Monday newsletter time: Holiday downtime is over. Time for Rangers to start shopping?

Jeff Wilson November 28, 2022

(AP photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Thanksgiving week typically isn’t the busiest in a baseball offseason, though that’s not to say the Rangers have made any signings or acquisitions in the past or moved closer to adding players.

Who knows what this week will bring, especially with general manager Chris Young leading the offseason charge for the first time.

Next week, though, will bring the winter meetings, when baseball tends to go a little bit off the deep end.

But there hasn’t been a winter meetings since 2019, thanks to COVID and the lockout. They were in San Diego three years ago, as will this year’s meetings, and the Rangers were on the short end of signing third baseman Anthony Rendon.

In hindsight, they can count their blessings.

It was only two days after those meetings when the Rangers pulled off a big trade, acquiring two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber for outfielder Delino DeShields and a young right-handed reliever named Emmanuel Clase.

Yikes.

Kluber made one start, lasting one inning, in the shortened 60-game 2020 season, and by the August trade deadline the Rangers were diving head-first into a rebuild mode. Clase has developed into one of the best closers in the game.

The Rangers are trying to climb out of that rebuild mode and they again have a pile of cash to help make that happen. Will the bidding go beyond their comfort level on, say, Carlos Rodon or Jacob deGrom? Could they attempt to trade for yet another Cleveland Cy Young winner, Shane Bieber?

A few things to keep in mind:

Some of the best and biggest Rangers deals of the past 12 years have come after the winter meetings (Adrian Beltre, Yu Darvish, Shin Soo-Choo).

Some of their best deals of late have been at or near the winter meetings and haven’t registered on the offseason Richter scale. However, they have paid off quite well during the season (Mike Minor, Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson).

So, don’t be surprised if next week is a quiet week for the Rangers or if the moves they make don’t initially move the needle.

But Young is the new guy in charge, and past trends might be due to change. Who knows what this week will bring.

Hall ballot

The Hall of Fame sent out its ballot last week while the Wilsons were in the great state of Colorado, and I pulled it out of the mailbox Saturday. It got a little wet from the rain, so hopefully the Hall will still accept it.

It might not make much of a difference, with no sure-fire candidates. Beltre will make his debut next year.

By my count, there are six former Rangers on the ballot: Carlos Beltran, R.A. Dickey, Andruw Jones, Mike Napoli, Alex Rodriguez and Omar Vizquel.

Jones has been on my ballot since I became eligible to vote, though, obviously, not for his contributions to the 2009 Rangers. Dickey and Napoli are Hall of Fame good guys. Beltran (Astros scandal), Rodriguez (steroids) and Vizquel (alleged domestic abuse) have some image issues that are going to ding them.

Upon a preliminary glance, it looks like I’ll be voting for seven this year, but I have until the end of December to make it official.

ICYMI …

Well, there hasn’t been much new content at Rangers Today following the week in Colorado. The news was covered and then featured, so both of those links are below. But since it is Cyber Monday, go ahead and get a subscription for you or the Rangers fan close to you. And the Rangers Today Baseball Podcast is still cranking and could use your support. Oh, and if you’re a TCU sports fan and don’t know about Frogs Today, go check it out. Here are the links, in case you missed it.

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