In Doomsday Scenario, Who's the Rangers Top Candidate For New Contract?

Nobody wants it to happen. Of course, all of us wish this coronavirus pandemic never happened.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has stopped our way of life in a myriad of ways. The same goes for baseball clubs and other sports franchises. With operations suspended, games postponed, and rosters frozen, baseball executives are finding themselves in a unprecedented position.

Under normal circumstances, Texas Rangers President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Jon Daniels would be contemplating a number of issues, including contract extensions. With the world of baseball shut down, having talks with players that have expiring contracts is something that has forcibly been put on hold.

"It seems so ridiculous to think we would be taking that lightly," Daniels said in a conference call earlier this month. "That would be at the forefront of my mind. It's just perspective. Whenever we are able to restart, from a business perspective, those will be big topics. Right now, they fall into the category of, 'There is nothing you can do about it.'"

Starting pitcher Mike Minor and outfielder Shin-Soo Choo are set to become free agents after the 2020 season, while pitcher Corey Kluber, third baseman Todd Frazier, and catcher Robinson Chirinos all have club options for 2021.

In the worst-case scenario where the 2020 season is canceled, the Rangers would have some tough decisions to make. Because of the agreement between MLB and the Players Association, the same amount of service time each player accrued in 2019 would be applied to 2020, meaning players like Minor and Choo would become free agents without the Rangers having any opportunity to negotiate with them until business operations were allowed to resume.

The Rangers whole season lost along with potentially one-fifth of the rotation and an everyday player – that's a bad deal. But hey, at least it's not what the Dodgers would be facing after trading for Mookie Betts.

In a doomsday scenario where the Rangers were forced to snip the blue wire or the red wire and hand out a new contract, Mike Minor would have to be the leading candidate. The great thing is Minor already made his interest in a contract extension publicly known, going back to a January night when he accepted his 2019 Rangers Pitcher of the Year award.

"I feel like I’ve endured the worst part of it," Minor said. "I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can see the direction [general manager] Jon Daniels is going, and I want to be a part of it. I don’t want to jump ship now when it’s going to be good.”

If Minor is still interested in a contract extension, that is a great starting point. Jon Daniels revamped the starting rotation over the winter and it would be quite terrible to not see it play out, for better or for worse. After months of anticipation, seeing the best on-paper rotation in quite some time unravel without an official pitch ever being thrown would be a major letdown – one the Rangers simply can't allow to happen.

From my recliner and my wits as an armchair GM, keeping the rotation together would be the top priority, specifically the top-three. The potential of Minor, Kluber, and Lance Lynn is a potential three-headed monster that could carry a team through the postseason. Go ahead and name a time when the Rangers had an ace (or three) in the hole like that.

The coronavirus shutdown has changed a lot of things. Depending on how the rest of 2020 plays out, it's possible in some ways that baseball will never be the same again. As Daniels stated, it's difficult to think about critical baseball decisions even after a month of social distancing and sheltering in place. Yet this is where we are and this is where we'll be for the foreseeable future.

When the time for baseball decisions comes, one thing should remain the same for Texas: keeping the strength of the team intact.

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