Recliner Roundup: Quiet start to the offseason

It is almost December and we are in the throws of a, well let’s face it, a boring offseason for the Texas Rangers. There wasn’t a lot of offseason moves expected, but there are some gaping holes this team needs to fill. But so far the only moves have been in the dugout. Chris “Woody” Woodward was hired as new manager the first week of November. Adrian Beltre made his retirement official. (He will hold a formal press conference on Fox Sports SW tomorrow) Since then, nothing huge has happened. But I figured we would at least tackle a few of the news items coming from Arlington.

The coaching staff for Woody is now complete. He hired Louis Ortiz and batting coach and Julio Rangel as pitching coach. Bullpen coach Hector Ortiz has moved back to first base coach. Tony Easley will remain third base coach. Don Wakamatsu will remain bench coach and Jayce Tingler will have a dugout role of fielding coordinator.

The free agent market hasn’t really heated up for the Rangers yet. Jeff Mathis was the first free agent signing this offseason by any team. He signed a two year deal to be the primary catcher. This move obviously is for helping the pitching staff. He doesn’t exactly barrel the ball up a lot and hits around .200. The only other major league move so far is the signing of Jesse Chavez. He returns to the Rangers after they traded him last year to the Cubs for left handed pitcher Tyler Thomas. Chavez was outstanding all year and could possibly be a starter for the Rangers.

The Rangers unveiled the new 3D stadium model. The roof will open and close in about 12 minutes. (And I have confirmed that the stadium will NOT be all white as pictured below.)

With the winter meetings kickoff December 9 thru 13 in Las Vegas. The rule 5 draft is also at the meetings. Expect a lot of trade talk to start there. I am sure Jon Daniels has already started talking with teams about possible matchups to help each other out. But in Vegas there will be face to face meeting behind closed doors. Doesn’t mean a deal gets done. But it could be the groundwork for something that falls later. All in all I fully expect to hear grumblings of possible moves coming from there.

I am looking to put out another podcast this weekend. I would love to answer any questions you may have. You can tweet them to @RangersNationPod use the hashtag #askthereclinernerd

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