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The K&C Masterpiece reviewed and discussed the Texas Rangers' disappointing season. They shared their grades for the team, manager, front office, and more.
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00:00K&C Masterpiece right here on 105.3 The Fan.
00:04Let's talk some baseball.
00:08Specifically, unfortunately, obviously, we all know the season ended poorly.
00:12Go ahead then and give me cut number five
00:15because I want to get your grades for the Rangers team this season
00:19and then also the manager and the management.
00:243-2 pitch is lifted high into the air.
00:26Pretty deep left field.
00:27But Langford going back this ball, carrying well, and it's out of here.
00:33Cody Clemons, his third hit of the day, is his 27th home run of the season,
00:38an opposite field shot to give the Twins a 10-2 lead.
00:42And I wanted to split this up a little bit
00:44just because it seems like people have really diverging opinions
00:49about who or what is at fault for the season failure.
00:54And make no mistake about it, this season was a failure.
00:57For the Texas Rangers, right?
00:59We can all agree on that.
01:00Okay.
01:01You need to make the playoffs.
01:02Exactly.
01:02And you now have a winning record.
01:04Even though now Houston Astros has set the precedent,
01:06you don't need a winning record to make the playoffs.
01:08No question.
01:09Yep.
01:09You said management.
01:12Yes.
01:13That includes owner?
01:14Yes.
01:15Okay.
01:15And we're just going to do it like that.
01:17Maybe I should have just said front office.
01:18But yeah, let's say management, owner, and GM, manager, skip, and then the team itself.
01:26Okay.
01:27Who would you like to start with?
01:30Start with the team.
01:31Yeah.
01:31That makes a lot of sense.
01:32All right.
01:33Woo.
01:34Okay.
01:35Tell me more, please.
01:36Other than Jacob Latz, D for me.
01:38Well, I know there were some other guys that developed.
01:40Duran.
01:40There were some young players that developed this year, and I'll give them credit for that.
01:44That's why it's not an F.
01:45Okay.
01:46All right.
01:47And isn't that the example that Chris Young was kind of pointing out the other day, too,
01:50is, hey, we did develop some guys.
01:53Is that kind of a, I don't know if it's a shot at us or if it's a shot at
01:57the owner
01:58that may have told them, I'm not going to invest anymore because you guys can't develop me any players like
02:02Tampa?
02:03I mean, and that's fine.
02:04And my counterargument to that would be every single team in Major League Baseball got a positive F war
02:10from rookies on their team with the exception of the Texas Rangers.
02:14You developed players three years after the fact.
02:18Foscu finally has come through, like some of those guys.
02:21So I would say that I still put them in that.
02:27They couldn't get wins when they needed wins.
02:29They couldn't get runs when they needed runs.
02:32And their pitching was a roller coaster from their injuries that happened, too.
02:38But also, Mackenzie Gore didn't turn out to be anything other than a dude.
02:43Yeah, who was available.
02:44Jacob DeGrom's looking very human at this point.
02:47There are some nights when he's not, some nights when he is.
02:50And you have no clue at this point, at the end of the season, what rocker and lighter are next
02:55year either.
02:55I mean, can we go back to DeGrom for just a second?
02:58I know he had some spectacular performances.
03:01But for the totality of the season, Jacob DeGrom was a jag.
03:06Like, he was.
03:07There are some nights when you'll go, that's why he's Jacob DeGrom.
03:11Right.
03:12But not consistent enough for you to go, man, we have Jacob DeGrom.
03:16And for the other part of it, Kevin, it just felt like the roster was disjointed.
03:21And the roster being disjointed, how many, this is one of the reasons I'm going to give Skip a higher
03:27grade,
03:27is because you are trying to figure out how to juggle this thing every single night.
03:33And you shouldn't have to.
03:35Yeah.
03:35But you really shouldn't have to be like, I have no clue.
03:37We have to have a different lineup all the time.
03:39And none of the players showed enough consistency to say they belonged.
03:46I'm going to go, you know, I'm going to read a couple of these texts first.
03:49From the 936, Rangers Management D+, CY and company think this team is better than it is.
03:56And I will tell you that.
03:57I know that for a fact.
04:00And it's always dangerous when you have a higher opinion of your work than what the product shows.
04:07And Chris Young believes he built a hell of a roster with a whole bunch of people who didn't live
04:13up to expectations.
04:13And to a certain point, I agree.
04:16Do you think he thinks he built a hell of a roster, or he built a roster that, if they
04:22all play up, will be a hell of a roster?
04:24Because that's what I think.
04:25Okay.
04:26I think he thinks they need to be, he's like, look, I have restraints, or constraints.
04:32Yeah.
04:33Restraints are kind of dope, too.
04:35Yeah.
04:35You know what I mean?
04:36All right.
04:36No, I don't.
04:36I have constraints, but here's what we're going to work with in it.
04:40I need them all to play career seasons.
04:43And if they don't, we're screwed.
04:45I think that's what he told us at the end of the year, at least.
04:49And that person followed up with C-plus for the team.
04:51I actually think they outperformed their resources.
04:54For the 8-1-7, not as optimistic.
04:56F, missed the playoff for the ninth time out of ten years.
04:59Management, F, not willing to admit these guys are playing their best baseball and just can't stay healthy or put
05:06the money in.
05:07From the 8-1-7, the team, they get a D, poor offense and bullpen.
05:11And I want to loop back around to that management statement because I did see the irony in Chris Young,
05:19the president of baseball operations, saying,
05:21as we move forward, it's going to be very important in terms of goals of ours to really address the
05:26makeup of the team in terms of health, reliability, and dependability.
05:30Also, Corey Seager has a bone spur in his elbow that will potentially require surgery.
05:37And also, also, though he didn't say this, by not trading Corey Seager, he now has a full no trade
05:43for the next five years.
05:44And Corey Seager can be great when he plays, but he is also the poster child for unreliability.
05:51And the thing that's scary about that is when Corey Seager does come back, is he now going to be
05:56the DeGrom of hitting?
05:58We're like, hey, I know he's got a huge name and he makes a lot of money, but he's all
06:01right.
06:02Yeah.
06:02And even more than that, he can't play shortstop anymore.
06:08He can.
06:08There's some flashes.
06:10He can feel the position.
06:11I got you.
06:11I know that he can feel the position.
06:14But in order for his health.
06:16Okay, so this is like a Wyatt Langford in center.
06:19I don't want to see it.
06:20We got to take care of you so we can have you more.
06:22I get you.
06:22And we're going to need you to make that concession.
06:25Since we didn't trade you, whether by decision or by just giving up on the idea of trying to make
06:31trades,
06:32since we didn't do that, we need you to become a great leader by making a position change for us.
06:39Show you're willing to do that, and we can do some other things around you.
06:43But we can't do anything with you at that spot right now, because the other thing that Chris Young added
06:49was,
06:50we got to become more athletic and dynamic.
06:52And you can't do that if he's the dude that's at your most athletic and dynamic position.
06:58Yeah.
06:59All right, a couple more bits of feedback.
07:01And then, Alec, I want to get your team grade as well from the 8-0-6 Rangers players.
07:06C-minus.
07:07No grit in key moments.
07:09Lots of swings and misses.
07:12For the management F, no action at the trade deadline.
07:18From the 5-7-1 D-minus.
07:20Can't give them an F, because technically they did compete for a playoff spot.
07:24They just weren't good enough all season.
07:27All right, Alec, let's start with the team.
07:30What grade would you give the team?
07:34Give them a D.
07:36I didn't see much that I liked.
07:39Kind of like Corey said, there was really two players that I knew were going to give me something to
07:44ride home about,
07:45which was Ezekiel Duran and Jacob Blatz.
07:47Other than that, it kind of started tumbling down in terms of hope for me, just as a product.
07:53When Jack Leiter got hurt and it was like, it's getting pushed further back, further back, further back.
07:59I'm like, I don't think I have any reason to be excited that there's going to be this spark.
08:06This guy comes back from the IL and just fuels a push or something or another.
08:11I didn't have any hope after that.
08:14Now, I'm going to go.
08:16So, I am the highest of the bunch, just on the team.
08:20I didn't mark that.
08:21Damn it.
08:22I went with a C-, so still not a particularly captivating grade, but they were still in the midst of
08:29a playoff race,
08:31albeit the saddest divisional race in the history of baseball.
08:34They were still there, and I also think they overcame some deficiencies from the front office.
08:41And that's why I went, manager, he gets a C, maybe a C-, and management gets a D.
08:50I don't think, whether it's the ownership, not providing the tools, whether it is your front office just giving up
08:59on trading away other assets
09:01because Jacob DeGrom didn't want to leave a cushy situation in Texas.
09:06Sorry, I mean, he wanted to win here with the Rangers.
09:10There's – that's inexcusable to me.
09:13At a time when your farm system is barren, it is inexcusable to me to not just keep moving forward
09:18and being like,
09:19well, let's see what else we can do out there.
09:21Instead, they were like, well, DeGrom doesn't want to get traded, so let's just give up on the rest of
09:26the plan.
09:26That is inexcusable to me.
09:28So, I'll probably move between a C, maybe C- for the manager, and a D for the management.
09:35Somebody said from the 405, when can we have the Mike Maddox conversation?
09:38I don't think we can.
09:40I don't think he wants to be here, honestly.
09:42That's just my take on that.
09:44Yeah, yeah.
09:45And we talked about that a lot at the beginning of the year, that if he did want to be
09:48here,
09:49then I'm lowering the grade for ownership even more.
09:52But I don't know that to be the case.
09:54Different conversation.
09:54For the manager, I give him a C-plus because I'm just like, you're constantly having to juggle and figuring
09:59out how to get wins.
10:01Good job on that.
10:02But the culture of the clubhouse really didn't change that much.
10:08It didn't feel like it did.
10:09And I can't say with certainty that any of his decisions were genius throughout in in-game decisions or whether
10:25they were ineffective.
10:27You know, like, I feel like it was just kind of, there were some that were good, some that were
10:31bad.
10:31He did make adjustments.
10:33Right.
10:33I will give him, like, hey, somehow he convinced Wyatt Langford to move his hands down.
10:38And for about a month, that was awesome.
10:40So what was the next thing?
10:42There were other times when you were like, why is he playing infield in?
10:44And he gave great explanations for that, right?
10:46Like, when he came on with this, the explanations were interesting.
10:50The conversation was good.
10:51I feel like he has an uber-competitive nature about him that I like having, that nothing's really laissez-faire.
10:59But I do still think that ultimately you can do all those things and try to rally the guys.
11:05But sometimes whenever those guys get out on the field, they just don't perform.
11:09And unfortunately, I gave them a D also.
11:11So that's where we are there.
11:12All right.
11:14Alec, we go to you.
11:16Grade for the management and the manager.
11:20Management?
11:21Front office, I will give probably an F overall.
11:26I'd be willing to listen to that.
11:28And it's for the obvious reasons.
11:30I think that your bullpen was just a, hey, we need dudes to pitch.
11:35It wasn't really a collective effort of how can we make this competitive?
11:39How can we put together a formula that can close out games in shorter situations and in longer situations
11:45when guys like Mackenzie Gore can't do anything for you?
11:49I don't think there was any real thought put into it other than, hey, this guy's veteran minimum.
11:54Cool.
11:55Bring him in.
11:56And then for the manager, it's hard for me to give him anything less than a B minus.
12:03Ooh.
12:03Because I do think there's a lot of times where he might not even say it behind closed doors,
12:09but he might be thinking it in certain games because of what I just drew out where he's like,
12:13well, what do you want me to do?
12:15Yeah.
12:15What options do I have?
12:17That's what I thought about so, so many times in the bullpen, man.
12:20You're right.
12:21I was just like, fine, don't bring him in.
12:24Bring in another option that the fan base seems to hate because he's ineffective.
12:28And you're like, Jakob Yunus is there?
12:30Use him.
12:30And he's like, I don't really want to, man.
12:32And there was a, look, there's several players in this bullpen that they had a stretch where
12:37you're like, ooh, okay.
12:38And then it just fell apart in seemingly similar spectacular fashion every single time.
12:44And what's fascinating along with this is in addition to what y'all said, it does appear
12:49as though the manager is coming through with some of these grades, not great, but better
12:55than the rest from the 817.
12:56I think this is the highest grade I've seen anybody get.
12:59Skip gets a B, which that lets you know how the season went.
13:02If the highest grade I'd even seen on the text is a B, that lets you know how it went.
13:08And if I got to factor in that he hopped out there to catch a baseball for me, I'd give
13:12him an A.
13:13But I did factor that out.
13:14Okay, I appreciate that.
13:16From the 469, that was awesome, though.
13:19Ownership, F, manager C+, team gets a D.
13:25From the 817, I'm going to say F for the management because they just can't develop talent.
13:32And look, we've talked about this time and time and time again.
13:36One of the things, the primary thing that I was hoping Chris Young was going to change
13:42is pretty much everything about your scouting and minor league system.
13:46We said his first year, he said he's done two of the three.
13:50Yep.
13:50And the third thing I kept saying, I think he's going to do in the offseason.
13:54And is that on him?
13:57Yes.
13:58Or will Ray Davis not commit to that either?
14:00See, I don't...
14:02Because that was another reason that J.D. was hamstrung.
14:06There was never any commitment to that from the front office either.
14:10Yeah, that's interesting because I've heard differing opinions about that and some people
14:14were like, well, Kip Fag was J.D.'s guy.
14:17And that's why he's remained in place because he was J.D.'s guy and so he's going to be C
14:22.Y.'s
14:23guy.
14:23And if that's their decision, that knocks your grade down as well.
14:26He's a really nice guy.
14:28He's been on our show multiple times.
14:30But if you look at the lack of development from our minor league system, our struggles
14:38at drafting, I don't get it whatsoever.
14:41That's why I gave the management a D-.
14:43Yeah.
14:44Yeah.
14:46So a D between all of us was the best grade that management got.
14:54And from the 9-4-0, I would give Ray Davis a 0.
14:57From the 9-0-3...
14:58That's not a letter.
14:59That's true.
15:00So we'd still be just an F.
15:01But hold on.
15:01We never said we had to be letter grades.
15:04You know what?
15:04That's a good point.
15:05So...
15:05I think it's just because we said a letter grade.
15:07I get it.
15:08No, no.
15:09Don't do it.
15:10From the 9-0-3, front office gets a D-.
15:13Manager C.
15:15Offense D-.
15:17Bullpen gets a C.
15:19And man, there were times when that bullpen showed flashes.
15:22But this is at least...
15:24I might be underselling this, too.
15:25This is at least the third straight year that you've had to pretty much totally redo your bullpen.
15:33And at some point, that's going to fail on you massively.
15:37This is as low as I've felt about the club in a while.
15:40Is it just that they didn't win?
15:42Or is it all of the stuff that's not in the pipeline?
15:46Not in the pipeline.
15:47It doesn't look like there's much that can be turned around and doesn't feel or sound like there's much that'll
15:52be given to help a turnaround.
15:55Yeah.
15:55So, no, we're just going to have to rely on what we have, hope it gets better, and hope that
16:01everybody has career years.
16:04Or from the 817, maybe Hagee needs to talk to the Rangers and make sure they take the notes like
16:08Jerry did.
16:09Dude.
16:10I mean, it's worked for Jerry.
16:11Yeah.
16:12And then they're one and two.
16:13Yeah.
16:13Which most of the league is.
16:15That's great.
16:18That's where we did it.
16:20We did it.