My first objective was not to mess anything up. For a large portion of the season, the Rangers were looking towards 2016, and their mid-season of trade of Cole Hamels was made with that mind. Instead, Texas got hot and won the division. The fact that just about all of Josh Hamilton’s salary is covered and the hit to Prince Fielder’s salary is minimized by the Tigers, also helped to the budget not much of a factor. Yu Darvish make just $10 million helps in roster construction as does starting off with two aces at the top of the rotation.
Beyond Darvish and Hamels, I wanted to improve the starting rotation and its depth. By adding Shelby Miller (at the cost of Derek Holland – which also brought a cost savings), Jesse Hahn, Marco Gonzales, and Trevor Bauer I was able to do just that.
While Shawn Tolleson came out of nowhere to emerge as the closer, the acquisition of Cody Allen moves him back to set up role and adds to the bullpen depth along with Sam Dyson to help shorten the game.
To acquire Allen I did move Joey Gallo, but his strikeout woes have to be a concern, and as the team is presently constructed, there wasn’t a spot for him either. I am banking on a fresh start for Hector Olivera as he attempts to live up to his free agent contract as well.
The offense, other than essentially swapping Mitch Moreland for Thomas Pham stayed the same, and the funds are there to make another in season addition.
| Player | Pos’n | 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton, Josh | lf | 28,410,000.00 | |||
| Fielder, Prince | 1b | 24,000,000.00 | |||
| Hamels, Cole | lhp-s | 23,500,000.00 | |||
| Choo, Shin-Soo | lf | 20,000,000.00 | |||
| Beltre, Adrian | 3b | 18,000,000.00 | |||
| Andrus, Elvis | ss | 15,250,000.00 | |||
| Darvish, Yu | rhp-s | 10,000,000.00 | |||
| Martin, Leonys | cf | 1,600,000.00 | |||
| Perez, Martin | lhp-s | 3,150,000.00 | |||
| Gimenez, Chris | c | 1,000,000.00 | |||
| Diekman, Jake | lhp | 1,000,000.00 | |||
| Tolleson, Shawn | rhp | 2,600,000.00 | |||
| Chirinos, Robinson | c | 1,400,000.00 | |||
| Olivera, Hector | IF | 10,667,000.00 | |||
| Miller, Shelby | SP | 4,900,000.00 | |||
| Peterson, Jace | 2B | 510,000.00 | |||
| Gonzales, Marco | lhp | 510,000.00 | |||
| Pham, Tommy | OF | 510,000.00 | |||
| Hahn, Jesse | rhp | 510,000.00 | |||
| Freeman, Sam | lhp | 510,000.00 | |||
| Odor, Rougned | 2b | 510,000.00 | |||
| Dyson, Sam | rhp | 510,000.00 | |||
| Johnson, Chris | 3B | 7,500,000.00 | |||
| Bauer, Trevor | rhp | 510,000.00 | |||
| Allen, Cody | rhp | 3,500,000.00 | |||
| Hamilton, Josh | (26,410,000.00) | portion paid by LA Angels | |||
| Fielder, Prince | (6,000,000.00) | Detroit pays $30M, 2016-20 | |||
| Johnson, Chris | (7,000,000.00) | Portion paid by Cleveland | |||
| Olivera, Hector | (2,000,000.00) | portion paid by Atlanta | |||
| TOTAL – TEX | 139,147,000.00 | ||||
| 2015 Salary | 141,733,540 | ||||
| 2016 Multiplier | 1.07 | ||||
| 2016 Salary | 151,654,887.80 | ||||
| Spending Room | 12,507,887.80 |
Love the Miller trade. Holland is an oft-hurt enigma and Miller has great stuff. Would have liked a little more depth in the pen.
I agree with Gus about the Miller deal. I’m not so thrilled about the Gallo-Allen deal.