LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — About the Rangers‘ offseason pursuits of catchers and relievers, um, it’s not really going anywhere at the minute. It’s weird that way sometimes when you don’t have much in the way of money or prospects to offer.
As sales pitches go, “who is willing to take the least,” ranks right up there with “but there is no state income tax in Texas.” The Rangers are working on it; the market isn’t exactly coming to them.
So the Rangers are left locked up in their suite, talking to themselves as much as to other clubs and agents. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The suite, after all, is in the Waldorf-Astoria. Second, talking amongst themselves may just give them some clarity on other issues they are facing this offseason.
Like this, for instance: Chris Young has mentioned the Rangers would like to bolster starting pitching. He always mentions that. Usually follows through, too. Then again, he usually had some money available to work with. On this front, though, there is at least some hope the Rangers could find an answer internally. They could commit to Jacob Latz as a starter.
Rangers
When last we left this topic, a week after Latz had pitched into the sixth inning on the penultimate day of the season, Young said the Rangers “have to determine the best utilization of Jacob to help the team win.”
It didn’t read as a full-throated endorsement of Latz the starter, which, given his performance and the club’s financial pickle, was a bit surprising. There is also solid rationale behind holding off; we’ll get to that in a moment.
On Tuesday, a little had changed. But not much. GM Ross Fenstermaker allowed that Latz is preparing as a starter this offseason. However, that’s Latz’s choice. When pressed, Fenstermaker didn’t say the Rangers had instructed him to do so. It’s an important distinction. It’s the difference between a player’s ambition and a team’s plan. The Rangers have no problem with it. It’s easier to reduce workload than add it, though they certainly added it last year.
“I wouldn’t say we have defined that yet,” Fenstermaker said of Latz’s role. “Right now, Jacob is preparing as a starter. His ultimate role will be determined by performance and spring training and some of the other things that we do the rest of this offseason.
“But right now, he is preparing as a starter, and we will revisit that come spring training. We are still discussing and assessing where things are at. I know Jacob wants to prepare as a starter. He has shown that he’s capable of doing such, and that’s how he’s going to treat his offseason.”
The case for Latz, the starter, though, is strong. Despite two minor league options and flopping between the rotation and the bullpen, he was as valuable as any pitcher on the staff whose last name was not “deGrom” or “Eovaldi.”
The overall numbers were impressive: A 2.84 ERA in 85⅔ major league innings (it was 2.69 in 100⅓ innings if you include his minor league stints). In eight starts in the big leagues, he posted a 2.72 ERA, a 1.084 WHIP and a 2.27 strikeout-to-walk rate. It’s more remarkable considering he didn’t get consecutive starting assignments until Aug. 27 and Sept. 2, and when he did, he compiled a 2.49 ERA and allowed a .213 batting average over six appearances in September. And still worked in a couple of relief outings. He averaged more than five innings for those September starts, perfectly acceptable for a major league starter at the end of a season.
Related
If the Rangers had gotten this kind of performance from any young internal candidate in the last decade, they’d be doing backflips, which, given Young’s height, would be quite a feat. Over his last month of appearances, Latz posted a 2.36 ERA. No homegrown pitcher had done that in the final month of one of their first three years in the majors since Nick Martinez in 2014. Before that it was Yu Darvish (if you want to consider him “homegrown,” considering he’d pitched years in Japan before arriving in MLB) in 2012, Derek Holland 2011. After that: Roger Pavlik in 1993. That was two stadiums ago.
It’s been a while.
Now, about those rational concerns, there are questions about durability, the impact on his health and the possibility his stuff wouldn’t hold up deep into games. They are all valid. But they are not uncommon. This is a concern with virtually any pitcher. There is risk involved.
“There’s substantial conversation to have on whether he could be a 150 innings starter for the Rangers next year,” Fenstermaker said. “We’re going to continue having that dialogue.”
Look, if the Rangers had real resources to work with this offseason, it would make sense to hedge bets. But they don’t have the same resources. They must scrounge up all the money they can find just to try to fill out catcher and the bullpen. What money is left over might go to a starter or two, sure. But starters are generally more expensive than relievers (even if Edwin Diaz is going to get $23 million a year). It would seem to make sense that if they commit to Latz and his approximate $800,000 salary, there would be more money left to get better quality relievers.
“I think that’s part of what we’re assessing here in terms of which direction we want to go,” Fenstermaker said.
Well, the good thing is they’ve had plenty of time up there in the suite to keep assessing.
MLB teams have interest in Corey Seager, but would Rangers be willing to trade him?As Texas Rangers try to build bullpen from scratch again, their philosophy is clear
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.