Shin-Soo Choo is another obvious fit. At 32 years of age, you are looking about 3 more years of productivity out of him and Texas has him signed through 2020. in 2020, Choo will be 37 and not be as productive. You can expect his individual attributes to lower 5-7 points a year from 2018-2020 and his overall will be around a 74-75 overall. He will be useless vs left handed pitching, but he can still be an above average hitter vs right handed pitching and an asset in the field. Ultimately, the goal would be to use him for 2-3 years then try to trade him. The trade logic is a bit smarter, however, so you may have to trade him before you like. I think it would be a wise move to ship him off as quickly as you can to clear up budget and get more prospects. Again, this depends on if you plan on completing your first two years with Texas. Otherwise, do not hesitate to ship Choo off!
Prince Fielder is not a declining Veteran but you can also see what’s available out there for him. Personally, I would keep him as he is very productive and the Rangers have him locked him up through 2020! You can also consider having Gallo as your first basemen for the future and this will allow you to have more flexibility in trading Fielder. If you trade Beltre then I would definitely keep Fielder since Gallo cannot play both positions! If you plan on resigning Beltre then this could be a smart move.
Elvis Andrus is great trade bait. He is 26 years old, makes too much money, and an 87 overall and most of his attributes are not that high. He obtains his high overall rating by attributes like clutch, plate vision, and durability. These are three attributes I consider to be very overrated. You can move Profar to SS (whom is a 76 overall starting out) and he can easily be just as good as Andrus. Consider trading him for pitching, whether it is relievers or starters. If traded, Profar can move over to SS and Odor can become the starter at 2b and your team will not miss a beat, offensively.
Do not trade Darvish! He is still only 27 years old with A potential and a 91 overall. He can be an ace for 6-7 more years and Texas still has control over his contract for 3 years until he hits Free Agency! He will always be one of the leaders in ERA and K’s and is truly the only great thing Texas has going for them on the mound!
Scouting
Make sure you hire good scouts. Texas is locked up at the catcher and Infield positions. Focus on outfielders and pitching with ETA’s around 2017-2019. Favor raw talent and look for attributes like velocity and break when scouting. You can always train their H/9, HR/9, K/9, and BB/9 attributes, but you cannot increase pitchers’ velocity/break by very much.
Look for Free Agents
Texas starts off around 140 million in budget and it will fluctuate each year depending on how successful you are with them. If you can manage to get rid of Beltre, Andrus, Choo, or Fielders’ contracts (or at least one of them) then you can free up a little more room to get a decent free agent in the offseason.
I would also look into acquiring platoon free agents right away. Ryan Ludwick, Rafael Soriano, Carlos Quentin, and Kevin Frandsen can all impact your MLB roster right away. They are pretty cheap too and if you plan on contending the first year then supplemental assets you acquire via free agency can help leverage your team even more to a serious contender.
Play Minor League Games and experiment with player lock
If you decide to keep some of your talented guys in the minors then it is not only fun, but player locking or playing minor leagues can help give you a feel and scouting reports for individual players. This is an awesome feature and I can almost bet that most people do not ever think to experiment with it!
This also applies to your draft picks. Player lock some of your draft picks to see if you like how they feel or if you want to see good their stuff is if they are a pitcher.
Time to turn Texas into a winning club again!
I am sure Rangers’ fans hope to see their team this competitive in a few years. It is a challenging and fun team to rebuild, so let me know if you guys had any other suggestions when rebuilding the Rangers. Otherwise, good luck on the Diamond and lets see if Texas can turning to their winning ways once again down in Arlington!