- 14 hours ago
Evan Grant joined The K&C Masterpiece to talk about the Rangers' offseason outlook. Grant discussed ownership's payroll spending, ongoing injury concerns, Sebastian Walcott's development, and more.
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00:00We bring to you Texas Rangers, what I'm going to call Super Beat Writer, for the Dallas Morning News and
00:07John Blake's best podcast buddy.
00:10It is indeed Evan Grant. Good morning, sir.
00:14Hey, guys. How are you?
00:15We're doing great. Thank you very much for jumping on with us.
00:18Now, you got to follow Jerry Jones, so a lot of pressure.
00:22But also, if your answers are less than two and a half minutes long, you'll be ahead of the game.
00:28I'll try and mix in as much word salad as I possibly can.
00:32Now, you were there for Scott Boris holding court, and there's a variety of things I'm sure we can touch
00:40on.
00:41But I want to go to one of your specific quotes from that that felt very pointed in the Rangers'
00:47direction.
00:47He said, the only thing I know about the Dallas market is that it's just grown.
00:51The franchise value, I'm sure, is more lucrative due to that growth.
00:55How ownership responds to that and how executives are able to utilize that dramatic benefit is really an internal part
01:02of the process that I'm not part of.
01:04That, and I could be totally misreading this, but that felt like as clear as it gets of, hey, spend
01:09some money.
01:11Yeah, I mean, and that was my question, Scott, was, I mean, I phrased it this way, and that, you
01:16know, on the eve of the last lockout, and he had been, let me backtrack for a second, because he
01:21had been talking about how great the baseball, the shape of baseball is in right now.
01:27That the game is in great shape, it's in better shape than it was five years ago, yada, yada, yada.
01:32Yeah, and I, so the way I phrased this question to him was, hey, on the eve of the last
01:39lockout, you signed two guys to the Rangers for $500 million.
01:42Um, they've already traded one, they're talking about trading another one of your clients, um, are you confused about the
01:52Rangers' direction based on where everything stood five years ago?
01:55And that was his answer, which I think was as close as Scott was going to come to saying, yeah,
02:02uh, I am confused.
02:03Um, I don't understand why the team isn't spending more money, and, and look, I mean, going back to winning
02:11the World Series, the Rangers put all that money in in 22 and 23, and really haven't done much in
02:17terms of, of, um, supplementing payroll ever since, which has led Chris Young to having to trade,
02:26player capital in order to try and stoke whatever kind of, um, competitive run they're trying to put together.
02:34This, the, is that a mess that only Chris Young can fix, or does he need people that are working
02:42above and with him to help him fix that?
02:45I mean, look, I, I think that when it comes to the payroll situation, the Rangers are in this situation
02:52because they committed all these dollars five years ago.
02:55with the understanding that they were going to jumpstart the organization, that they were going to get these guys to
03:03give the Rangers an immediate competitive window, um, and that it would allow the young players in the minor league
03:10system to develop.
03:12I think the understanding was that they would continue to invest some money as this, as this window kind of
03:20open, um, and they haven't, and, and that is simply, that falls at the feet of ownership.
03:26You know, ownership sets the payroll every year. Ownership is the one that, that dictates the payroll.
03:31Now, I will say if you're Ray Davis and you look at things and you say, well, Evan Carter hasn't
03:37really developed the way we want, we expected him to.
03:40Wyatt Langford has been a very good player, but he hasn't stepped into super stardom mode.
03:46Um, Jack Leiter and Kamar Rocker have been serviceable pitchers, but they haven't stepped into superstar mode.
03:53Um, Jack, Josh Young has been a good player when he's been on the field, but again, the same thing
03:58holds true.
03:59Um, and you're saying, I want to see more development from the minor league system.
04:03Um, so, I mean, I, I think that would be his counter to all of that, but at the end
04:08of the day, look, the Rangers won the world series in 23.
04:11I don't think anybody expected that they would immediately get that kind of return.
04:15And I think it was a little bit more incumbent upon them at that point, um, to be more aggressive
04:21and say, okay, we are opening a window here and we are going to go all in with the winnings
04:26that we've had and really create a dramatic window of contention.
04:31And I don't think they did that.
04:32You know, when you were just listing off several of those players, I think back about what Chris Young said,
04:38you know, pretty much immediately after the season ended is, you know, we have to be more dynamic, more athletic,
04:45and we have to have players that are available.
04:47And whether it's going back to Evan Carter, Wyatt Langford, Josh Young, Corey Seager, it, that feels like a daunting
04:56task to look at and say, how do we start to unwind all of this stuff in terms of,
05:01we've got players that we've got players that we've depended on and they're just not able to be out there
05:04consistently enough.
05:06And so who are we going to add, or maybe like you were just saying, how are they going to
05:10add and get more reliable players?
05:13Yeah.
05:14And I mean, that is, that is a huge issue for the Rangers is they've got to have more durability.
05:20And I don't think anybody expected that Wyatt Langford would have the number of soft tissue injuries that he's had
05:28in the first three years.
05:29I think some of it is, it's freak circumstances.
05:32The Evan Carter situation, you know, there were some hints about the back early in his minor league career, but
05:39unraveling all of this took some time and he's gotten over the back.
05:43But now it's been a series of other things and this hip injury, which required surgery really makes me wonder
05:50if it's going to impact his speed and dynamism when he does come back.
05:55Josh Young has had a number of injuries.
05:58The number of hand injuries now really concerns me, but because of the number of bones that he's broken in
06:05that hand and wrist area.
06:06But those are all, you know, those are all freak things.
06:10I don't know if there was a predictor that Wyatt Langford's body would have as many soft tissue injuries as
06:17it had had.
06:18And I don't know that you would have, you know, Corey Seager had some degree of injury history when the
06:24Rangers got him.
06:25First year he comes in, he plays 150 games, hasn't played more than 122 games since then.
06:32So I, the only thing I wonder about on Corey Seager is, is his body getting older at an accelerated
06:40rate?
06:40You know, he's going to be 33 next year.
06:42I don't think that's terribly old, but it's nine stints on the DL over the last four years, I think.
06:51And that's a lot, you know, it's a lot.
06:54The, I thoroughly enjoyed our weekly with, with Skip this year.
06:58We had a really good back and forth with him.
07:00I like some of the concepts that he wants to accomplish.
07:04Hearing, you know, the, the, what Chris Young said about more dynamic athletic players.
07:09I, I'm kind of curious, you think a Skip Schumacher led team looks more like the Brewers or the Dodgers
07:18or somewhere in between?
07:20I think, I think, look, it's going to be real chic to say, okay, we want to model ourselves after
07:27the Brewers.
07:27I also think the Brewers, you know, and the Rays create their own competitive advantages because they're, they're on the
07:34leading edges of this thing.
07:36And so some of those players that the Brewers were able to add at cheap costs and the Rays were
07:41able to add at cheap costs are going to become more expensive.
07:44But I think the principle of being athletic, being good at run product, at run prevention, being able to steal
07:54a base or go first to third aggressively and really pressure defenses.
08:01I think that is, that's a universal recipe for success.
08:08And I think while this league is a copycat league and more and more teams are going to cycle in
08:12that direction, I think it's very much part of Skip's DNA because he came up in the Cardinals organization where
08:18that was very much, you know, what, what the Cardinal way was all about.
08:23Um, I think that the personnel is going to have to change a little bit.
08:28I think the mindset is going to have to change a little bit and look, what made Josh Young so
08:33successful at the plate this year, the guy was willing to use the gaps, you know, and he hit the
08:39all fields.
08:39And this team in this ballpark, while we continue to try and sort through whatever is the ballpark factor, one
08:50thing that holds true is if you can hit that mall into the gaps, you've got doubles galore at your
08:56disposal.
08:57And I think the Rangers need to, and we'll lean into more of that.
09:02I think Skip's perspective on how he wants to run a team is championship quality management.
09:08Um, I just think that the Rangers have tried to be more of a slugging team the last couple of
09:15years.
09:15And so now it's got the, you know, you, there's some time to turn a ship in that direction, right?
09:21You can't turn that into a, uh, an aggressive athletic team overnight.
09:26Talk with Evan Grant right here on one Oh five, three, the fan.
09:28And, you know, I feel like we've covered a lot of topics, talked about a lot of specifics when we
09:33didn't need to, because everybody knows that Sebastian Walcott is on his way to save the franchise.
09:38Right.
09:38Yep.
09:39Listen, I, um, I don't like getting on the hype train.
09:44I really don't.
09:45You said best prospect of the last 10 years for the Rangers.
09:48Evan, I heard it, but that's what I was going to say is this guy, I, most of the guys
09:55that
09:55I look at, I look at with some skepticism.
09:57Um, I was skeptical about Yerickson Profar, who was the last great Ranger prospect, right?
10:04Two time baseball America, number one prospect.
10:07And listen, maybe it's, it's recency bias or whatever, but when I went out to Arizona to
10:13see Sebastian play in the, in the fall league and he, he singles, steals a base, um, scores
10:20from second on a single and hits a grand slam all in the first inning, you know, it leaves
10:26an impression and he has all the tools to be a superstar.
10:31Now, I think the question is, you know, what we've seen with Wyatt Langford and we saw with
10:37Evan Carter is these guys played very little time at triple a.
10:41And I do think there was some finish off that could have been accomplished at triple a.
10:46Sebastian's played two games at triple a.
10:48So does he open the 27 season with the Rangers?
10:51I don't know about that.
10:53And the second part of it is where does he play?
10:56If you do trade Corey Seager, do you give Walcott the ability to play shortstop?
11:01If you, if you don't trade Seager, do you look at him as an outfielder where he did a
11:06bunch of work this, this fall?
11:08So I think that is the other thing the Rangers have to sort through is where do they want him
11:13to play?
11:14I do think it may, it behooves the Rangers to slow play this just a little bit.
11:19He's still only 20.
11:21I think he turns 21 this month.
11:23Um, but Sebastian is a special talent and this is the guy who does have a real ability
11:31to become a superstar.
11:32I think the Rangers want to make sure that they get it, it right.
11:37And with the way the game is cycling now, fundamentals, aggressiveness, athleticism,
11:43understanding all of that stuff.
11:44I think it takes a little bit more time to finish off players.
11:48We've banged our head against the wall on this for years.
11:51And I'm sure you have as well.
11:52What, why is it that you think that this team does not develop better at the minor league
11:59level?
12:00Well, I mean, look, all those players we just ran through, right?
12:04Um, those are all contributing major league players.
12:08So I don't want the narrative to be that the Rangers haven't developed at the minor league
12:12level.
12:12Um, I think if you go back to 2019, um, really 2018, I think is when this club started to
12:19kind of change its, its draft strategy.
12:23They've produced a number of players who've contributed at the big league level and to their chagrin
12:29a little bit now, you know, they've traded off a number of players, which is another way
12:33you get value from player development, um, in some of these trades that they've made.
12:37Um, so I don't think that the player development system has been poor.
12:44I do think that there are some, there are some things where the Rangers need to be a little
12:50bit slower on the throttle with a few players.
12:53I think they were also hurt.
12:55You know, if you go back to the pre-agency spree of 21 and 22, and this is another reason
13:00why you had to continue to spend for a while, you gave up draft picks when you signed, um,
13:08Seager and Simeon, you gave up draft picks when you signed the Valdi and the Grom.
13:13And by doing that, you know, those are high, those are high capital draft picks.
13:18Those are high picks that, that automatically hurts your farm system a little bit.
13:23So I think the narrative, and I've been as guilty of it as, as any, because this team
13:28doesn't, hasn't developed a star, but I think the narrative that the player development system
13:33hasn't been productive is a little bit overblown.
13:38I do think that they've gotten some contributing productive big league players to the, to the
13:43majors.
13:44What I'd like to see is you look at other teams and they find guys in the middle rounds
13:50and late rounds that really succeed.
13:53And the Rangers have not done that.
13:56Their best mid round selection over the last decade has been Jacob Latt and Jake had a
14:02great year this year, but it also took a long time for him to really, really become a, a,
14:08a quality big league pitcher.
14:10And the last thing I wanted to ask about today is how is our buddy John Blake doing?
14:16Um, he's crazy as, as always.
14:19Um, but the, the podcast doing the podcast with him is a lot of fun.
14:24Listen, we had, um, the podcast that just dropped this morning, if I can plug it was with
14:29dad Levine and dad spent the last year with, with Milwaukee.
14:33So we got a perspective on, on what he learned from the brewers and he's always insightful and
14:39it was really, really good stuff.
14:41Um, and we also got to talk to him a little bit about going up against John Daniels in
14:45the world series since JD is working for Tampa Bay now.
14:48Um, and that was all good and it's fun doing this podcast with him.
14:54John loves the history of this club.
14:56He wants to preserve that.
14:58I think it's, it's, it's a, it's a very noble, um, idea of connecting fans more and more with
15:05the history of the club.
15:06Um, so we love doing it.
15:08Um, we haven't yelled at each other too much, but, um, you know, John's mellowed in semi-retirement.
15:17He's a little bit mellowed.
15:18There's no more, any more questions or anything like that.
15:22Which man, we might need to have just a separate interview about some of those interactions
15:26with John were so fun.
15:28Dallas news.com slash sports slash Rangers.
15:31It's up on the front page right now.
15:32If you want to check out the newest episode anywhere else, people can find the podcast
15:37or anything else you want to throw out there.
15:39If people want to follow your stuff.
15:41Not well, you know, it's, it's, it's on, it's on all your podcast platforms.
15:45You can get it.
15:46I'm doing a YouTube every once in a while, YouTube live to answer questions.
15:50Um, but the only thing I'd, I'd plug in, I think it's already sold out for tonight, but
15:56great, great charity event tonight.
15:59John Daniels was a part of it.
16:00Emily Jones was a part of it.
16:02Um, and, and the entire Rangers, um, media operation is a part of it.
16:06The do it for Durrett fundraiser is tonight at Texas live.
16:11Um, and I, I think if you go to do it for Durrett org, you can still make contributions.
16:17It, it benefits families who like the Durrett family lost a parent, uh, with young kids at
16:24home.
16:24Um, and, uh, it's in memory of Richard Durrett, who we all know did a great job at the morning
16:30news and at ESPN.
16:32And so it's a great night for everybody in media, uh, in Dallas, Fort Worth to try and
16:39raise some money for a really good cause.
16:41Well, we appreciate it.
16:43So glad that you got a chance to jump on with us and we would love to talk with you
16:46again,
16:47anytime soon.
16:48Um, call anytime guys, I've got nothing going on and in December, I feel like it'll be even
16:54less.
16:54So, all right, because I really, that's a good point.
16:57Cause I really want to tell the story about how I felt you were at the forefront of warning
17:01me about COVID and I did not take that seriously at spring training.
17:06So we'll talk about that another time.
17:08Thank you very much.
17:08Good, sir.
17:10All right.
17:10So I'll take care.
17:11Thank you very much.
17:11Thank you very much.
17:11Thank you very much.
17:11Thank you very much.