whole lot of people fully comprehend, but it is still an important part of team building. It doesn’t always factor in to the big league club. There’s not always a rule five picker to even make or that have really made a whole lot of a difference. Delino to Shields is is kind of the the big rule five draft pick if you want to talk about guys who made a big impact on the Rangers. But basically is the way it works is you have to add minor league players to your 40man roster after a certain amount of time after you’ve drafted them or after you’ve signed them. Um once they they cannot just stay in the minor leagues forever and not be and still be under team control. You’ve got to add them to your 40-man roster if you’re going to protect them. Now the rule five draft happens each winter meetings. Basically, you get to pick a player that is unprotected, that has not been placed on the 40man roster. But in order to keep that player, in order to keep that player for the long term, you have to keep him on your major league roster. So, it’s kind of a balance of is this guy going to be very good, and is he good enough right now to stay on a big league roster for a full season, help my team, and, you know, be worth it for the long term. So, there there are some of these guys on here. Usually pitchers are the ones that are picked up more often because you can more easily just, you know, have a guy in the bullpen just jump up a couple of leagues and and be able to hold his own for a season. Whereas big league hitters, it it’s not as frequent that you see those guys, you know, get picked in the rule five and make a big impact. But this year, there were a couple of big impact rule five picks across the sport. I mean, Liam Hicks, former Rangers minor leaguer, was picked by the Marlins with the second pick in the rule five draft. He was fantastic for them this season. Shane Smith of the White Sox, he was the first pick picked from the Brewers. And he had an a truly awesome season for the White Socks. That was a good use of that. But usually only the top, you know, five, six guys in the rule five draft really make that big of an impact. But the Raiders only protected three guys. And there’s a good reason they protected all of those three guys, adding them to the 40man roster. First one is David Davalo, the right-handed starting pitcher. Second one, another right-handed starting pitcher, Leandro Lopez, although I I do think eventually he makes his way to more of a bullpen role. And then Abby Milik Ortiz, a first baseman/outfielder/ more reasonably a probably a DH down the line. But there’s a big reason why they protected these three guys because these are the three that I think are most likely to be picked in this rule five draft. Maybe there’s some other guys that that could end up being picked from the Rangers squad, including Cam Collie, who they did not protect. I’ll talk about why that could be a big mistake or it could be smart. It could be fine. It could be an okay use of the Rangers 40man roster. But the reason they protected these three, let’s start with David Davalo. Davalo is a very polished right-handed starting pitcher. He is heading into his age 23 season. So, the amount of time that you you need to be eligible for the rule five draft, if you’re signed before you turn 18 or 18 and 18 and younger, then you have five seasons in the minor leagues to be unprotected on the 40man roster. You can just be in the minor leagues without having to be added to the 40 for five years. If you’re 19 and older, you have four seasons where you’re unprotected or you can don’t have to be added to the 40man roster. So, that’s basically how it works. And if you don’t keep the guy, if you draft a guy you don’t keep on your roster for the entirety of the season, you cannot just injury stash him. He’s got to be active for at least 90 days. If you do not keep him on the big league roster for the entirety of the season, that player goes back to the initial team that drafted him. So that’s why they want guys who are big league polished enough to make an impact. Now, Davalo made his way all the way up to double Frisco last year. I got to see him in person, and I really like what I saw from him. He spent half the season in hub city high a then spent the other half the season in Fris in double A and finished the year with a 2 and a half erra in 107 innings 10 and a half strikeouts per nine does not beat himself with walks does not give up hard contact does not give up home runs only.5 home runs per nine for the entirety of the season just six bombs in 107 innings this guy is a command specialist not a whole lot of just raw stuff I think that he might end up struggling a bit with strikeouts at the next level, but you know, still being able to to maintain a decent strikeout rate in Fris, just a little bit above a strikeout per inning where he was more around 12 at the lower level. The stuff is just it’s not overpowering, but it is polished. It is a guy who I think could be a number four, five starter, a solid backend rotation starter, and I think somebody would be willing to take a chance on him should the Rangers have left him unprotected. He’s got a sinker. He’s got a splitter. He’s got some breaking balls that are fine, but mainly the sinker and the splitter is what he is going to make his bread and butter off of. I think the splitter is really the only true swing and miss pitch that he’s got in his arsenal, but he’s heading into his age 23 season. He’s been pretty darn good at basically all all the levels of the minor leagues that he’s been at um with Texas. And I think that he definitely would have been picked up. This is a smart decision to protect Davio. A no-brainer decision to protect him. He is one of the Rangers top probably top five pitching prospects. Depending on where you got him in the season last year, what kind of a look you got at him. Maybe you think, “Oh, this guy is definitely the Rangers top pitching prospect because he’s he’s so high up in the Ranger system because he’s so polished because the command’s very good.” And there’s there’s not as many pitchers nowadays that are as great at throwing strikes where you want them to that would age as gracefully and have as long of a a career as you would if you have, you know, great great command versus just relying on stuff. And once that goes then then maybe maybe things don’t go as well for you. But the next guy on this list is a guy who is kind of an opposite type of a pitcher as Davalo. This is not a guy who has great command. This is Leandro Lopez. The double L right-handed pitcher. Though it would be really fun if Leandro Lopez, the LL um was a left-handed pitcher. But alas, that is not the case. This is a man who gets a lot of strikeouts and has not been healthy for the vast majority of his career. He’s 23 years old this year. I believe he might have been eligible. No, he was eligible last year, but this was the first year that uh the Rangers are protecting him because this is the first year that he was healthy. I mean, he made he made all of his starts this year. 22 games started, 23 games total, a 240 RA between Frisco and Hub City as well. 101 and a third innings, 116 strikeouts, just over 10 strikeouts per nine. And for his career, he’s averaged five walks per nine. He has been very wild. a lot of wild pitches, a lot of lack of command because he his best pitch is his curveball in the low 80s. It is truly the best curveball in the system. It is beautiful. It is tumbling. It gets a lot of swings and misses. Um, but it is not necessarily one that has a whole lot of control. He’s also got a slider and a change up he doesn’t trust all that much. The fast ball velocity was was pretty good. Sat in the, you know, mid 90s, 93 to 95 range, touching all the way up to 97 mph. But that that curveball is definitely where he is going to make his money moving forward. This is definitely a guy who could be thrown in the bullpen. Maybe he starts sitting in the 95 to 97 range and touching 90 99 if he is in a shorter stint kind of a role. And and that curveball that could play at the big league level right now. The the command and control I I don’t know if it’s quite there just yet, but it’s definitely a guy who is risky, who somebody would take a a chance on early on in the rule five draft. And so the Rangers definitely needed to protect him. And and the next guy on this list, the one hitter who the Rangers protected, Abby Melo Ortiz. Talk about why the Rangers protected him and why maybe they should have protected just one more guy right after this. This show is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA’s back and there’s no better place to get on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. 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Shout out to the editor picking locked on Rangers, your first listen every single day. On tomorrow’s show, I’ll be talking a little bit about the new TV deal for Major League Baseball. Why I think it might end up being a big loss for the fans. But let’s talk about the AF or excuse me, the 40man roster rule five. I’m getting I’m getting way ahead of myself. I don’t know if we’ll have time for Arizona Fall League check. But the last guy that the Rangers protected from the rule five draft is a hitter who I think I am a little surprised the Rangers did not give at least a little bit of a shot late on in the season. and and should Jock Peterson fall into a black hole, this could be the Rangers DH uh option at some point next year, it is Abby Melik Ortiz, an undrafted snee out of that 2020 undrafted class. There were a lot of guys who the Rangers got in that 2020 draft, including Josh Steven, who the Rangers did not protect. We’ll talk a little about him. Um, but Abby Malc Ortiz seems like the gem of that class. All he does is hit. And last year it was a weird weird season. And really the last couple of seasons have been kind of a tale of two seasons. The first half has been not quite as kind to him and then he’s really really turned it on in the second half. Last year he spent time between Frisco and Round Rock. He played a lot more in the outfield than Round Rock, but I just I don’t I don’t think that he is an outfielder. He is a first baseman. He is a hitter. And so he’s going to have to hit a whole whole lot to make it to the big leagues. But last year in Frisco for the full season had a 787 OPS in 89 games there. And then in 41 games in Round Rock, he was actually significantly better in Round Rock than he was at the lower level, a 953 OPS. Finished last year with 25 home runs, a 356 on base percentage. The walk rate was up from where it was a season before. The strikeout rate was it’s about where it was last year. But this guy has got a lot of raw power. He’s done a decent job of working walks and he’s done an okay job of hitting lefties. He’s not great at it, but he’s he’s okay at it compared to, you know, most left-handed bats. He had a 698 OPS against lefties last year. Still did have seven home runs of his 25 on the season. Then against righties, he had an 877 OPS and 18 of his 25 bombs on the season. This is a guy who is a a pretty polished hitter. There’s going to be a lot of swings and misses. Um he’s gonna have a decent walk rate. He’s got a lot lot lot of raw power, but the bat is going to be what carries him to the point where there are plenty of teams that just are so bad at offense. Like there’s no reason why the Pirates wouldn’t be able to say, “Hey, we can we can take a chance on an Abby Melo Ortiz because our outfield offense, our offense in general is so darn bad that, you know, we could we could stick him out there in a corner because they they just need offense in a bad bad way. like the Marlins mate may might have taken a chance on him as well should he have been available for the rule five draft. But of the guys who were unprotected, I want to talk about Cam Collie as the first one. This one was a little surprising to me. I mean Cam Collie is one of my top prospects in the system. I I’d say he’s he was top 10 last year. I don’t know if he will be this year with some of the additions of Gavin Fiend and some breakouts from a couple other guys, mainly Kaden Scar Bro. I think Scar Bro definitely passed him. I really like what what Cam Collie brings. He is a scrappy baseball rat. He is a super utility player and he’s got a lot of loud great tools. The raw power is is not double bluff. I I’d say it’s plus raw power. The main thing that’s going to keep him from getting drafted in the rule five is the hit tool. I mean, the contact ability, the the walk rate’s fine. It’s not great, but the contact ability even at doublea, he’s hitting 253 for his career, a 240 hitter, and I don’t always love the uh batting average stat, but it kind of does does do a good job of justifying kind of showing a bit of his bat to ball skills. The speed is truly elite. The defense is exceptional at shortstop, at second base. I’ve seen a little bit at third base. I’ve seen it at at center field. It’s it’s okay in center field, but he still hasn’t played all that much out there. I think he will eventually be a really good defensive centerfielder, a true super utility player who you could keep on your bench for a full season because he will occasionally run into one with the back cuz he is he’s a strong strong kid. He’s got quick wrists and he he can really pull fast balls inside. He can really get on those and get a lot of his power out of that. He can he can, you know, work some doubles and some triples because he is just so darn fast and so aggressive on the base pads. He has averaged about 20ish stolen bases per season for his career. This year he had 27, excuse me, more than 20. He’s averaged about 30 stolen bases per season for his career at 38 36 27 this past year or 27 in 2024. 28 this year. A little bit worse on the stolen base success rate this year. A careerhigh seven times caught stealing to 28 stolen bases. This is a guy who can pick it at multiple different positions. since he’s heading into his age 23 season, was still 2 years younger than the average player in Fris. And I’m a little surprised the Rangers did not protect him because if this guy goes elsewhere, if somebody thinks, hey, we could stick him on the back end of our major league roster and keep him around for a little for a hot minute and they kept Justin Foscu on the 40man roster. I just I don’t see why Fossu is holding down a 40-man roster spot when let him go. Let him go. He has played in many big league games and made an impact on one of them. Is just not a profile that the Rangers should be wasting a 40man roster spot on. I’m sure Justin Fosk is a good kid and maybe eventually he’ll be an okay big leager, but right now I think Cam Collie is a guy who they absolutely should have protected a whole lot more than using one of these spots on Justin Fost or you know Willie Macyver or if they were going to if they are going to cut bait with Jonah, they should just do it already and keep and not do it at the cost of possibly losing Cam Collie. that is a very very good player and I think he will be a solid big leager if not an everyday player than a very very valuable bench bat that I I think this guy’s going to have an 8 to 10 year big league career and losing out on a guy like that just because the Rangers have a whole lot of other guys kind of filling that role at this moment like Zeke Durant like a little bit of a Cody Freeman um who I think both of which I I think can hit a little bit better than Cam Collie right now but the defense and the speed that Cam Collie brings those are tools that do not slump and it doesn’t matter what level of baseball you’re playing at. Those tools translate to every single level of baseball, whether it’s the lowest level of the minor leagues to or to the big leagues. And he he’s competent, a big league shortstop, second baseman, third baseman, heck, even center fielder at this very moment. And I think that this one could end up coming back to bite them in a big way if he ends up getting drafted. Some of the other guys on this list that were not protected in the rule five draft, thanks to Scott Lucas for compiling this every single year. If you don’t follow Scott Lucas on Twitter or Boo Sky wherever, if you don’t read his work, he does some fantastic stuff covering some of these nitty-gritty details of the Rangers minor league system. He’s been doing it for for forever and he is the best at it. Some other guys on this list, Ismail Agita, who’s 22 years old. This is the first season that he will be eligible for this. I just I don’t think that he is going to be picked. He’s got some great stuff. He had some good success this year, but still he’s just he’s not come close to the upper levels. He’s not pitched at the upper levels just yet. And so for that reason, I I think the Rangers are safe not putting him on their 40-man roster. Next year, I think he’s going to have to be on there depending on what kind of a season he has. Um, but I think they’re safe leaving him off of there. Now, William Bourne, who spent a lot of time at DoubleA this year, he is a relief pitcher. The velocity jumped up this year. It basically was a 4 mph spike, uh, which is huge. He’s averaged 96 with the fast ball. Touched all the way in triple digits. But, uh, the the command is very raw, very unpolished at this point, but I don’t, for that reason, I don’t think he could stick on a big league roster for the entirety of the season. There’s also left-handed pitcher Robbie Olstrom, who if he didn’t make his big league debut last year. I I don’t think the Rangers are concerned about losing him. If they lose him, they lose him fine. Um I was a little surprised he didn’t get a little bit of stretch run there um down the end of the season, but um it’s I I think it’ll be fine if it is not that big of a deal if they lose him. Aaron Zavala last year, he’s an interesting case. Maybe someone takes a chance on him. I I don’t think so. He’s a guy who when the Rangers drafted him in the second round a few years back, he had a neck issue that popped up that could have been career-threatening. I mean, it was really a scary issue. They got a second opinion. He ended up taking basically the lowest deal that he could take because the Rangers did that as a sign of good faith and saying, “Hey, we still think you can play, but we’re also it’s it’s very possible that right after that deadline to make signings happened that he could have gotten some news that, hey, you’re never going to play baseball again.” So, the Rangers said, “Hey, we’re going to take a chance on you.” Had some good seasons early on. Last year, um was a bounceback season because the two seasons before that, he just did not look good. The walk rate was there. He was hitting the ball hard. He has got a great eye and no matter what his body is doing, he is always going to have that great eye. Couple other guys on this list, Dylan Mclean, um still a little bit in the lower levels recovering from elbow surgery or just returned from elbow surgery. Um I I don’t think that he is going to be picked up because even though he is a lefty and they could, you know, just jump through the system, he didn’t spend any time at DoubleA. So I don’t think he will be a pick. Josh Steven, who I thought might be drafted last year, a local boy. Um he was great in the Arizona Fall League um this year, but he’s just right on the bubble and the stuff isn’t all that impressive and I I just I think someone might take a chance on him, but I don’t think the Rangers are going to lose a whole lot of sleep sleep over it. Glider Figero at third base is too far down. He has not even sniffed double A just yet. I don’t think he is going to be picked up. Brock Porter is an interesting one. He had a better season this year than the disastrous last two seasons that he’s had since being a fourth round pick that was given first round money because he was a firstround talent. That was the same draft as Kamar Rocker when the Rangers didn’t have second or third round picks. And so they used all the savings that they had on Kamar Rocker to also take a swing at Brock Porter. I don’t think anybody’s taking a chance on him. He has not even he’s barely sniffed. He’s he’s pitched at high A, but he has not gotten anywhere close to even getting to double A. the command is still way too wild for him someone to take a chance on putting him on a big league roster for an entire season. So, for that reason, I think they’re fine. Lefty Brian Magdaleno. Last year, I thought he was a fringe pick that maybe the Rangers could have protected. A lefty who throws in the upper 90s is someone that’s very, very hard to find. He also got a really nasty slider, but the command is is really wild this year. It backed up even more than it was last year. So, I don’t think he’s going to get picked up. Gavin Collier is is someone who has been fine as a right-handed reliever. I don’t think the Rangers are going to protect him. The the stuff is is is is good and the command models about it according to Scott Lugans. They they all the stuff models say that his stuff is very very good, but the success in on the mound and in actual games has not really correlated with how good his stuff is supposed to be. So, I think the Rangers are are fine losing out on him. Now, this last one is is interesting. Jose Gonzalez. Um, he is going to be a free agent. He had a great great year. I would expect that the Rangers are going to bring him back if they do lose him in the rule five draft. He had a really really solid season. A little bit on the older side for the levels that he’s pitched at, but he’s had a lot of success and so he just barely got to double A at the end of the year. Didn’t have the most success there, but at the lower levels he was really, really dominating. I really like this guy. He’s got a lot of great command. Um, and it’s something that the Rangers system is kind of lacking after trading off those two lefties who I really, really loved in Mitch Brat and Cole Drake last year in the Mel Kelly deal that did not quite work out. But that’s all you need to know. Actually, probably even more than you need to know about the Rangers and their 40man roster additions, who they protected, who they didn’t protect in the rule five draft. I think they mostly made smart decisions, but I am just incredibly worried that Cam Collie is going to get picked up. And if they do lose Cam Collie in the Royal Five draft, that one I think is going to sting really, really bad if a team does end up keeping him on the roster for the full season. Coming up, we’re talk a little bit about some non-tender candidates. MLB Trade Rumors has a lot of Rangers on there. How many of these guys are the Rangers going to non-tender ahead of tomorrow’s deadline? Talk about that and more right after this. Now, I’ve talked about a couple of these guys on the nontender fringes. This is basically cutting bait with a guy because the Rangers in in this case for the Rangers, the reason that they would cut bait with these guys, the reason they would non-tender some of these guys who are still under club control, but they are in arbitration, so they are making more than the league minimum. basically come down to are the Rangers going to be willing to pay what they are probably going to earn in arbitration or are they not? Now the first guy on this list is Jonah projected to make about $6 billion in arbitration this year. A former all-star, a former World Series champion, a former Gold Glover, but has not been any of those things in two years and has not really been close to any of those things. Defensively, he’s still fine, but not anywhere near the Gold Glove caliber catcher he was in 2023. the offense has just completely fallen off a cliff in the last two seasons. And at $6 million, I I just I don’t see the Rangers going ahead and giving him that kind of a contract. Some other guys who are listed on here, there’s a lot of these guys who are listed on here on MLB Trade Rumors is is candidates right here that I just think would be insane. Connor Wong is coming off a great season and he’s only going to make $1.5 million. For catcher, that’s a steal. I don’t see that happening. They also have Jake Bowers on there at first base for the Brewers making $2 million. That’s that’s a solid player. Same with Paven Smith, who had a great season last year, $2 half million dollars. That’s fine. Now, a couple of the other first baseman I think could be candidates, but one of them that I don’t think is going to be a candidate for Texas is Jake Burgerer listed on here projected to make $3.5 million in arbitration. I think that’s a little bit on the higher side. Spotre had that closer to $3.2 million. I think that’s more of where Jake Burgerer lies. Maybe maybe it’s going to be less than that because he is not coming off of a good season. But Nathaniel Lo is also listed on here projected to make $13.5 million in his final year of arbitration. Now with the Red Sox could end up being a candidate for non-tendering because Tristan Kostas is still on that roster and after missing most of last season. Maybe Nathaniel Low is a free agent in the wind. Maybe the Rangers do just non-tender Jake Burger. I don’t I don’t see them doing that. That feels um that feels like just not the move. I think Jay Burgerer really just had a bad season mostly due to injuries and a new environment. I I think with a new manager and Skip Schumacher who he had his best career season under. I don’t see any way that the Rangers non-tender Jake Burgerer. I think maybe they try and negotiate him down. Maybe that ends the Rangers streak of now 25 years without an arbitration case. It’s been since the year 2000 that the Rangers have actually gone to arbitration. They always get deals done and I I don’t I don’t see why they would just non-tender Jake Burger. There are a couple of other Rangers on here. Ezekiel Duran listed as one of the non-tender possibilities. He’s projected to make $1.4 million this year. And for $1.4 million for a guy who can play, you know, basically every position outside of catcher and that that’s really it. He plays first base, plays second base, plays short stop, plays third, plays center, plays right, plays left, has pitched. He was the Rangers most effective pitcher by er last season, not letting in a single run. I I really hope that the Rangers aren’t so cheap that they say, “Yeah, one and a half million dollars for a guy who can play a bunch of different positions. Had a bad offensive season last year and didn’t have the best one in 2024, but has that potential in there. I still think there is a decent offensive player in there. I I am less confident that I think he could be eventually an everyday big leager at this point. Just after two really tough seasons at the big league level, I I’m less optimistic about it. But $1.4 $4 million for a decent uh platoon guy who will probably end up splitting some time in right field. If Alejandra Ozuna, if the Dangers do non-tender Doles Garcia, who is the next guy on this list, then um that that could end up being a a place where we see a lot more of Zeke Duran. And if $1.4 million is too cheap for Zeke Duran, there’s no way the Rangers are going to go out in free agency and spend money to replace those guys. There are a couple of outfielders on this list for the Texas Rangers, including Adulus Garcia, who he’s projected to make less according to MLB trade rumors, their their estimations. I believe Spottrack had him in more of the 12.75 million range. Um, and in this projection, he’s projected to make just $12.1 million in his final year of arbitration. I think Adelas Garcia is probably traded today. if they don’t trade him, I just again if you want Adola Garcia gone, somebody has to step up and replace him. And unless you are really really confident in Alejandro Ozuna being an everyday player and having an OPS higher than 600, which he did not in 60 games, 60 plus games of his rookie season. I I think he’s going to be better than than a 600 OPS player, but I just don’t see him providing the same value as an OS Garcia and I don’t see the Rangers spending enough to kind of cobble together something that is the approximation of an OS Garcia for anywhere near that kind of value that they could go and spend elsewhere. Another guy on this list, Sam Hagerty at $1.4 million. Again, Sam Hagerty had a great season for the Rangers last year. And if $1.4 4 million is too much for you. I I just I don’t see I don’t see a path forward to being a good team next year. If $1.4 million for an end of bench guy becomes just too much. Sam Hagerty did a great job last year. He crushed left-handed pitching. He had a great on base percentage there. He played good defense at any of the outfield spots he was at. He also played a little bit of second base as well. He was an exceptional base runner. 12 stolen bases last year. He was just a good valuable player who for $1.4 $4 million. That’s not a big price tag for a guy who’s towards the end of your bench. The only other Rangers on this list are just a little interesting. There’s no starting pitcher for the Rangers on there. There are a few relievers on there that did make me shake my head, including Yian Canó, who didn’t have the best season last year, but at 1.8 million for the Orioles for a reliever who at points has been an has been an all-star and has been truly elite. Jason Adams, I don’t see anywhere where the Padres’s cut bait with him. He’s projected to make $6.8 million as reliever next year, but he was one of the best relievers in all baseball last year. There’s just a lot of guys on here. It just feels very, you know, cheap for the R for any team to just go ahead and cut bait with some of these guys that are listed here. Um, including Josh Spores, who’s projected to make about a million dollars next year. He is definitely a candidate who who could be non-tendered and maybe the Rangers bring him back on on a a minor league deal because he did not pitch at all last year. Made a million dollars to not pitch at all. Had shoulder surgery heading into the 2024 off season about a year ago and then just did not recover. He pitched in the minor leagues. He’s trying to rehab, but just the velocity was nowhere near where it had been for him. So, for that reason, I think he could be a candidate for sure for the Rangers to non-tender. I wouldn’t love it, but I would totally understand it. Um, a World Series hero multiple world if if the Rangers have the guy who threw the final pitch of their World Series championship and the guy who won the ALCS MVP and hit the most iconic walk-off homer in the history of the Texas Rangers franchise. If they non-ender both those guys on the same day, just barely over two years after that happened, it is going to be a really frustrating look for this team. But it is a possibility that I think we all need to prepare ourselves for. That’s going to do it for today’s show. Thank you all so much for listening and subscribing. And until next time, don’t forget to enjoy baseball.

The Texas Rangers are looking to trade two 2023 All-Stars in Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. With the Angels trading Taylor Ward to the Orioles for Grayson Rodriguez, is Adolis Garcia’s trade value going to net Texas a similar return?

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