Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 1/23/20

FanGraphs | Craig Edwards: Despite inaugurating a new ballpark, the Texas Rangers likely won’t be very good in 2020. They have a decent starting pitching core of Jordan Lyles, Corey Kluber, Mike Minor, and Lance Lynn, but their position players are dreadful, with most positions sitting in the bottom third of projections. It wouldn’t hurt to gun for a free agent position player, or a trade target like Kris Bryant or Mookie Betts.

Baseball Prospectus | Jon Tayler ($): Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens gained just 1% in the Hall of Fame voting, meaning their time is probably complete on the ballot. Though the old school wing of the BBWAA has firmly decided that steroid users won’t get their vote, the debate won’t end as Alex Rodriguez joins the ballot in just two year’s time.

ESPN Insider | Bradford Doolittle ($): Derek Jeter is a controversial figure as far as shortstop rankings are concerned. So much of his value are tied up in defensive metrics that we don’t trust, but an eye test we generally do. He probably sits somewhere around sixth—Bill James places him third—below Cal Ripken, Honus Wagner, Arky Vaughn, and Alex Rodriguez.