BREAKING: Texas Rangers Trade Marcus Semien To NY Mets For Brandon Nimmo | DLLS Rangers Podcast

BREAKING: Texas Rangers Trade Marcus Semien To NY Mets For Brandon Nimmo | DLLS Rangers Podcast

[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Wow. Wow. News happens fast this off season. Hi there and welcome to a very special DLLS Rangers podcast. It’s an emergency pod. John Ratigan here. Jeff Wilson there. We’ve got the Queen Cat taking care of us back home as well. And uh the Rangers have made a blockbuster trade, freeing salary and acquiring, as it turns out, one of their positions of need, a starting pitcher. Marcus Simeon to the Mets for Brandon NMO. Wow, Jeeoff, this is uh this is amazing. Yeah, NMO um uh is a wellrespected outfielder, plays left field, can play center, has played a little right. Uh, I don’t think he’s going to uh um be a Doles Garcia’s replacement just yet. I I don’t I’m not getting that indication. Uh what it does is um it actually adds long-term to the Rangers payroll because NIMO is under contract through 2030 and at $20.5 million a year. Uh so the next two years the Rangers are going to be saving $5.5 million um because Simeon’s due uh 26 26 and 20 in the last year of what’s left on his contract. So it’s not really a huge money save. You know this is this appears to be a baseball decision. Um one I mean certainly salary is is part of it. I don’t think the Rangers are would would be committing to a NMO like deal this off season were there not some salary relief involved. But um this this this is more about Marcus Simeon the past two seasons and and the Rangers change in offensive philosophy. uh they they like they like the things that NMO can bring um that kind of fit their mold now that they’re trying to to do the the contact the the uh the on base stuff. That’s who they think they’re getting in Brandon NMO. Um you know, an everyday player. He’s a left-handed batter, but he faces everybody. And um it it raises a lot of questions now. Who’s gonna play second? Yeah. Yeah. Is is is is Evan Carter okay? Um and if he is, is Brandon NMO the answer in right field? Right. Uh things that will sort themselves out here. But um man, I think I think there there there’s some serious questions that we we need to get answered. And the Rangers being the Rangers, they won’t talk until this thing’s official. They haven’t talked yet. And we’ll keep an eye for that and an ear for that. And of course, we’re here every day at 1:00 uh to give you all the latest news. So, if if we don’t have another one of these emergency pods, we’ll certainly have more information tomorrow. But for now, and as I mentioned off the top, the Rangers save some money, which allows for them uh to devote more money, right, in the in this off season when they’re trying to trim the budget to the places where they know they need help. That’s the bullpen, that’s starting pitching. And it does, as Ethan and others have mentioned in the chat, Jeff, it does seem to open the door for something we’ve heard so much about, which is the possibility of Skip Schumacher and Luis Arise being reunited. It seems to open the door for Arise to be here in that now there is a position for him to play. Yeah, there is. And for everybody who might be joining us for the first time, we we’ve been talking about Arise. Uh, and welcome welcome to the show. But we’ve been talking about Arise and wondering where he fits. And we kept saying, well, he he played second base for Skip Shoeacher, but Rangers have a second baseman. Well, guess what? They don’t have a second baseman anymore. So, you know, it there is there is an opening. Now, Arise is not as good as a defensive player as Marcus Sim. There’s no question about that. Okay, he’s not as fast as Marcus Seaman or as heady on the bases. Okay, there’s that. He doesn’t have as much power as Marcus Simeon, but what he does is he hits the ball. I mean, he struck out 20 times last season. Okay, he had the lowest strikeout rate in the major leagues. And this is where the this just seems like the way the Rangers are trending. Uh, you know, we’ve talked about the philosophy and then you saw at the non-tender deadline, uh, Friday night, they got rid of two guys who don’t fit that philosophy and Adoulles Garcia and Jonah Hine. Uh, now they’ve added, uh, a guy in NMO who, you know, their their in their scouting report or the scouting report that that I got on him is, you know, he’s a great great approach. So he’s a tough he’s a tough out. A lot of bat to ball, a lot of contact, too many ground balls. So if there’s a run on base, you got to watch out for that. But there’s the expectation, too, that you know, he didn’t walk a ton last season. If he can get his walker back up really feel good about it. So, um, you know, I don’t I don’t close enough to understand why Brandon NMO was available. I know second base McNeel has been injured and probably isn’t dancing or batting camp. Um, used to be Rangers. The last time the Rangers struck a deal with the Mets, it was for, you know, Max Scherzer for Luis Anelkunia. Um, I don’t know that he’s ready yet or if they want him to be shortstop. Well, guess what? They have a great shortstop in and Lindor. So, I don’t I I I guess this does fill a need for a team. For being honest, there are, you know, and we had started gravitating toward this, John. There aren’t a lot of teams that can take on a salary like this. No, no, not one of the teams that could is the Mets. I didn’t really think of the Mets. I was I was kind of hung up on the Red Sox. Um, but the the Mets appear to be willing and and and and able and they want to buy on Marcus Simeon. Maybe they believe still in the upside. Maybe they think he’s the missing component defensively. I don’t know if they’re a good defensive team or not. Maybe they think a Lindor Simeon double play combination will um, you know, help their pitching staff. Not sure what’s going on, but um this is what we got. And and we, you know, we were wondering could the Rangers move Simeon? Uh did they need to? And uh by gum they have. It wasn’t the money grab that we thought it would be. No. Uh but it’s it’s something. And I think generally the general consensus is that the Rangers think they got better. Yeah. And here’s the thing, and especially for those of you uh who are just joining us because you saw this was happening and you knew there was nobody else talking about it right now except us. Uh what we’ve also talked about, Jeff, on the daily show 1:00 every day, the DLLS Rangers podcast, we have talked about the opportunity uh to, you know, and I hate to I hate to phrase it this way, but basically to trade a bad contract for a bad contract. So, you know, this is sort of that, right? This is a contract that became bad for Marcus Simeon, probably just because he’s getting older. Father Time is undefeated. Uh, and, you know, like you said, this guy’s not uh, you know, the the defensive player that uh, that Adulles Garcia was in right field, but it’s a guy who can certainly go out there and play right field. And as somebody’s pointed out in the chat, he had 25 bombs and 95 RBI’s last year, so I think we’d all take that. Yeah, you know, um 100%. You know, the Rangers didn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark. They didn’t have guys on base. You’re getting a veteran guy. Um there there’s just a lot of things that that this trade gives to the Rangers. Uh it it is curious um how uh f it was Friday night the Rangers had a Thanksgiving meal giveaway at the at the at the their youth center there in West Dallas and Marcus Simeon was there. Wow. And um uh he was giving away the the turkeys and the the stuff and helping folks carry the stuff to the car. and Kennedy and Landry. Kennedy Landry and I from.com uh we spoke to him and uh you know he was just talking about his foot’s healthy. He’s been doing all baseball activities. Uh he’s he’s ready to get better. You know, he wants to continue doing what he did uh toward the end of the last season because after after May last year, he was he was serviceable. All right. He battered around 280 until his foot was broken. very inconsistent though and and not a lot of juice in the bat anymore. The defense fantastic gold glove winner. Uh but you know, he didn’t give any indication at the time uh that he knew anything was going on. So uh in fact, we asked him about Adoulas um you know because Adulus had had been non- tendered and Jonah and he’s like man it’s a tough day you know it’s a sad day it’s but that’s the business of baseball. Well, the business of baseball just bit Marcus Simeon in the tail. Yeah, that that’s pretty amazing, Jeeoff. I you and I had not been able to talk prior to doing this, so I didn’t know you were there or you had talked to him. And it in a way it kind of breaks my heart and and that’s a little bit how I’ve felt all weekend. You know, we jumped on to do an emergency podcast Friday afternoon. We anticipated uh that you know Jonah and Adolles Garcia, we even speculated that Josh Bors and and Jacob Webb could all be non-endered. Uh so none of that was like shockingly surprising to us. But as that news settled in, you know, to my my heart basically, yeah, I felt sad and and this one uh maybe even hits me a little harder. U Marcus um you know, we just didn’t we didn’t expect it at least at least not so quickly and and not like this. Um, so and then the other side of that is that likely ultimately this is good for the Rangers. Now Marcus Simeon finds that offensive stroke he had in Toronto somehow going to ru the day. But the results indicate that ship has sailed for Marcus as he is, you know, mid30s now. Yeah. I mean then it’s two straight years and really if you want to throw in the 2023 playoffs you can uh minus the the last two games. Um he some something has happened and um you know he he wasn’t able to uh uh recapture that form. He was a third in the American League AL MVP voting. All right that’s really good. um um fan would have been second if not for a guy named Joe Otani, you know, because because Seager was second and Seager would have won it. But my I guess my my point is that the Rangers obviously feel like they’re not getting value from Simeon anymore. Yeah, they’re getting good defensive play, but they need the total package at 25 million. And if they can’t rely on it, then they need to do what they did and, you know, in saving some money here, uh, you know, five and a half million. Hey, that’s what they paid Chris Martin last year. All right. Right. Five and a half million. Maybe that maybe that helps them get back Shawn Armstrong. You know, give him two and 11. Uh, maybe five and a half million, you know, makes it a lot easier to afford Luis Arise. So, um, there’s a lot that that has that can come from this trade. And then again, the questions, what does the outfield look like? Okay, you feel like you have your everyday left fielder and Wyatt Langford. Okay, well, NMO’s primary position of late has been left field where he’s where he’s above average. He’s a good left fielder. Uh, he can play center field, sure. Um, but hey, what about Evan Carter, who is a left-handed hitting center fielder, uh, who does not play against left-handers. Brandon NMO does. Okay. Can Brandon NMO or can Wyatt Langford move to right field? These are all things that that need to be answered. Um, and and then it makes you wonder what what what do the Rangers have next? Well, it does. And and I go back to the um GM meetings in in Las Vegas a week and a half or so ago, Jeff, when I talked to uh to Chris Young and and he said, you know, one of the things we’ll be looking for will be somebody who can platoon for us in right field and center field. Uh so, you know, that if that were the case, maybe that gives Brandon NMO more opportunity to play as well. So, um, you know, maybe that that satisfies this sort of need that that CY was talking about and and obviously as we mentioned opens a door at second base to to for the Rangers to try and acquire. It’s not a given that they’d be able to get Luis Arise, but with his given his relationship with uh, you know, with Skip Schumacher, it seems like that’s certainly a decent possibility. Yeah. and and you know we we do need to recognize that the Rangers are trying to save money and uh got to got to at least throw out the internal candidates, right? Um I guess you would start with Josh Smith. Sure. Who um you know has had every day at bats basically for the last two seasons. Um with no place to play, he’s ended up playing a lot of shortstop because of what’s happened to Cory Seager. Uh, as you’ve mentioned, he’s worn out in the second half the last couple years. Um, I know he drew a lot of fans eyeire because he was batting lead off late in the season while Meyer in a slump. Um, Cody Freeman who came up who Cody Freeman who, you know, was a little provided a spark. Had a great AAA season, provided a spark. Um, you you look at the total numbers, it’s a 600 OPS first for, you know, his first salvo in the big leagues. You think it’ll get better? He’s mostly been a third baseman. He can play second, of course. Um Ezekiel Duran can play the heck out of second. So there’s there’s probably the top three internal candidates. Do any of those guys light your fire? Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know. No. Again, we feel like to me out of the ones you just mentioned, Josh Smith probably lights my fire the most uh because of his consistency at the plate when he has had consistent playing time. That said, we’ve also noticed that when Josh plays more, it feels like the last couple of years there has been a fade, you know, a downturn, uh, at least not necessarily the quote unquote second half, but maybe after the All-Star break in most cases. So, um, yeah, it’s, uh, there’s there is a lot to be decided, but certainly when you’re in a budget conscious state, uh, that’s certainly something that you’ll look at is what you have internally. You know, it’s it’s probably somewhat telling that Ezekiel Duran uh, was tendered a contract, right? So, that now the Rangers have multiple guys in Freeman and Smith and Duran who can play multiple positions. to talk this weekend has been a lot about uh Zeke maybe getting some, you know, being out there in right field a lot and we’ve seen him out there and he’s got a great arm. Uh he’s got, you know, an adultish like cannon, but um but maybe now there will be more of a need to keep him in the infield. Yeah. And and just a couple thoughts if we’re, you know, everybody’s hung up on on Arise and the connection with Skip Schumacher and it makes a lot of sense. Arise though said at the end of the season he 100% wants to be back with the Padres’s. So there there are no guarantees in major league free agency. Um so let’s let’s kind of cushion those arise thoughts and and all of that. So next how about how about this guy Kim? Uh yeah, the Korean player who who was traded from the Rays to the Braves at the end of the season and opted out uh of his uh contract. Um you know, is is that something uh the Rangers need to consider? He played a lot of second base, won a gold glove, I believe, with the Padres’s. So maybe that’s another option. a guy who, you know, most international players, uh, who are who have been middle infielders are high contact, low strikeout guys. Um, that’s not necessarily the case with Kim. Just a cursory glance at his statistics, he has some big strikeout years. Um, 24 and 470 played appearances. He struck out 77 times. So that’s you can stomach that, but he only batted 233. So, I don’t know if you’re getting a great player in him. Um, but it’s it’s somebody we need to at least, you know, keep an eyeball on. And then, uh, the I guess the big one out there would be a trade for Kettle Marte or Catel Marte. Sorry, I didn’t mean to butcher butcher the name there. Um, I mean, the Rangers saw firsthand how good that cat is. I mean, he Yeah, he tore them up in in the in August. and um you know it it looks like the the Diamondbacks are are willing to to trade him or at least that’s kind of what the reports have been. Um you’d probably have to knock him over, but consider of course the the the Kelly trade was with the Diamondbacks. So they understand the Rangers farm system and have scouted it heavily and have three arms from it by by you know via that that Mel Kelly trade. So maybe maybe hey, you know, let’s let’s swing for the fences here while we’re at it. Why not? And see if if something comes out of it that way. Yeah. And by the way, No Mama, we appreciate the super chat. No Mama, a Padres’s fan who says that uh Louisa Rise is overrated. So there it is right there. Thank you, No Mama, for that. And look, everybody has their opinion about everybody. We do know this, the guy doesn’t strike out. And that’s one of the things that the Rangers uh love uh about him and about what Skip Schumacher loves about him and and it’s a part of the new philosophy uh going forward for the Rangers. But they continue to be extremely active, perhaps as active as any team thus far uh during the off season in Major League Baseball. from naming a new manager a couple of days after the season to uh non-tendering three different World Series heroes to then just a couple of days later making a blockbuster trade. There’s no other way to term this than Blockbuster. And the Rangers have traded um another hero from the 2023 World Series, Marcus Simeon to the New York Mets for outfielder Brandon NMO. um NMO will have opportunity to play because of one of those aforementioned moves and that was non-tendering Adoleis Garcia that happened on Friday. So, uh a full off season of activity thus far. It has been great. It has given us so much to talk about. We would ask you to like us and subscribe to us and realize that we are here every single day. And uh Gez, tomorrow, Jeeoff, I guess hopefully we will be talking about the Rangers reaction to this. Yeah, I I hope so because um you know, whenever money is involved, the commissioner’s office has to sign off on it and I don’t know if they’re working right now on a on a Sunday night. But um I’ll say this. I I the the trade uh you know it like the moves with Garcia him and Josh spores the non-tenders. It’s a what have you done for me lately business and Marcus Simeon hasn’t done enough for the Rangers on the field. Uh but now this trade creates a lot of questions. How are you going to fill in for Marcus Simeon? Is it going to be Louisa Rise? Is it an Eternal candidate? And then with Brandon NMO, where’s he is he gonna be a right fielder? Are you gonna move Wyatt Langford to right? Is Evan Carter okay? Is his is his back that much of a concern that you wanted to go get somebody who could play center field every day if needed? Um, what whatever the case, hopefully a conference call or a an in-person uh press conference, a good oldfashioned press conference or soon in the offing because uh Chris Young and Ross Spencermaker have some some questions that need to be answered and um I’m looking forward to hearing them. But um the Rangers appear to be appear to be moving forward after two lousy seasons offensively. Uh they’re leaving their, you know, heartstrings holding on some heartstrings, but um this is business and uh uh the Rangers apparently mean business about being better in 26. Yep. Uh and we will be back tomorrow at 1:00. If not before, I don’t know, probably not until tomorrow at 1:00. uh we are there every day uh to talk about the Texas Rangers, the off season and what they are doing, what they continue to do, and what they plan to do. So uh we thank you for finding us uh during this emergency podcast to address this breaking baseball Texas Rangers news and we’ll see you again tomorrow on the 1:00 edition of the DLLS Rangers podcast. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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Texas Rangers have officially opened the hot stove as reports are out that they are trading Marcus Semien to the New York Mets for outfielder Brandon Nimmo. The move comes days after the team decided not to tender offers to Adolis Garcia, Jonah Heim and Josh Sborz, further dismantling the team that won the World Series in Arlington in 2023.

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