The Rangers dismissed offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker and placed OF Leodys Taveras on outright waivers after Sunday’s win. Someone on bluesky asked when the Rangers would make changes (beyond the Burger demotion). I hadn’t answered, and I can’t find his post now, but the answer in my head was 40 games, roughly the seasons’ quarter mark. The Rangers themselves decided an extra week would be a waste of time.
Should Ecker have been fired? Ultimately, it does come down to results, but as to how much responsibility he bears, I don’t know. I’m not in the room, I’ve no idea to what extent his methods had run their course. Frustratingly, Texas’s results can be pinned firmly on just four players.
“Everyone Else” is hitting well (which isn’t to say every individual in that group is, particularly Adolis Garcia), while the others… well. Semien is the oldest and perhaps in the midst of inevitable decline, although hopefully not at the currently drastic rate. Pederson are the two newcomers. Saying “they were fine until they joined the Rangers” seems a gross oversimplification, but you could at least say so in knowledgeable company without being mocked to your face. Still, I’d expect improvement irrespective of who’s in charge of hitting.
As for Taveras (sigh), maybe this is who he is. That’s deeply disappointing, as he has the ability to be (and for a while, actually was) a strong defensive centerfielder whose bat would play well enough to start, if at the bottom of the order. Statcast still rates him above average defensively in 2025, but he sure doesn’t meet the eye test. At the plate, he’s chasing more often but also taking more called third strikes. All of his advanced metrics are dreadful.
Assuming he clears waivers, he’ll almost certainly head to Round Rock rather that take free agency and forfeit the rest of his salary. Does Evan Carter replace him? I’ll leave that for another day (maybe tomorrow!), but the short version is I’m not overly enthused about the idea right now, and if the Rangers were 20-15 with an extra 30 runs scored instead of 17-18, I’d be even less so. But then, if the Rangers were five games above .500, Taveras probably would have contributed to that, and these paragraphs are never written. Carter would very likely be an improvement on Taveras, at least against righties, so the circumstances may require his retrieval.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 13, at Sugar Land (HOU) 0
Round Rock: 15 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 17-16, 6 GB
SP Michael Plassmeyer: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 53 P / 36 S, 4.97 ERA
RP Cole Winn: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Luis Curvelo: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2.94 ERA
3B Ezequiel Duran: 2-5, HR (3), .340/.392/.617
SS Cody Freeman: 2-5, 2B, .313/.355/.479
CF Kellen Strahm: 2-4, HR (4), HBP, .278/.369/.489
RF Trevor Hauver: 3-5, 2B, HR (4), .243/.339/.421
The Express have used 26 pitchers including 11 starters in 33 games. That’s just a description, not a criticism; most of the league competition has similar usage.
Cole Winn has no earned runs and an opposing line of .145/.255/.145 in 21.2 innings. Cody Freeman has started the last two days at short. Texas successfully outrighted IF Nick Ahmed to Round Rock.
AA: Frisco 6, Wichita (MIN) 1
Frisco: 10 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 17-10, 3 G ahead
SP Florencio Serrano: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 39 P / 24 S, 6.14 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 3.12 ERA
RP Larson Kindreich: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
SS Sebastian Walcott: 2-4, SB (6), .245/.363/.372
2B Keyber Rodriguez: 3-4, 3B, SB (6), .333/.388/.427
CF Cam Cauley: 1-2, 2 BB, 2 SB (10), .207/.302/.293
Sebastian Walcott’s line has dwindled recently thanks to a 2-for-22 spell with no extra base hits. He’s not striking out much at all, just not accomplishing much with the contact. No worries.
Cam Cauley manned center for the fourth time.
Hi-A: Hub City 1, at Rome (ATL) 8 (7)
Hub City: 7 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
SP DJ McCarty: 0.1 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 0 SO, 32 P / 16 S, 12.83 ERA
RP Eric Loomis: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
CF Anthony Gutierrez: 3-4, .283/.353/.315
Rome batted around in the 1st against DJ McCarty. Eric Loomis stranded three.
Hi-A: Hub City 0, at Rome (ATL) 2 (7)
Hub City: 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 15-12, tied for 1st
SP Jose Gonzalez: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 66 P / 45 S, 2.37 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-4, SB (6), .250/.350/.364
Not long ago, Hub City ranked near the middle of the league in runs scored despite a weak slash line. Unfortunately, last week’s regression to the mean involved fewer runs, not more hits. The Burgers scored eight runs in the six-game series, and five came in a single game.
Lo-A: Hickory 1, at Columbia (KAN) 0
Hickory: 7 hits, 0 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts
Record: 12-15, 6 GB
SP Ismael Agreda: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 7 SO, 67 P / 40 S, 3.24 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 3.00 ERA
RP Dalton Pence: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.68 ERA
DH Maxton Martin: 2-4, 2B, .301/.324/.456
LF Marcus Torres: 2-4, 3B, SB (2), .214/.313/.393
Hickory avoided a six-game sweep but was outscored 30-14 in the series. The pitching was close to ideal, as 21-year-old Ismael Agreda no-hit the Fireflies through five, Brock Porter was back on point, and former UNC closer Dalton Pence retired the final six in order on 24 pitches.
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 10th-best full-season team during 2007-2024 is the 2008 Frisco Roughriders.
Record: 84-56
Run-Differential Record: 77-63
Component Record: 76-64
Not the best team ever, but arguably the most famous. Among those who spent significant time in Frisco and would make their MLB debuts that season or in the next two years were Elvis Andrus, Julio Borbon, Chris Davis, John Mayberry, Manny Pina, Max Ramirez, Thomas Diamond, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland and Tommy Hunter. Andrus (.295/.350/.367) spent the entire season there.
The busiest pitchers weren’t necessarily the best, so Frisco’s run prevention was only league-average, but the offense led in runs scored (adjusted for park) and OPS+. Davis and Ramirez were on fire before moving on, Borbon carried the flame as a midseason addition, elder OFs Ben Harrison and Dustin Majewski were OPS machines, and OF Steven Murphy led the squad with 20 homers. One of the highlights of my baseball career was watching the AA debut of Holland and seventh start by Neftali Feliz on consecutive nights in August.
The playoffs were deeply annoying. Frisco swept a strong San Antonio squad in three games and entered the best-of-five championship against the 62-78 Arkansas Travelers, which limped into the playoffs with a 36-34 first-half record, were 26-44 in the second, and somehow swept a much better NW Arkansas in the opening round. Despite having Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz lined up to start four of five potential games, The Riders lost in five, scoring a total of ten runs.