TODAY: Guzman has been officially activated, as per Rangers executive VP of communications John Blake (Twitter link). In another move, Texas has placed reliever Shawn Kelley on the 10-day IL due to an infection. Right-hander Wei-Chieh Huang has been recalled from Triple-A to take Kelley’s roster spot.
YESTERDAY: The Rangers announced following today’s game that they’ve optioned center fielder Delino DeShields Jr. to Triple-A Nashville. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that first baseman Ronald Guzman will be returning from the injured list in place of DeShields, though the Rangers won’t officially announce anything until tomorrow.
The decision to option DeShields to Triple-A likely means more playing time in the outfield for the revitalized Hunter Pence, who is hitting .344/.411/.656 with five homers, but it does leave Texas without a true center fielder on its roster. Joey Gallo has some experience there, and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that today’s move could push Gallo to the position “pretty regularly.” Journeyman infielder/outfielder Danny Santana has 916 career innings in center field, but Texas has used him exclusively in the infield since bringing him to the Majors.
DeShields’ demotion to Nashville is just the latest downturn in a Rangers tenure that has been perpetuated by peaks and valleys. Selected from the Astros in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft, the former No. 8 overall pick and top prospect made Texas look wise in 2015 with a .261/.344/.374 batting line as a rookie. He then flopped at the plate in 2016 before enjoying a rebound campaign in 2017. While the organizational hope was that DeShields had begun to solidify himself with that effort, he once again struggled in 2018 and will now head back to Triple-A to try to sort things out.
To this point, the Rangers have spent nearly a half decade trying to harness DeShields’ considerable athleticism and turn him into a consistent, everyday player. However, the resulting .241/.327/.337 batting line (76 OPS+, 78 wRC+) in 1635 plate appearances hasn’t exactly given them much to show for those efforts. DeShields still has an option year remaining beyond 2019, so the Rangers can continue to exhibit patience with him. On the other hand, DeShields will turn 27 in August, so it’s not as if he’s particularly young anymore.
President of baseball operations Jon Daniels made clear following today’s demotion, though, that he still views DeShields as a viable long-term option in Arlington (Twitter link via Grant). “Delino is a valuable player,” said Daniels. “He’s a big leaguer. At this point, we are choosing to keep a deeper bullpen and didn’t want to cut ties permanently with anyone. Delino will play every day in Nashville, get himself going, and be ready to help us again this year.”
Any move that affords more playing time to a veteran like Pence at the expense of a younger option such as DeShields may at first seem counter-intuitive, given that they’re in a fairly transitional state. That said, DeShields’ poor play so far hasn’t left them with much of an alternative. He’s hitting just .182/.321/.284 through his first 108 trips to the plate. Beyond that, there’s an argument to be made that giving DeShields regular playing time in a lower-pressure environment is what’s best for him from a long-term standpoint. And while Texas isn’t in a pure rebuilding/tanking mode, they’re clearly taking a longer-term look at things rather than striving for a postseason berth in 2019.
For the time being, Gallo will get another opportunity to convince the organization that he can at least be a passable option in center field. He’s logged 158 innings there dating back to Opening Day 2018, and even being able to serve as an occasional option there in the coming years would be a valuable trait to have in his back pocket.
The aforementioned Santana could plausibly factor in there as well, though he’s unlikely to be a long-term piece for the Rangers. While he can technically be controlled through 2021, Santana’s .311/.358/.541 output doesn’t appear sustainable. That line is a close approximation of his excellent rookie season with the Twins, but like that 2014 campaign, his output to this point has been buoyed by a roughly .400 average on balls in play. Santana’s hard-hit rate, remarkably, checked in at 51.9 percent entering play Wednesday, so he’s definitely squaring up the ball well. However, that type of contact is the type expected from the league’s top sluggers — not a player who hit .219/.256/.319 in 735 PAs from 2015-18.
boooo
his ‘old man wasn’t much of a hitter, what made everything believe Jr was going to be this master of the universe offensive powerhouse ?
His dad was also streaky from year to year, but Senior did have 6 different full MLB seasons where he hit between .289 and .299 (career .268/.352/.377 over 13 seasons).
BA is such a meaningless stat. A guy could hit nearly 300 and be near worthless if he can’t take a walk or hit the ball out of the infield. This is especially true when speaking of some eras
Why not just point out he had 7 seasons with an OPS+ of 99 or higher, and a career 98 OPS+ mark? That for a high base-stealing 2B in the Steroid Era is pretty nice. Streaky yes, but overall he was an actual threat on offence.
Now only if his Def was better and he could stay healthy…
Yeah cause walks are so much more valuable than base hits.
He was saying what Deshields’s strengths were. So even if Jr. doesn’t hit for power he could still be useful if he was more like his dad
ohyeadam,
Wilton Guerrero hit between .280-.338 in 4 of his 6 seasons with at least 100 PA, and has an overall career .282 BA over 1797 PA
So clearly Wilton Guerrero must have been a very good hitter, right? He’s a .282 hitter!
…but…
Well, then why does Wilton Guerrero not have a single season with a wRC+ over 100, a single year with a positive Off Run talley, and sits with a career (-)56.4 Off Runs value?
(Hint: it’s because BA is a worthless stat that tells you absolutely nothing about a guys value, as I said)
because 289-299 avg sounds better than league average production duh. Gotta bend the stats to your opinion lol. Seriously though i agree. for me the old slash of AVG/OBP/SLG is okay but i think you get a clear indication of production looking at OBP/OPS/OPS+, that line is 321/605/60. I like it because it provides a clear indication he was getting on base, just had little to no pop and he was well below league average overall..
Particularly useful when youre looking at players with weird lines. For example Odor obviously has had a poor start to his year but when you look at his last few games its hard to tell whether he is turning it around.last 7 days for example.
traditional slash line of 158/238/474 looks awful and makes you think he is completely unproductive, but the other line is 238/712/92 so he is hitting for pop and hes actually pushing up toward league average accounting for the dingers.
Another cool thing is the advanced metrics on batted balls. He has made medium/hard contact 84.6% of the time but his BAbip is .188. Ready for one more weird advance metric? he is actually swinging at 6% less balls out of the strike zone than last year and 9% less than his career average.
I know at the end of the day its all about production but the advanced metrics show he is being more disciplined, making good contact, but unfortunately he just seems to be on the wrong side of luck with the 188 BAbip.
“because 289-299 avg sounds better than league average production duh. Gotta bend the stats to your opinion lol”
Yup, that about sums it up.
It’s merely a way to get the uninformed and ignorant to go ohh and ahh – while telling you absolutely nothing about a guys actual production
Again, Wilton Guerrero had a career. 282 BA and hit at least .290 in 3 seasons (.338 one year!) – thats an ohh and ahh, right?
…just please ignore the fact that Wilton Guerrero might just have been the single worst offensive player you may have seen in your life, with not a single positive Offensive Value season to his career despite the .280+ BA marks
Good stuff Darkstar. Did you know that with runners on second and third base, if you walk, the bases would be loaded? If there are two outs, and the next batter gets out, you do not score any runs.
It’s incredible, I know. However, that walk forgot to drive in that important run.
Today’s lesson: stop telling people who know more about baseball that batting average is a meaningless stat. Hit with runners in scoring position, drive in those runs, score and win. Value your precious walk. There is a reason teams on defense would rather walk an opposing player than give up hits. Hits boost batting average. Therefore, that meaningless stat becomes a little more important than you think.
Then again, you probably don’t think if you claim Wilton Guerrero was the worst offensive player you have ever seen in your life. There are plenty far worse than Wilton. But I don’t want to pull you from your fantasy world.
TrimReaper,
Let’s see if you are capable of thinking at all instead of just spouting off snide remarks and 1920″s mantras – and we’ll do it by asking 4 very, very simple questions
Wilton Guerrero had a career .282 BA over nearly 1800 PA
1 – Was Wilton Guerrero good at getting on base?
2 – Did Wilton Guerrero have a lot of power?
3 – Was Wilton Guerrero an above average hitter overall?
4 – can you even begin to answer any of those 3 questions when knowing just his BA?
The answers to the questions are obviously No, No, No and No*
Why? Because knowing he had a .282 BA told you absolutely nothing about his value; knowing it was worthless to answering any of the questions which indicate if he’s a good hitter at all. (And how that is so difficult for you to grasp is beyond me)
(*Of the 438 guys with 1000+ PA from 98-04, specifically he was ranked 367th in OBP, 17th worst in Isolated Power and was roughly 30% below League Average with the bat – while his 280+ BA hinted none of that absolute ineptitude)
Saying a hit with runners in scoring position is better than a walk doesn’t prove BA is a good stat. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that lol. It’s the fact it doesn’t tell you anything about a hitter which makes it a bad stat.
Really funny thing comes in this,
Guerrero over entire career:
700 PA with Men On
.288 BA in those situations
127 career RBI (total, inc solo HRs)
Khris Davis in 2018 only:
186 PA with Men On
.247 BA overall
123 RBI
514 fewer PA with guys on, dramatically lower BA, and 2018 Davis was still just 4 RBI off Guerrero’s career batted in talley. All those years with all those singles sure wasn’t helping Guerrero put many points on the board!
BA seriously gives absolutely no indication of anything at all. It’s almost completely worthless in nearly any conversation, and is absolutely worthless when given alone
Honestly baffles me how so many people can’t grasp that. I like to think it is stubbornness rather than flat out stupidity, but I just don’t know anymore
Sorry there Darkstar and JDGout, clearly you both must be new.
Player A goes 0 for 3 with a walk. Average: zero
Player B goes 1 for 3. Average .333
.333 average > .000 average. Glad we got that out the way.
Your words, Darkstar, saying Wilton was the worst offensive player. I’m fairly certain there are worse offensive players then and now. Basing your Wilton Guerrero arguments tells me you are in a place of anger rather than a place of fact.
The stubbornness comes from you. Because I did NOT say batting average was the be all and end all. You said BA is a meaningless stat. I’m just here to point out you are wrong and flat-out ignorant. You and JDGoat deserve eachother.
So you’re just arguing things that is universally fact? What are you trying to accomplish? Again, literally not one baseball fan would disagree with that example.
Fun Fact – DDJ is a career 250 hitter with 2 outs and RISP.
Fun Fact – in his last 18 games he has a 196 avg (56 ABs)
Player A goes 0-1 with 3walks 2R 2SB
Player B goes 1-4 with 3Ks
250 average > 000 average?
I feel absolutely no anger or bitterness towards you – just sheer pity.
See, what I said is BA is useless in determining value and tells you absolutely nothing about a player – you either couldn’t read or couldn’t handle that, and lashed out in resentment (?) towards people I guess you feel inferior to (?) …idk why you’re lashing out, or even in this conversation to be honest – but lashing out here you are. (are you just Wilton Guerrero’s mom, and that is what has you so triggered?)
But here, since you apparently still somehow feel as though BA tells you anything at all, how about you answer some questions that show how knowledge you are and how wrong we are
Player A – .274 BA over a 2644 PA career (played within last 15 years)
1 – how was he at getting on base?
2 – how was he at getting extra base hits?
3 – was he an above average hitter overall?
4 – did he drive in a lot of runs?
Once you answer those 4 simple questions I’ll tell you who it is (and if you can’t answer those simple questions, well then it seems you completely agree with us despite forcefully arguing otherwise)
So go ahead, prove to us how great BA is in explaining a players worth and how wrong we are saying otherwise – answer those 4 simple questions
Willie Taveras – almost won RoY in 05, then flamed out by 08 because the guy couldnt hit the ball into the outfield. he had 8HR across 7 seasons and a career slugging percentage of 327.
As the person who initially posted the batting average stat line, may I just add this:
It’s perfectly fine if you think batting average is meaningless, and I don’t have a problem at all with your suggestion that posting his OPS stats would have been more useful. It would have been nice, however,if you could have made that observation without the implied condescending tone. I simply wanted to make a point about Delino DeShields Sr. not having been a terrible offensive player, not start a debate about statistical value.
My reply was meant more to be an off handed comment about using some advanced metrics to dig deeper into players not that you were uninformed and it spiraled out of control. i guess sarcasm or jokes doesnt communicate well on an internet forum i shouldve worded it better. I am enjoying Darkstar and TrimReaper going at it though.
“BA is a meaningless stat”. His words, JDGoat. What universal fact are you pointing out with your shaky hands? I know they shake based on what you type on this website.
Darkstar you falsely claimed BA is a meaningless stat. Then came up with some “riveting” examples from a journeyman player who you also claimed was the worst hitter of a certain time (paraphrasing).
Then you compared a power hitter in a different era with Wilton Guerrero. Did you come up with stats to compare where they hit in a lineup? How about Wilton hitting 2-hole, 2 places after a pitcher? Khris Davis hitting cleanup? NOT that any of that really matters because I never questioned Khris Davis being the better hitter and superior run producer. YOU along with your intolerance made a ignorant statement over batting average. Anyone saying batting average doesn’t matter is missing the point (JD).
Hit, and hit, and hit. Hit so well pitchers pitch to you carefully. Be selective, take the walk. Oakland likes guys that walk, championship teams carry hitters commanding the walk because they can hit. If you don’t want a .300 hitter on your team or want to bench a guy hitting .3oo that’s your choice. I’m sure if they can D up and run they will find a spot in a 9-man order because batting average is not a meaningless stat.
connfyoozed,
No condescending intended, and sorry if you read it that way. My only thought when typing the reply was that you were dramatically undereselling his value by posting merely BA marks that didn’t begin to explain his worth
TrimReaper,
First, it is a meaningless stat – it’s meaning is literally just “in the portion of PA which are considered an AB, the rate in which a player got some type of unknown hit”
Don’t know how many hits, how often on base, what type of hits, etc – just a random number with zero meaning behind it (it’s use comes in only when you start learning OBP and SLG – which is what my post said, and you very carefully made sure you ignored)
Then you rant and rant to try and hide the fact that Wilton Guerrero came up to the plate 700 times with runners on base, hits .288 in those situations, and only knocked in 127 in his entire career – a number a guy with a very oow BA almost matched last year alone despite 500+ fewer PA with Men on.
What you won’t do is answer the questions and explain how much BA, and just BA, tells you about a hitter – which has always been the conversation, no matter how much trying to change it you do
Congrats, shaky hands, good one. I know you’re an unpleasant person who thinks he’s the smartest person around with the way you act on this website. But to each their own.
It was the hair.
Yearly occurrence for deshields
He’s been optioned once in his career prior to today, and he stayed down for four days. Barring an injury — which was the case last time he was sent down — seems like this’ll be a lengthier stay.
What happened in 2016?google.com/amp/s/amp.mlb.com/177965080-rangers-opt…
2018 sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rangers/rangers/201…
That’s at least two. I didn’t look at anything prior to that comment. It was solely off of memory which could’ve served me wrong but it looks like 2 at the least.
7 games in AA last year as well which I imagine was a rehab assignment. So it looks like ‘16 was the only significant portion of a season he spent down there. Though I definitely remember the option last year it looks like it was a very brief one.
If he is optionable this season and next season, it means he could have only been optioned 1 year prior
Any other years with time in the minors would have had to have been a normal rehab assignment, which doesn’t count as being optioned
He was clearly optioned twice. I posted the links above. He was in AAA as well last year which is the 4 games I imagine Steve was alluding to. The AA assignment I assume was a rehab assignment. Regardless he was 100% optioned more than just for four days last year. When I commented I thought he was down for much longer last season but I vividly remember the 2016 demotion that lasted some time.
Last year he was sent down for Concussion rehab and finger injury rehab – while playing only 10 games total in the minors.
He was sent down last year and quickly recalled. That wasn’t a rehab assignment. I realize he wasn’t down very long now but he was optioned for a non rehab assignment.
Is that a blue jay lid he is wearing?
That hair hahahahaha
Now if they would only send Odor down to “get right.”
I know they have a lot of money sunk into him but darn he’s just not progressing…..
Go figure…… I don’t necessarily disagree in sending Delano to Triple A, but how do you justify not sending Odor along with him…… if ANYONE needs to get “right”, it’s Odor!!!
Odor homered yesterday for the win. It’s all about timing and perception. Woody loses street cred if he send Odor down. He has insisted to trust the process with Odor. Sending Odor down does not promote the process.
I find it amazing how some players get wayyy too long of a leash (like in this case, josh hamiltons second tenure, etc) while others get no time at all before JD dumps them (Sam Dyson, Jeremy Jeffress, etc)
JD’ s ego accounts for longevity of some over others.
I wonder if it would be possible to field whole teams (or at least lineups) of seniors and juniors. If all were in their primes, which team would be better?
Off the top of my head, there are the Ken Griffeys, the Eric Youngs, the Fernando Tatises, the Vladimir Guerreros, the Delino DeShields, the Mark Leiters (must be a better Sr./Jr. pitching combo out there but that’s what comes to mind), the Ivan DeJesuses, the Pete Roses… I’m drawing a blank… There are plenty of father/son combos that played in the MLB, but not many Sr./Jr. duos.
If having to stick to guys solely with the same names, already can add these to the list
Sandy Alomar Sr/Jr
Ozzie Virgil Sr/Jr
Dwight Smith Sr/Jr
Raul Mondesi Sr/Jr
Tony Gwynn Sr/Jr
Mel Stottlemyre Sr/Jr
Gry Mathews Sr/Jr
Tim Raines Sr/Jr
Ed Sprague Sr/Jr
John Mayberry Sr/Jr
Dick Schofield Sr/Jr
Jerry Hairston Sr/Jr
Jose Cruz Sr/Jr
Tony Aramas Sr/Jr
…geez, there are actually a ton of them when you start thinking about it for a minute. That can’t be complete either
And so we get to include Cal Ripken Sr/Jr, even though Senior was merely a manager at ML level?
Armas
If you want a spit take, take a look at Hector Noesi fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=3292&posit… I have no clue how he’s getting so many strikeouts.
He’s done well for a Rule 5 selection.
what about willy calhaun?!
Willy will be a player to be named in some obscure trade, later.
We saw this coming,a good centerfielder but a very streaky hitter, was hoping to see Santana in center for a few games, as for Rougned Odor, He is using one of the longest and heaviest bats in MLB and that needs to change, I don’t think he can be sent down per his contract. I can’t wait till next year to see the new direction being talked about here on radio stations, I mean they are talking bout better pitching and third base, we need a true centerfielder and catcher along with pitching, But I’m not counting out 2018-2019 season, hoping to be a spoiler for Houston and win a few in the process.
Rangers won’t be competitive this year or next year. No farm and most of their everyday team are nothing more than AAAA players. Andrus and Gallo (for now) are decent. Mike Minor is a solid MOR option for most teams. Nothing else in the rotation and nothing on the way. Nice to see Hunter Pence have a comeback season. Same w Minor, Guy is dealing so far. Hopefully he stays healthy for the entire year.
Just a bunch of quad A players leading the majors in runs per game……..
Yeah Ive been seeing a bunch of these, “Rangers are devoid of talent” posts. Kind of silly, considering they have one of the better offenses in baseball, and its not all veteran driven, there are some young talented players in Texas.
Trade him for Pedro Martinez Jr
I always preferred the rose colored cotton candy versus the aqua blue
Will TEX trade Delino DeShields now? Sometimes players respond to a new environment. Although he’s not hitting the hitter’s park in Arlington, he’s better than DET CF JaCoby Jones.
Who could use a Delino?
Probably Toronto. I say probably because the answer is no. The Jays do not have a guy that can play CF on the major league roster which changes the “no” to “probably”.
I am happy to see Hunter Pence having a good year. I think it’s an unfortunate state in the game that with his production, there’s questions about his roster spot.
Who is questioning his roster spot? I haven’t really heard that at all. Pence might get traded if he keeps hitting, but there are no righthanded outfield options in the Rangers system right now.
I don’t think there are any questions regarding his roster spot…
I’m a Guzman fan.