Hi, and welcome to another edition of Right

on Rangers live coming at you off season

show number four, three or four, either way

we're here hanging out, ready to talk some

Rangers baseball with you.

We'll talk a little World Series preview as

well.

Good to be hanging out on a Wednesday

and all of y'all at home, I'm

sure by now know the drill here, Right

on Rangers.

We cover everything Texas sports, but we put

a huge emphasis on the Texas Rangers, hence

the name of the channel.

I look, we thank you so much for

choosing Right on Rangers for all of your

Texas Rangers content.

We are cooking with stars.

Content Mavericks are firing up tonight.

Dallas Mavericks tip off, believe in about an

hour or so against the Houston Rockets.

We'll get the Mavs content fired up.

Stars will affect on that one.

Mikko Rantanen with an incredible performance last night

with the Hattie, the overtime winner, and hopefully

the stars and Mavs can help make things

right.

Man.

Hey, we have had some tough luck with

the Rangers and the Cowboys thus far.

And look, I know not all of y

'all are Texas Longhorns fans, but as a

Texas Longhorns fan myself, uh, the three teams

so far, Cowboys, Longhorns, Rangers, not treating me

super great this fall.

Hopefully the stars and the Mavs can do

some redemptive work throughout the process.

Appreciate you guys hanging out.

Look, a lot to talk about today, uh,

feeling great about the show.

Definitely want to hear from you guys.

So feel free to drop a comment, drop

a question as the show goes on.

But, uh, we start with this, the Rays

and Brewers playing for a World Series championship.

We are going to have a team that

has never won a World Series before, and

we're going to have one of them come

out on top.

And that is definitely something I think Rangers

fans can relate to.

Of course, three years ago, Rangers winning their

very first World Series championship.

And I think you absolutely cannot think about

the Rays and their success without thinking of

a man that was once very, very integral

to the Rangers and their processes.

You've got Jon Daniels, not the president of

baseball operations, but you have him as a

senior advisor, helping get the Rays back to

their first World Series appearance since 2020.

And those of you that have followed the

show for a while, you know, where I

stand on Daniels actually posted a video about

it right before I got on the live

today, Jon Daniels in my mind, and I

will continue to beat this drum for as

long as I possibly can.

Jon Daniels in my mind, one of, if

not the bigger reason why, if you're thinking

about front office people, why the Rangers made

it as far as they did in 2023

and ultimately ended up winning the championship, nine

of the Ranger starters, you can reel them

off were acquired either when Jon Daniels was

exclusively running the team or when Jon Daniels

was the president overseeing CY as the general

manager, you have so many different players that

you can point to.

And Jon Daniels, I don't think deserves, deserves

the, I would say a hate or the

criticism that he gets when you really consider

all of the players in 2023 that were

added under his watch.

Now, today we spend pretty much all of

our time focusing our energy when it comes

to front office discussions on Chris Young.

I don't talk a lot.

I think I casually throw in Fenstermaker

as just, you know, the, the token GM

that happens to be there in all the

discussions.

But I think all of us essentially, we,

we say to ourselves, it's Chris Young.

He's the president of baseball operations.

He makes the final decisions and CY has

even said between him and Fenstermaker, it's,

it's a collaborative process, right?

It's not like CY is hands off.

Fenstermaker is, you know, wheeling and dealing

and CY is only stopping the very worst

case scenarios from happening.

CY has his fingerprints all over the last

few years.

And so if we're going to do that

with Chris Young, I think we have to

have the same standard for Jon Daniels.

Yes.

Chris Young was the general manager for some

of those years, but Jon Daniels, the president

of baseball operations until 2022 responsible for acquiring

Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, Mitch Garver,

who retired today, by the way, Garv Sauce,

solid career.

Garver was signed under the Daniels administration.

If you will, there's so many different names.

Now, I mean, Nathan of all the, or

all this Chapman, Jordan Montgomery, you know, those

names, absolutely.

I think you credit more so to see

why.

And so I don't think you take all

the credit away from him, but I think

you do say to yourself, man, there's way

more Jon Daniels fingerprints over the 2023 roster

than CY fingerprints.

That's how I think about it.

Again, Adolis Garcia, probably the most impactful player

down the stretch for Texas.

I know he was injured in the world

series.

Travis Jankowski takes over, but yeah, I think

we all can acknowledge they don't get to

the World Series without Adolis Garcia going off

in Houston, by the way, some Adolis content

coming your way.

You guys know, I do some history posts.

They say in Rangers history, I do Rangers

birthdays, stuff like that.

There's definitely some Adolis Garcia content coming down

the pike.

It is going to be fun reliving some

of those moments.

I think you and I have talked when

I do my Rangers history posts.

A lot of them right now are playoff

related.

A part of me is sad when I

post them because, and do I miss watching

Texas in the post season?

You know, I'm watching the 2010, 2011 teams

and watching how they cruise through October, you

know, against Detroit, against the Yankees, against the

Rays speaking up.

And it's just fun.

So a part of me is sad watching

that thinking about what could be right now,

but a part of me, it makes me

hungrier to get back, makes me hungrier to

get back to October and to continue to

see it through.

I absolutely would prefer the Rangers to be

in the spot that the Brewers are in,

in the spot that the Rays are in

right now.

I'm thankful for the good times that they

have given us.

But at the same time, we're not in

that spot right now.

I'm going to enjoy the past, but we

go onward and we hope that the Rangers

have a much better 2027 than they did

2026.

Thanks for all you guys hanging out.

Appreciate the comments.

Appreciate all you guys that have supported the

channel over the years, over this past season.

And look, we'll be here every Wednesday talking

Rangers baseball.

That is for sure.

Thank you so much for all the kind

comments.

I see a few of them in the

chat.

Man, that means a lot.

And look, we will continue to give you

guys the best of the best as we

go through this off season.

All right, let's continue on with all of

the different topics that we have to discuss

today.

We talked about Brewers Rays being back in

it.

Talked about the Jon Daniels connection.

Now let's talk about what Texas can potentially

learn from this whole situation.

What can they learn from the Brewers and

the Rays being in the World Series?

I think the strongest receipt in all this

is probably the payroll contrast, right?

You've got Milwaukee ranked 19th and you've got

Tampa Bay ranked 28th in payroll.

In comparison, that doesn't prove that payroll is

irrelevant.

By the way, I think we can all

acknowledge Texas spent pretty aggressively to win the

2023 championship, but it raises a fair question

about the efficiency of the current roster construction.

And you guys have heard me rail on

that a number of different times.

You're given 18 and a half million dollars

a year to talk Peterson.

You've got $38 million a year invested in

Jacob deGrom.

So like you're spending a lot of money,

but at the same time, it's very top

heavy.

And the players that you are spending a

lot of money on are aging.

That being said, the debate I think that

is really relevant here is, are the Rangers

problems primarily financial?

Like what you hear most of on X

and on social media in general, is it

primarily financial Ray Davis, just not spending money?

Is it more developmental?

And that's been a hot topic as well.

The Rangers and their ability to develop talent,

or is it evaluative?

Like, are they making the right decisions within

the organization, who to play, who not to

play, who to promote, who not to promote?

Or is it a combination of all three?

Perhaps maybe that is where we end up

landing with this whole thing.

Still the 2027 roster.

Some of you guys are asking me what

I think about next year.

A lot of my predictions on next year

are going to be put on hold until

I see what the Rangers do with this

off season.

And before I make too many comments as

well, I think we have to understand there

might be a strike.

And that is absolutely going to determine what

unfolds in regards to who makes the playoffs

and who doesn't.

You are going to 100% have to

hedge some of the predictions that you make

at this point, considering what might be to

come.

And I think many of us do believe,

I believe there will be some time missed.

I don't know that things are looking great

for baseball to start on time in late

February next year with spring training.

I can't really answer a lot of questions

about where I see the Rangers in 2027.

But I think what we can do are

scenarios.

If the Rangers add one piece, drop a

couple, I think they're going to be right

back where they were this year.

I don't think that one player bringing in

and then you know what, you maybe let

Joc walk and you let a couple of

other guys walk and you retool the bullpen.

To me, that's not going to do it.

I don't think that's going to make the

Rangers very special.

I think they will be very, very similar

in 2027.

If they run it back, I'll be at

a couple of pieces here and there.

I don't have a lot of hope.

The only way that would work is if

Sebastian Walcott comes up and just mashes, just

crushes it from the jump.

The only way that would work is if

Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter just magically figure

it out and it doesn't look like they're

close to that right now.

You've just got to be honest about these

things.

Have to be honest about these things.

I think you have to consider, have to

consider that there's a lot of bets if

you run it back.

There's a lot of bets to be made

and I just am not a big fan

in betting on hope.

You know, I hope that Evan Carter figures

out how to consistently put the ball in

play and be a plus 200 hitter.

What was he at?

196, 192, something like that this year.

I hope Wyatt Langford can go 2020.

Shoot.

We were talking about 3030 last year.

Can Wyatt Langford go 2020 and then can

Sebastian Walcott come up and smash the cover

off the baseball immediately?

If those things all happen, yeah, maybe running

it back and work.

But at this point, I don't see that

being very likely.

Maybe one or two of those things happen,

but the likelihood that all three of those

players suddenly pop in 2027, just not seeing

it.

I know that there's going to be a

lot of people really bullish on a Corey

Seager rebound as well.

And while I hope for that, going back

to that word, hope, I don't know that

you can count on a Corey Seager major

rebound either.

I'm not sitting here counting on that.

That doesn't mean I don't think it's going

to happen or doesn't have any possibility of

happening.

But I think you're going to get some

goodwill people, you know, forgetting doing the rose

color glasses, man, Corey, he was hurt.

He's going to figure it out.

It's going to be a better 2027.

I'm not really willing to go there at

this point.

No, Josh Jung, did he stay on the

field?

Can he repeat?

I'm not necessarily banking on Josh Jung repeating

what he did in 2026.

And I know that that hurts some people's

feelings.

I know some fans have already gotten on

me for being negative about this, but y

'all, I just don't know that these are

sure shots.

Few things are sure shots in the game

of baseball.

Think about Shohei Ohtani and what he showed

us down the stretch in the postseason.

And I know he had the big home

run in the elimination game, but even Shohei

Ohtani slumped down the stretch in 2026.

Is Josh Jung a sure shot to continue

to do what he did this last season

in 2027?

I would say another thing I'm not necessarily

banking on.

I hope it happens.

But again, we go back to that thing.

I don't want to base the roster plan

for 2027 on hope.

Be proactive, go out, make some moves if

you're serious about winning.

Otherwise, like Ultra Modern says in the YouTube

comments here, time to rebuild.

Don't weed this, don't drag this out any

longer.

Rebuild.

I don't understand why you would want to

just run it back and keep the status

quo.

If you want to really be competitive, you're

going to have to make some substantial moves.

I don't think a lot of us really

believe deep down.

And I even think, you know, I know

some Rangers fans will go back and forth

with me on social media.

But deep down, man, if you were getting

a cold beverage with somebody, I think most

Rangers fans would tell you, yeah, I don't

think the current club right now could win

a World Series.

Like, you know, one thing that I hear

more frequently when I repost the 2010-2011

teams is how badly they would wipe the

floor with the current team.

That's what I hear more than anything.

I think most Rangers fans, if you got

them one-on-one off social media, are

they really telling you that they feel confidence

that the current group can win a World

Series?

Let's just be honest with ourselves.

We all love the Rangers.

I know that some people question my fandom

because I like to criticize occasionally and I

like to just keep it real.

And sometimes that means being negative.

But I think most Rangers fans can admit

there's probably a small faction, a small, real,

real low group of people that are just

going to defend it to the death.

Yes, they can win a World Series.

I don't see it.

And if you watch this team for 162

games, I don't really understand how you could

either.

But I get it.

Hope springs eternal sometimes with this game, especially

when you've had an offseason to miss baseball

and dream about what could be.

The Rangers need a lot of help.

And if they just want to add one

piece, get rid of a couple, retool the

bullpen, and here we go, I don't see

that working.

But maybe they will just get some crazy,

crazy recoveries from some of these players that

we've talked about, and it is just going

to be a night and day difference.

That is the glass apple mentality for sure.

Absolutely.

We'll keep rolling.

Appreciate all you guys hanging out.

Do I think Walcott gets called up before

next season?

I think they really don't have a strong

choice.

I feel like they have got to bring

Walcott up, especially if you're not going to

actually spend the time, especially if you are

not going to go out and go pursue

a lot of free agents.

Walcott, to me, seems like the easy ad

unless he is just terrible in spring training,

which could happen unless he just shows you,

but he isn't over his head in spring

training.

I think Walcott, though, has to be a

guy that you consider for maybe an infield

role, maybe an outfield role.

I think you could go a couple of

different ways with it, although I don't know

if you guys saw, the reports are that

Walcott is working in the outfield.

So it would appear that you've already got

some leads on what's going to happen next

year with the outfield situation.

It would appear that they are strongly considering

having Walcott be the guy that challenges Evan

Carter.

I think that we had our musings about

what the organization would do.

Evan Grant, of course, talked about giving Evan

Carter more competition, which I do think is

going to be helpful.

Walcott might be that internal option.

Walcott is athletic enough, I think, to play

some center field.

I don't know if that's where you want

to start him per se, but they might

not have a choice.

They might not have an option.

I don't think that the Rangers are going

to have Brandon Nimmo play center field.

I don't think Wyatt Langford is really a

guy at this point to play center field.

I don't think that that is an option

by any means.

I think that they are going to stick

with either Walcott or they are going to

stick with Evan Carter out there.

Langford, I think you could potentially maybe try

out there occasionally, but I don't think that

that is going to work.

I think that they're going to have to

roll with a more dependable, a more everyday

player that is going to be able to

hold up over the course of 162 games.

We'll see what happens.

We will see.

Ethan, what's good, man?

Sato linked to Texas.

They're one of two teams that scouted him

heavy.

He was Japan's triple crown winner, and he's

only 27 years old.

I know that we cashed on Yu Darvish

in the early 2010s, but we've kind of

whiffed a little bit on Japanese prospects since

then.

I do know the Rangers are involved, and

I know that we had like Arihara and

we had some other guys from Japan at

different points, but nevertheless, the big names, I

feel like we've whipped on a little bit.

Ohtani, he was definitely a guy that was

linked to Texas before he signed with the

Angels.

Of course, Ohtani, Yu Darvish, strong connection there.

And so Texas was naturally in the running.

And look, because of the Yu Darvish experience

in Texas, which he will tell you was

positive.

I do think that you've got some goodwill

between the Japanese players and with the Rangers

organization.

So that would be cool if it came

to fruition.

I'm not necessarily counting on it.

And at this point, it's so early, it's

hard to sit here and really look at

the crystal ball and figure out what is

going to happen.

But that'd be interesting.

The Rangers, to me, I think either are

going to have to count on Walcott going

back to the outfield discussion.

They're either going to have to count on

Walcott to challenge Evan Carter for some reps,

or they're going to have to bring in

a guy.

We talked about him on the show last

week, like Ian Happ or another outfielder that

has some good experience out there, is reliable

out in the field, has a good eye

up at the plate.

All things that I think Ian Happ, you

check those boxes for him.

Clearly, he's not a perfect player, but I

don't think the Rangers are trying to get

a perfect player.

I think they're just trying to improve the

roster and improve some of the lineup spots

that were really black holes for them last

year.

That, to me, is, I think, the number

one priority.

The black holes you have to address.

Evan Carter, God love him, black hole in

the lineup.

You have to address that.

You cannot run it back every day, Evan.

You've got to be able to at least

give a competition, give Evan a competition out

there.

I think Evan's going to challenge anybody with

the glove.

It's going to be hard to find somebody

better with the glove than Evan Carter, but

you can't live with 192 and elite defense,

man.

You just can't.

And I know some people feel differently, but

I'm not one of those people.

I don't feel good about, hey, he's not

going to hit the broad side of the

barn, but he's going to catch most everything

that comes out your way.

You can find someone that's a small step

down from Evan Carter, but can hit significantly

better.

Sato to the Dodgers, comment from TikTok here,

Brian, what's good?

Yeah, that's not going to shock me.

That's just not going to shock me at

all.

I am curious to see what happens with

Sato, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Let me put it to you that way.

Definitely not getting my hopes up.

Who are the Rangers looking at for catcher?

That is definitely a position that I think

the Rangers should address.

I do think that they've got some guys

under contract.

Danny Jansen.

O'Hoppe, you're, you're going to let Higashioka

walk.

I don't think Higgy is going to be

coming back on the mutual option.

I'm not really sure why you would pick

that up.

There was nothing really that Higgy did that

was overly special.

He's not a bad player in some ways.

You definitely appreciated the bat.

He could hit for a little pop for

a little power, but I don't think there's

really anything that I look at in Higgy's

game like, man, I've got to have that

back next year.

That's just me.

I think you might be stuck with Danny

Jansen.

I don't think there's going to be a

big trade partner in Danny.

Of course, I think had some off season

surgery, right?

So it's not like Danny right now is

probably a prime trade target.

That to me is not something that's on

a lot of teams radars.

How can we get Danny Jansen into this

organization?

Now, could Danny be maybe a throwaway?

You include him in a trade, but there's

other things packaged in it.

Sure.

That could be, but I think they'll probably

roll with Danny Jansen and maybe Logan.

O'Hoppe.

I don't know what Elías Díaz, what

his fate is going to be.

Will he get some good money with another

team?

Will the Rangers try and bring him back?

I'd love to have Elías Díaz back

in a 50 50 roll or even, you

know, a 67 33 roll, man, just something

to keep him in the organization.

That would be wonderful.

I loved what I saw from him.

He's a good veteran presence.

Definitely show that he can still drive the

baseball and played a pretty good catcher position.

I don't think that he's a must.

Like, you know, you have to bring him

back.

Otherwise, why are we even playing the season?

But I think he'd be a nice piece

for the Rangers to pick back up.

The question is going to be, is he

going to price himself out with the year

that he had?

I don't think he had an elite season

by any means.

It was just kind of a solid backup

catcher season.

But you look at what some other catchers

are getting.

I bet Elías Díaz could get four

or five million.

I bet some team would be willing to

pay him four or five million.

We'll see what happens.

Holly says, Justin Viele still needs to go.

We did talk about that on the show

last week.

That to me would be a no brainer,

but I don't know that it's going to

happen.

But to me, what I wish the beats

would ask, and I know they're not doing

everyday stuff with CY or with Skip Schumaker,

but why can't we ask the pointed question?

Skip, CY, the offense has finished bottom five

in the league back-to-back years.

Why has a change in the hitting department,

why has a change at hitting coach not

been more strongly considered?

That's what I would ask.

Ask a pointed question like that.

Clearly, there's a little juice behind it, but

you got to bring the receipts and you

have to ask questions that are not yes

or no, man.

Again, I don't know how you justify.

They finished bottom five in scoring the past

two years, but it's not the hitting coach

and we're running it back with Justin Viele.

That makes zero sense to me.

Don't understand that, but I don't even understand

really what the other side of it would

be.

So if Justin Viele isn't going to be

gone, why are we keeping him?

What is the reason for retaining his services

when you've been a bottom five scoring team

the past two seasons?

Bottom five, bottom six, I don't think it's

any better than that.

That's ugly to say out loud.

I don't understand what the reason would be

why they would run with that, but they

do things a little different.

They don't operate always according to how we

want them to.

I think you guys know following and watching

all the shows throughout.

Chris Young to me is on the hot

seat.

I would be doing everything possible if I

was him to mix it up, do something

different.

What's the definition of insanity?

Doing the same thing over and over again

and expecting different results.

So in that regard, I do think it's

insane to retain a hitting coach that has

been responsible for bottom five offenses in back

-to-back years.

That is the definition of insanity.

I will never understand it if they don't

go a different direction with the hitting coach.

You are doing the same thing over and

over and expecting different results.

It makes zero sense to me, but I

don't get paid the big bucks.

I guess it's above my pay grade.

Zach, what's good?

Comment from TikTok.

Bring back Maddux and fire Viele and the

team looks a bit better.

Maddux is just a goodwill guy.

Maddux was there for pretty much all.

He was there for all the World Series,

2010, 11, and of course, 2023.

Maddux is just a goodwill guy.

And obviously the Angels firing him.

There was a little bit of the technology

stuff in the mix.

I'm sorry.

I'm erring on the side of Mike Maddux.

I'm not erring on the side of the

Los Angeles Angels here.

I am erring on the side of Mike

Maddux.

So I really don't care what the reports

were coming out of LA.

I'm going to go ahead and roll with

Mike Maddux.

Dude who's had way more success than the

Los Angeles Angels have had over the past

15 years.

Way more.

Now, is there validity to the report?

I'm sure there is some validity to the

report that Mike Maddux was not all in

with technology.

He's a, he's an old school guy that

shouldn't shock anybody.

And you got, you know, a lot of

the analytics guys and you've got a lot

of these players at this point, honestly, really

overly, I would say at times bought into

the analytics.

To me, I'm definitely interested.

I don't think that analytics are the devil

or need to go away from the game.

You got some people in the baseball world

that hold that opinion.

I just think it has to be a

balance.

I mean, but for me, yeah, I mean

the guys, I mean, and I know Corey

Seager's an iPad guy.

There's a number of iPad guys, whatever works.

To me, I think that for myself as

a player, some of that would be overkill.

Some of that would be just way too

much information for me.

I'm more of a clear the mechanism, keep

things simple and then make adjustments in between.

Definitely understand there's a place in the game

for technology and analytics, but when it comes

to the specific situation of Mike Maddux versus

the Los Angeles Angels, I'm going to side

with my boy, Mike Maddux.

Just about every time there.

More TikTok comments here.

Man, just get rid of Skip.

His lineup adjustments were horrible.

Osuna should be in the majors.

You don't have to tell me twice.

You're preaching to the choir about Osuna.

Osuna needs to be up with the big

league club.

I mean, that to me is just a

no brainer.

Osuna has to be up with the big

league club.

You cannot employ Evan Carter as an everyday

player and not even have Osuna in the

majors.

Osuna is a no brainer to have up

with the team next year.

I don't really think it should be overly

debatable.

There's nothing that he needs to prove in

AAA.

I would think this off season, they should

be working Osuna out at first base.

I would love for Osuna to be a

versatile first base outfield option.

That way with Jake Burger, let's assume that

the Rangers run it back with Jake Burger.

I know that he might be a trade

candidate, but I think they potentially run it

back with him.

I do feel like Alejandro Osuna as the

first base platoon option with Jake Burger would

be valuable.

Jake Burger, we know, struggled against right handers.

Jake Burger had a sub 700 OPS against

righties.

Had, I believe, I'm not, not a hundred

percent on the stat around a 900 OPS

against lefties.

I want to say it was very healthy.

We'll put it that way above average.

So there is, I think an argument that

you keep Burger around as a lefty crusher,

but against righties, I think you have to

figure out a way to improve and get

better.

And Osuna could be an option there.

You no longer are going to be employing

Joc Pederson unless something goes crazy.

Unless they just go off the deep end.

I don't know why you would be resigning

Joc Pederson to the 18 and a half

million mutual option.

Joc, I think would take that deal in

a heartbeat.

By the way, if the Rangers wanted to

pay Joc 18 and a half million for

one more year, I think he'd be willing

to do it.

I don't think he's going to refuse 18

and a half million and hit the open

market.

You're going to take 18 and a half

million dollars every single time.

I don't think the Rangers will give it

to him now.

Could he come back on a more team

friendly deal?

Maybe, but there might be another team that's

better suited for Joc Pederson.

I'm not a big fan of the Rangers

right now, where they're at as an organization.

I'm not a big fan of them going

out and getting another only DH type like

Joc.

I know he played right field and that

was an adventure, and I know he played

some first base and that also was an

adventure at times.

But I don't want to see the Rangers

go out and get another player like Joc

Peterson that can really only hit and can

only really hit against righties.

They've got to get more versatile.

I mean, see why I said it.

They have got to get more versatile, more

dynamic.

And you don't do that by going out

and getting a bat like Joc Pederson that

can only hit against righties and can't play

the field.

You just don't do that.

Keep rolling.

Don't keep Burger.

Move Seager to first.

Brian says, I think they're going to keep

Burger.

I really don't see them trading him.

I just think the Skip connection is strong.

We know that Skip likes Jake Burger a

lot.

They, of course, had that connection back in

Miami.

Jake Burger is beloved in a lot.

Obviously, I love Jake Burger.

I think he's a great dude.

But in terms of the business side, the

baseball side, I'm not in love with the

player.

Yes, he's got great pop at times, not

an elite first baseman defensively.

I'm a little bit, I would say, more

out than in on Jake Burger as a

baseball player, 1000% in on Jake Burger,

the human being.

And I think that is why they're going

to keep him.

I don't see them trading Burger.

I would love for them to platoon him,

though.

He could be, again, a lefty crusher DH

type.

He could play first base against lefties.

I don't think they need to run Jake

Burger out against righties.

He was not good against righties in 2026.

I'd be interested to see what his splits

were in 2025.

I would be interested to see what his

splits were the previous years against those players,

against lefties and righties.

I think that would be definitely something worth

researching.

But yeah, for me, Burger, definitely a guy

that I would consider trading.

I think he still has three years left.

I think he's still very, very controllable, but

I'm not sure that he is the type

that the Rangers are trying to move towards

either.

Again, more athletic, more versatile, more dynamic.

Does that sound like Jake Burger?

Same argument with Josh Jung.

Does that sound like Josh Jung?

Athletic, versatile, dynamic?

No, it doesn't.

Josh Jung had a great year at the

plate, and I'm a fan of Josh Jung,

so I got the bobblehead sitting right behind

me.

Shoot, I'm a fan of Josh Jung.

But I can't say that he really fits

the prototype that CY described at the end

of the year.

I don't know how you could say that

with a straight face.

We've talked about the athleticism of Josh Jung,

and we've talked about the speed of Josh

Young.

We've talked about the defense.

It's not fitting within those qualifications that the

president of baseball ops laid out at the

end of the season presser.

Now, we were talking about Jake Burger in

the splits.

So Burger, we're talking 2026, just so we're

on the same page here.

Burger was an 891 OPS hitter against lefties.

891, that is above average.

It's not elite, but it's above average.

Against righties, Jake Burger was 659, which is

below average and not very good.

Let's just be blunt about it.

It's not very good.

So that's what we were working with in

2026.

In 2025, Jake Burger against lefties, 815 against

righties, 643 OPS.

So this is a trend.

This isn't a one-year anomaly with Jake

Burger.

This is a trend.

He hits lefties well.

A back-to-back seasons, Jake Burger has

had an 800 OPS plus over against lefties.

And he has had a sub 675 OPS

against righties.

It is a trend.

And so I think the Rangers need to

take the data from the last two seasons.

And I would prefer they play Jake Burger

much less against righties.

It feels like a very obvious thing to

do.

Luis, what's good?

Luis says on TikTok, you're young, always hurt.

Trade Seager.

I don't know if Seager is going to

be willing to be traded.

Seager controls that as does young, excuse me,

not young, but as does deGrom.

I was seeing the young comment here and

got that in my head.

deGrom and Seager control whether they're traded

or not.

So at this point, I'm not sure that

I want to spend a whole lot of

time talking about that.

Who knows if Corey Seager and his family

are willing to move to a different city

at this point?

You know, I think it's his right.

He signed the contract.

If they could trade Corey Seager, I think

they probably should.

That would be financially a wise move.

I don't know how much they would actually

be able to get a value there.

At this point, it feels like you would

probably be paying.

You would probably be trading him to a

team that would really just take on the

salary.

And so you wouldn't necessarily be getting really

great prospects back for him.

You would probably be getting mid prospects back.

And you would be hoping that they eat

up a lot of that salary, 32.5

million or whatever it is.

Phillies fan here.

Seth, this is right on cue.

Phillies fan here.

Do you guys need or want a shortstop?

We were just talking about Trea Turner, right?

Trea Turner, Ethan brought up on YouTube for

Seager.

Trea Turner for Seager.

Would the Phillies do that?

Both have big contracts, right?

What's the Turner contract?

Ethan, do you know?

What is the Trea Turner contract right now?

That is, I think, worth it.

I mean, look, Trea Turner, definitely that athletic

player that we're talking about here.

11 year, 300 million.

That is a contract, baby.

300 million, 11 years.

So you've got Turner through 2033.

Whoa, baby.

Whoa, baby.

Trea Turner.

I don't know how I feel about this.

I mean, you're basically trading a not great

contract for not great contract.

I mean, that to me is how I

see this.

Now, Trea Turner in 2026 was not very

good.

He had negative war in 2026, which I

mean, I'm not the biggest stat nerd, but

it feels like that's hard to do as

a shortstop because you're so involved with so

many fielding plays.

It feels like you have to be kind

of like exceptionally bad to have a negative

war as a shortstop.

I'm totally talking slightly uninformed about this, but

I do understand war.

A part of it is predicated on opportunities.

Feels like you get a lot of opportunities

as a shortstop to build up that defensive

side of war.

I've had negative 0.1 war in 2026

for Trea Turner.

Sub 300 OBP.

An 81 OPS plus.

Yikes, dude.

21 stolen bases.

Didn't steal very much because he wasn't getting

on base a ton.

242 batting average isn't terrible.

242 batting average actually would be one of

the higher ones on the Texas Rangers in

2026.

A lot of strikeouts.

Is that what I'm seeing too?

147 strikeouts.

I've seen worse.

Look, as Rangers fans, we've all seen worse.

Joey Gallo rings a bell.

God bless Joey Gallo.

Could hit the ball a country mile, but

my goodness, the strikeouts.

Does he walk?

48 walks.

Not really.

Not really.

I mean, you definitely for a guy like

him with that much speed, you want to

see more walks.

And I think he walked 70 times in

2018, and that is by far the highest

number he's ever achieved.

48 was actually on the high end in

terms of his career numbers.

That's tough.

That's tough.

Seth says, Phil, this is good stuff.

Seth, by the way, man, I appreciate you

hanging out, man.

If you haven't followed, hit that follow button,

dude.

I'd love to have you along for the

ride in the offseason and MLB.

I've always told you guys this when other

fans from other teams stop by.

I mean, look, the Astros fans, we always

get people trolling.

Shoot, I had some Cardinals fans.

Didn't we have some Cardinals fans trolling in

the TikTok?

I thought we did.

I've been posting some 2011 World Series, and

the Cardinals fans haven't had anything nice really

since 2011.

So, of course, anytime they can bring up

2011, they have to have won a World

Series in 15 years.

As I posted the other day, just can't

relate.

Three years ago, Rangers were hoisting the trophy.

I know it's been a bear kitchen since

then, but you know what?

It hasn't been 15 years.

That 2011, I'm not going to lie to

you guys, 2011 is always going to hurt

a little bit.

I will say in a weird way, all

of the digging into the 2011 and 2010

runs that I have done over the past,

it's made me in an odd way feel

better about it.

I'm never going to get over it completely,

but I will say, I've come to appreciate

the 2010 and 2011 runs a lot more.

I think for some fans, it's just a

sore topic.

For me, there's so many special moments in

2010 and 2011 that the Rangers had down

the stretch.

I just posted one, Game 2 of the

2011 World Series.

Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler were phenomenal in

that game.

Multiple highlight reel plays up the middle.

You had Kinsler in that ninth inning of

Game 2 in 2011, stealing a bag off

Yadier Molina.

Rangers were down one-nothing in that Game

2, came back to win it two to

one.

Neftalí Feliz shutting the door.

There were so many cool moments in 2010

and 2011, and for me, I've come to

a place where, yeah, I'm never going to

be totally good with it.

It's always going to hurt a little bit,

but I've come to a place where I

can appreciate and enjoy those postseason runs a

lot more.

Some of it may be because of 2023,

but I've thought about this a lot.

I've been able to really relish and appreciate

those teams and those runs a lot more

over the past few years than I otherwise

did, and I hope you guys can get

to that spot too.

There are so many amazing and incredible highlights

from those two years, back-to-back World

Series appearances.

If only we could beat the Diamondbacks in

23, our series would have gone to seven.

I thought for sure, that's a TikTok comment

talking about the Phillies.

So it was Diamondbacks-Phillies, right?

It was Diamondbacks-Phillies, and the Phillies kind

of soiled the bed.

I mean, look, and I say that respectfully

with my team soiling the bed many times

over the past two decades.

The Phillies kind of soiled the bed against

the Diamondbacks, right?

They had some opportunities.

The Diamondbacks had some big clutch hits late.

Phillies had trouble slamming the door shut in

the late innings, and we got that Diamondbacks

-Rangers World Series.

Could have been Phillies-Rangers, and I was

fully expecting Phillies-Rangers.

It was not meant to be, but that

would have been a fun series.

I totally agree with you in that one.

Totally agree.

Phillies-Rangers in 23 would have been a

ton of fun.

And if I'm being real, and I remember

saying this in 2023, and I say this

every time, I love Milwaukee and Tampa Bay

are going to be competing for their first

World Series title ever.

I love that for them.

It's always more special in October when you've

got the Red Sox or the Phillies or

the Yankees playing.

It just is.

To me, it is.

There's nothing like cold, packed house Philly, packed

house Yankee Stadium, packed house Fenway Park.

There's nothing like it.

It's an aura that's a cut above a

lot of other places and a lot of

other potential matchups.

I'm not even going to lie about that.

There are just some places where the postseason

hits different.

I'll throw the Cubbies in there.

Wrigley Field, that hits different.

Look, Bush Stadium for a while.

I mean, when the Cardinals are good, obviously,

St. Louis packs that place.

I know there's been some bare years of

late, but there are just some postseason environments

where it just hits different, man.

And Phillies-Rangers, though the Rangers happen to

go up to Philly, that would have been

pretty amazing baseball.

It would have been.

Who knows what could have happened?

If the Phillies would have been able to

knock us off, we'll never know.

But man, that would have been exciting.

That would have been some fun ball for

sure.

I will say this, 2023 is always going

to be special.

The Diamondbacks, Rangers, I know was not going

to be the most watched World Series of

all time.

We'll just say that.

I mean, look, we were watching and enjoying

every minute of it.

Don't get me wrong.

But clearly, Diamondbacks-Rangers wasn't necessarily attracting the

most viewers.

I think we can be real about that.

All right.

Look, I've got a few other things to

go through.

Ultra Modern Rangers have sold the fans a

bill of goods offseason for three years now.

I do think the Rangers have not been

overly transparent.

And I think when I say that, I'm

not talking about open up the books, that

kind of stuff.

I just feel like there's a lack of

realness.

There's a lack of just calling it like

it is.

It's trying to sell us a competitive contending

team, but really just running back the same

old, same old.

So Ultra Modern, I do agree with you

there.

Eric, I appreciate you hanging out, man.

Good to see you as always, my friend.

Good to see you as always.

Christopher, what's good, man?

A comment from YouTube, going to be interesting

to see what the Astros and Rangers do.

I totally agree.

100% agree on that.

Let me continue to roll on with some

of the things I drew up for the

show today.

We talked about Sebastian Walcott.

We talked about Walcott getting some outfield work.

He has been working out in the outfield

in the Arizona Fall League.

Clearly no professional games in center field, in

the outfield, but he is working more and

more outfield as the Fall League goes on.

And that is something to watch.

We know that Evan Carter, not a great

year.

You could potentially have Walcott maybe challenge Evan,

maybe challenge.

Wyatt Langford, who knows?

For me, Wyatt Langford, should he have a

set spot in the outfield?

I mean, I don't know if there's going

to be a choice, but it doesn't feel

like Wyatt Langford has earned a 100%

never losing your job spot either.

Agree?

I feel like Wyatt Langford's got something to

prove.

I don't think he is written down in

the lineup in permanent marker.

That to me is something that you're totally

basing on hype and you're totally basing on

the potential over the results that have actually

transpired on the field.

I think Wyatt needs to earn it, man.

Yes, he's a top prospect, former top prospect.

Yes, he has the makeup, if you will,

but man, he hasn't pieced it together.

So I'm not putting Wyatt Langford in permanent

marker in the one through nine either.

I think he's got to earn it this

year.

And if he comes out slow in 2027,

I don't think you need to ride that

all the way to August, man.

You have to be willing to do some

drastic things.

And right now, I don't know the Rangers

are in that mentality.

I don't know that they're in that frame.

It feels like they want to stay a

little bit comfy.

They want to stay a little bit comfortable.

So both with the hitting coach, we're talking

Justin Viele.

Maybe they'll fire him.

Is anybody going to be surprised if they

don't?

Chris Young, Skip.

The clubhouse, it really does feel to me,

even going back to last year, that the

team prioritized comfort, being comfortable over potentially ruffling

some feathers and doing something risky that potentially

could have had a high reward.

They really prioritized, man, let's get everybody that

is kumbaya in the clubhouse and let's build

a culture, man.

Culture, culture, culture.

That was the buzzword coming out of spring

training and surprise.

What a great culture.

What a great clubhouse.

What a great group of guys.

We do understand that while that's nice, the

name of the game is winning, winning games,

winning more games than you lose, which did

not happen in 2026.

The Rangers need to make some uncomfortable decisions.

They prioritized it over the last couple of

seasons, running it back, avoiding tough decisions, not

running people off the roster, giving people an

opportunity to rebound.

They prioritized comfort over making the tough calls

that potentially could have paid off with higher

rewards.

Patience, good to see you, man.

Comment from X.

Agree, all the noodle arms are on the

chopping block.

The noodle arms.

If Walcott gets to the outfield, that is

one guy that definitely does not have a

noodle arm.

Walcott, that dude can fire that baseball, man.

So that is a positive.

If he actually ends up cracking the outfield.

Zach comment from TikTok here.

He's only had a bit more than 40

games in the minors, needs a reset and

develop more.

Zach, who are you talking about?

Sorry, man, if I missed you.

I don't want to comment without knowing who

are you referring to there with that one,

man.

Thanks for all the comments.

Wyatt, okay.

So Wyatt definitely, definitely could stand to have

a little bit more refinement in the minors.

I don't know that he's going to get

it.

And I think that we might see Wyatt

Langford just go down to AAA and do

what he does in spring training, right?

Just start mashing it.

I think that that absolutely is going to

be what plays out if you demoted him.

I'm not saying that you're wrong.

I'm not saying you don't have a point.

I just feel like you demote Wyatt Langford

to AAA.

He's probably going to hit a bunch of

homers and then you're going to bring him

up and maybe it's going to work out

positively.

Maybe he just does the same thing.

I don't know what it's going to take

with Wyatt completely.

That's why they pay all those guys the

big bucks.

Wyatt's got to get in the lab though.

I mean, Evan, Wyatt, those dudes got to

get in the lab.

They have got to figure out that.

To me, internally, if you're just putting external

moves off the table, internally, the number one

priority, figure out what the hell happened with

Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford this year.

Figure it out.

That is the biggest thing that I want

to see this team really process and really

game plan.

And then I think on the pitching side,

it's Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter.

Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter, those guys on the

pitching side are the other top two priorities.

Internally, there is no greater issue than getting

your former top prospects back on track, who

all, in my opinion, took a bit of

either a sidestep or a blatant step back.

I know some people are going to say

Kumar Rocker stepped forward.

I didn't feel like Rocker was a step

forward this year.

I didn't feel like Jack Leiter was a

step forward this year.

I didn't feel like Langford or Carter were

even close to a step forward.

I think Rocker, you could maybe argue, was

the only sidestepper.

Everybody else took a step back.

And I know some people are going to

qualify Jack Leiter's season with the injury.

I feel like, at best, Kumar Rocker's season

was a sidestep.

TikTok comments.

Realistically, none of the guys are going anywhere.

Probably just going to run it back.

Nate, thanks for the comment, man.

I definitely don't think that that is out

of the realm of possibility.

In fact, I think it's probably a pretty

strong possibility, unfortunately.

Jay says, I'll say it multiple times, trade

Corey and blow this up.

Shake my head.

Yeah, I think if you could get Corey

Seager traded, it definitely is something that you

have to listen in on if he's willing.

You have to do your homework there.

If you can get $32.5 million off

the books, get a little younger, I don't

think that's the worst thing in the world.

Because the worst-case scenario is Corey has

the same year that he did last year,

and you're paying him $32.5 million.

That is the worst-case scenario.

That would be such a disappointment.

You get the same 2026 season in 2027

from Corey Seager while you pay him $30

-plus million?

That would be brutal.

Ultra modern.

Evan Carter ran a marathon backwards.

Evan Carter was, I think, the biggest step

back among the former top prospects.

That's for sure.

John, what's good, buddy?

Good to see you, man.

Coming in late, but I don't think EC

ever healed fully.

That, I don't know.

I don't want to muse on that too

much, John.

But I will say this, to your credit,

it was so bad at times with Evan.

You did wonder, is he hurt?

Is he doing something weird with the mechanics?

Like, what's happening?

Wyatt, I definitely think, was playing well.

He was playing through some injuries.

I will say the organization is not great

with the injury stuff.

They're not.

They're not.

John says Leiter played for months injured.

No one said anything.

Nope.

That's why I said, some of this, maybe

you can qualify with injury.

But look, unfortunately, reliability and availability are parts

of the evaluation.

You've got to be available.

With Wyatt Langford, I think Wyatt's an injury

-prone player.

You know, Josh Jung, bad luck or not,

is an injury-prone player.

Evan Carter had a pretty healthy 2026.

But before that, he was injury-prone.

And maybe he was dealing with stuff.

Who knows?

Who knows?

Nate says, if we do blow it up,

hope we blow it up now or soon.

Can't wait.

Walcott's younger prime, waste Walcott's younger prime years.

If they are losers at the deadline, they

will blow it up.

I think they will try to trade Corey.

I think they'll try and trade deGrom.

If they are losers at the deadline, they'll

definitely blow it up then.

I guess unless deGrom or Seager just are

dead set on finishing out their years in

Arlington.

John, I'm with you on this comment.

JJ needs to wear a full suit of

body armor every at bat.

You guys have heard me say, I don't

know how that dude doesn't have every single

guard imaginable up there at the plate.

He has the worst luck and apparently needs

to drink a little bit more milk and

get the get the bones a little bit

stronger.

I don't know, but it feels like if

Josh Jung's getting hit by a pitch, a

bone's probably breaking.

Like it or not, that is how it

is at this point.

A bone is probably breaking.

I appreciate all you guys hanging out.

Hey, do me a favor on TikTok, man.

If you're watching, you haven't double tap that

screen yet.

If you haven't hit that thumbs up button

on YouTube or on Facebook, wherever you're watching,

thanks for hitting it.

I know it's something small, but it makes

a big difference.

It honestly does.

It makes a big difference.

Just getting the live out.

If you don't understand how it works yet,

more likes means this gets out to more

and more people.

So look, if you haven't commented, by the

way, appreciate all the people that have.

Even just double tapping that screen on TikTok.

This helps get the live out to more

and more people.

I appreciate you guys a lot.

Thank you so, so much, man.

That is huge for the show.

And you guys are a big reason the

channel continues to grow.

The show gets bigger and bigger.

And so again, from the bottom of my

heart, appreciate you guys very, very much.

Now to close out the show, Mitch Garver,

we talked about Garv Sauce a little bit,

retired today officially.

Did not get to 10 years.

I thought maybe he was a 10 year

guy.

Only had eight years of service time.

So I really thought Garve was gonna try

and make it to that 10 year mark

before he retired, but he retires.

And clearly it didn't go great in Seattle

the last couple of years, but man, no

champions.

He can't take that away from him.

World Series champion Mitch Garver, 2023.

Grand slam against Baltimore.

Go ahead, RBI single against the Diamondbacks.

And big moments from Mitch down the stretch

in that 2023 season.

Always be grateful to him.

Gotta appreciate what he did for the organization

a few years back and wish him all

the best in retirement.

And really hope that whatever's next for him,

it's good stuff ahead, man.

God's blessings to Mitch.

And look, World Series opens up in a

couple of days here, right?

Friday night.

I don't know if I have a great

prediction, but I will say this.

Right now as I'm looking at it, it

just feels tough betting against the Rays.

I know the Brewers have got the Miz.

I know they have got a lot of

talent offensively.

It just feels like the Rays are gonna

figure out a way.

I don't know why I feel that way.

I can't say I've done some deep analytical

dive, but I feel like the Rays are

gonna get it done.

I feel like the Rays have been here

2020.

They obviously did the 2008 World Series against

the Phillies.

I feel like the Rays find a way.

I think it's gonna be a good series.

Wouldn't be surprised if it goes seven games.

Now, definitely give me your prediction.

I really don't care who wins if I'm

being honest.

Zach says Brewers in six.

What do you guys got for predictions?

Rays and the Brew crew just have patient

ABs.

Yes, they do.

It's gonna be a battle.

I just feel like it's gonna be a

battle, but I'm gonna go Rays.

I'm gonna go Rays in six games.

I'm gonna say Rays in six.

We'll see what my prediction looks like when

we get together in a week or so

here.

We'll be back again on Wednesday.

And of course, you guys know I cover

the Longhorns.

I cover the Cowboys.

We cover the Stars and the Mavs on

the channel as well.

In fact, the Mavs just tipped.

Gonna go watch the Dallas Mavericks play the

Rockets.

Rockets, big favorites, by the way, in this

one.

So we'll see how the game goes.

It'll be fun seeing Kyrie and Cooper Flagg

hooping together, but we will have Mavs reaction

videos coming your way.

Stars reaction videos are already coming your way.

I don't really do a lot of lives

for the Mavs or the Stars.

I keep it pretty light in the baseball

offseason because of so much time that's dedicated

during the MLB season.

I try and keep it to one offseason

show a week, plus two football shows over

the weekend.

You know, something crazy goes on with the

Mavs or with the Stars, maybe an emergency

pod or an emergency live.

But for the most part, Mavs and Stars

will be my shorts and reels that I

put out to you guys.

And then I'll always go live for the

Cowboys, the Longhorns during the football season.

And then of course, the weekly offseason Ranger

show.

Appreciate all you guys hanging.

Hope you guys have a great week ahead.

More content coming your way.

Maybe later tonight, maybe I'll get a video

out after the Mavs game is over.

Definitely tomorrow though.

Appreciate all you guys supporting the show in

whatever ways you can.

And look, as I always say to end

every single show, God bless and go Rangers.