Meetings, a category in which the Rangers lead all of baseball, were on the agenda with various members of the coaching staff. The staff dinner was planned for Wednesday night at a fancy Toronto steakhouse.

In other words, the last thing Woodward needed was to join the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast, but he did so anyway from his hotel room in Canada.

Episode 30 was a preview for the 2022 season, which for the Rangers begins Friday. Hosts Jeff Wilson and John Moore predict how the season will go in baseball and with the Rangers. They will be better, but not a playoff team.

When Woodward hops on, it’s easy to see how excited he is about the season. He didn’t go crazy and predict the Rangers will win the World Series, but he didn’t say they wouldn’t win it all.

If you want to know what’s going on with the team and what Woodward thinks about some of the key contributors in 2022, give this a listen.

To listen to the episode, click on the play button above or on one of the links below to popular podcast platforms.

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He watched fellow Baylor baseball alum Davis Wendzel appear in January. Wendzel took time during his appearance to praise Bradford, who will be the Opening Day starter Friday for Double A Frisco.

Bradford returns the favor in his appearance.

He also talks about his injury in his final college season and the effect it had on him ahead of the 2019 MLB Draft.

All part of God’s plan, Bradford said, though he couldn’t see it at the time.

The non-baseball stuff is highly entertaining, not the baseball stuff isn’t.

Bradford loves world geography and grandma’s chicken-fried steak, and will throw in the offseason with his wife. Madi, , a former Baylor softball player, is the one who is going to teach their kids how to hit.

To listen to our 29th episode, click the play button at the top of this story or on one of the links below to popular podcast platforms.

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Not only has wife Katie sat through two postponed honeymoons, but she sat in a car Thursday next to her husband as he appeared on Episode 28 of the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast.

Things ran long at the ballpark during a good day for Crim, who doubled and homered in a minor-league game against the Royals. He then spent around 30 minutes regaling me and John Moore with pretty good tales.

I learned a couple things, and so will you. Here’s one: He and I were both at Booty’s Burgers and Wings in Surprise the night the NBA shutdown in 2020 because of COVID. I’m willing to bet I had a chicken cobb salad wrap and two Coors Lights.

Crim was in big-league spring training, albeit for a shorter time than he normally would have been because of the lockout. But plenty of club officials saw him during the minor-league mini-camp and at the start of minor-league spring training, so he’s not short on evaluation time.

We get into a lot of things, including how his very interesting answer to the always-fun final question. Crim liked socks as a youngster, and that’s about it.

To listen to the latest episode, click the play button above or a link below to popular podcast platforms.

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The way he saw it, his career paths were either baseball or the military. The baseball thing seems to be working out.

The right-hander is a prospect to watch, for those who weren’t watching his climb to Double A Frisco last season. He has a four-pitch mix, but relies on his slider to keep hitters off an improving fastball.

Kent is pretty high on his changeup, too.

He’s in a good spot, and not just because he was the guest on the 27th episode of the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast.

I hit him with the baseball questions, and John Moore followed with his usual assortment of fun stuff.

(It’s not like the baseball questions aren’t fun.)

Like all the other players who have joined the podcast, Kent checks all the makeup boxes, too.

To listen to the podcast, click on the play button above or one of the links below to popular podcasting platforms.

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That’s not to say he’s slow, though.

However, his roommates for Texas Rangers minor-league spring training are fellow 2021 draftees Cam Cauley and JoJo Blackmon, two of the fastest players in the organization.

Moller isn’t outrunning them.

“I’ll out-hit them, though,” he quickly quipped during the latest episode of the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast.

Moller joined the program after a morning workout and before settling into a catchers meeting and then a hitters meeting. Catchers have the longest days at spring training and, generally speaking, during the regular season, too.

He loves it.

The podcast was recorded at Surprise Stadium, outdoors for Moller and inside as John Moore and I talked about the breaking news of the day Thursday — the end of the MLB lockout.

The audio isn’t necessarily studio-quality, but it’s not bad and Moller is definitely worth listening to and getting to know.

To listen to Episode 26, click the play button at the top of this story or click a link to popular podcast platforms below.

Also, be sure to check out the video portion of the podcast at the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast YouTube channel and subscribe (for free).

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He’s about as plugged in on baseball current events on anyone out there.

With the MLB lockout raging, games canceled and the owners and players seemingly at an impasse, Nitkowski accepted an invitation to join the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast to figure the whole mess out.

He also talked about getting rid of the shift, the Rangers’ pursuit of Clayton Kershaw, what to do with him on Opening Day if he signs, and then talked some about his own playing career and his wife’s chicken parm.

Before Nitkowski signed on, Jeff Wilson and John Moore vented some about the lockout and then about their impending trip to Arizona for the start of minor-league spring training.

This episode is definitely worth your time.

To listen to Episode 25, click on the play button above or clink one of the links below to popular podcast platforms.

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He has topped them all, including fellow right-hander Cole Winn and 2020 first-rounder Justin Foscue. He and outfielder Aaron Zavala, the second-round pick, were the only two players from the 2021 draft to appear.

That changed Thursday, though, as third-round pick Cam Cauley made his Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast debut.

Cauley is in Arizona with just about every “priority prospect,” as the Rangers have been calling their best minor-league hopefuls. The speedy, slick-fielding shortstop falls into that grouping.

The Rangers gave Cauley $1 million to forgo a commitment to Texas Tech, and he hasn’t regretted the decision one bit. The Rangers were one of only a few teams that could have kept him out of Lubbock, he said.

The former football star and state champion baseball player at Barbers Hill High School east of Houston covers just about all the bases in his appearance, and is yet another example of the quality people the Rangers have assembled in their farm system.

To listen to the episode, click the play button toward the top of this story or on a link blow to one of the popular podcast platforms.

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For the Texas Rangers, that list includes catcher Sam Huff, infielder Ezequiel Duran and right-hander Ricky Vanasco.

Justin Foscue is not on the 40-man, though that could be happening as soon as this season if all goes as he hopes. The second baseman (for now) finished his first professional season at Double A Frisco and spent the first part of the offseason playing in the Arizona Fall League.

We knew that from his first appearance on the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast.

But he has been getting ready for 2022 in Nashville and will be at the Surprise Recreation Campus in Arizona on Monday for a mini-camp for priority prospects in the system.

He has also been getting ready for Oct. 8, 2022. That will be the biggest day of the year for him no matter where he ends up playing.

To listen to Episode 23, click the play button above or one of the links below to various popular podcast platforms.

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Our first guest was Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels. Right-hander A.J. Alexy was our first guest from the big-league roster, in Episode No. 3. Manager Chris Woodward, general manager Chris Young and former Rangers player Derek Holland have also been guests.

We stepped back into the majors this week with left-hander Taylor Hearn, who will enter spring training — whenever it begins — as a front-runner to be in the starting rotation.

The native Texan talks about his offseason workouts, which he has done alongside several big-leaguers who were evicted from Globe Life Field once the MLB lockout started.

Hearn has done his work mostly at L.D. Bell High School but also has thrown some at Southlake Carroll High.

That was the baseball part of the conversation. Hearn also dug into his love for rodeo and his desire to get into the community and get to know area baseball players. To that end, he and catcher Jose Trevino were scheduled to take part in a live Q&A on Instragram on Thursday night.

It was an enjoyable chat with a pitcher who was acquired in 2018 to be part of the future. He in position to do just that.

To listen to the podcast, click the play button above or on one of the following links to popular podcast platforms.

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The 41st overall pick of the 2019 MLB Draft the show Wednesday night, carving out time from a busy schedule to talk shop and then give pretty thorough background on how he got to Texas and would be just fine if he never has to leave.

That said, he’s in Kirkland, Wash., northeast of Seattle, working on his game. He spent time this offseason with hitting guru Doug Latta and Rangers minor-league hitting instructor Cody Atkinson.

Wendzel talked about his 2021 season, marked by injury and playing shortstop when he was healthy. He’s from the prep baseball power JSerra Catholic in California and played in college at Baylor, where he immersed himself in the Lone Star State.

And, this might come as a surprise, but there was only one beard question. Everyone already knows that about Wendzel.

We didn’t know about his finger. Yikes.

To listen to Episode 21, click the play button atop this story or on one of the links to popular podcast site below.

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The Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast hit the big 2-0 on Thursday and for the occasion we welcomed Evan Carter, who is just 19, to the show. Carter, of course, is one of the Rangers’ top-10 prospects even though he collected only 106 at-bats in his first professional season.

A stress fracture in his lower back turned into a season-ending injury, but Carter is doing all baseball activities some six weeks from the start of spring camp in early March.

His goal for 2022 is pretty obvious: stay healthy.

Carter dives into all things baseball with me and John Moore, including how he responded to the “experts” who panned the Rangers for selecting him 50th overall in the 2020 draft.

He then gets into who he is. Start with being valedictorian of his graduating class, his love for crab legs, and a pretty interesting nugget only people inside his circle know about him.

To listen to the episode, click the play button at the top of the story or one of the links below to popular podcast sites.

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Five of the six had been guests on the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast. It’s now a clean sweep.

Josh Smith, a shortstop acquired in the Joey Gallo trade, joined me and John Moore on Thursday from Houston, where he and his wife, Claire, are enjoying the offseason and preparing for another minor-league season.

It will be hard for them to top their 2021 ride, which included four different teams with two different organizations. The Smiths documented much of it on their YouTube Vlog, Gettin Smithy With It.

On the field, Smith was one of 24 minor-league players to post a season with 10 homers, 20 doubles and 25 stolen bases. He batted .309.

He also recognizes that he might have to learn a couple new positions after the Rangers went nuts in free agency.

To listen to the episode, click the play button toward the top of this story or clink one of the following links to popular podcast sites.

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We thought Jack Leiter would help us accomplish that.

The Rangers’ first-round pick in 2021, selected second overall, made his TRBP debut Thursday afternoon from his home in New Jersey. He won’t be there much longer, though, as he is slated for trips to Arlington and Arizona next week.

Once at the Surprise Recreation Campus, the plan is to stay there until spring training begins.

Leiter runs through his offseason so far on our 18th episode overall. He has thrown off a mound five times, though at no more than 75% of his maximum effort. He’s just trying to get a feel for all of his pitches before dialing it up a little more.

He hasn’t set any statistical goals for 2022, his first professional season, and he doesn’t particularly care where the Rangers ask him to start the season. The goal, he said, is to get better every day regardless of the results.

There’s a bunch of other stuff, including his fondness for country music and disdain for peanut butter.

Give it a listen by clicking the play button atop this story or by clicking one of the links below to popular podcast platforms.

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So, we’re going to close by reviewing 2021, beginning on Jan. 1 and running though the start of the lockout. That, it turns out, appears to be the end of baseball this year.

Our guest was the Rangers’ best player in the minors in 2021, Dustin Harris. Not only did his monster season put him on the prospect radar, he’s a giant blip on the radar after being the only player in all of the minors (not just Rangers) to hit at least .300 with at least 20 homers, 20 doubles, 20 steals and fewer than 100 strikeouts.

Hello!

Harris hops in midway through the episode as John Moore and I were reviewing the Rangers’ year. We gave them a favorable grade, a solid B. I actually considered an A, even with the 102 losses.

Why? The Rangers actually stuck to their plan. Their farm system improved. They did a terrific job acquiring talent, beginning with Jack Leiter in the draft. They added Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith, Spencer Howard, Glenn Otto and others at the trade deadline, and then scored big with Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Kole Calhoun and Jon Gray in free agency.

Anyhoo, to listen to the episode, our 17th, hit the play button above or click one of the links below.

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The first of the prospects to come on was third baseman Josh Jung, way back in September. He should make his major-league debut in 2022, and so should our latest guest.

It’s right-hander Cole Winn, the Rangers Minor League Pitcher of the Year who, like Jung, finished the season at Triple A Round Rock. Winn joined the show from Arizona, where he is working out this offseason.

And he’s playing some golf.

We talked golf (he’s very good) and baseball (even better) and his home state, the great state of Colorado (where I’m also a native). He joined the show as John Moore and I were playing Armchair GM.

We picked up that conversation after our talk with Winn, who, like everyone else has been just a great guest.

To listen, hit the play button near the top of this story or click one of the links below from popular podcasting sites.

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Jeff Wilson's Texas Rangers Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Everyone who followed the Texas Rangers from 2009 to 2016 knows that Derek Holland is a free spirit.

His nickname is Dutch Oven, after all.

Lost in all the fun things he did, from his impersonations to hanging out with Charlie Sheen on night in Anaheim to playing video games into the week hours, is that Holland is an incredibly hard worker, a great teammate and has a huge heart.

Much of that comes out as he sat down Thursday for more than an hour with the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast. Holland was so good that for the first time in 15 episodes John Moore and I didn’t talk about the Rangers.

Granted, there’s not much to talk about these days with MLB players locked out. That is one topic Holland did not discuss, but just about everything else was free to discuss.

He talked about a few of his noteworthy mound visits from Ron Washington, how Detroit manager A.J. Hinch addressed the Houston cheating scandal, how Michigan football is going to win the national title, his thoughts on masks, and how he moved to a house across the street from his old one.

Most importantly, he discussed his charity work though the 60 Feet 6 Foundation. He has long been a supporter of the Do It For Durrett Foundation.

To listen to the latest episode, click the play button above or one of the links below. There is a fair amount cursing. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

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The plan for last week was for the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast to take the week off, unless something too good developed. If last week had been this week, for instance, we would have had a show.

Alas, John Moore took his equipment to Illinois for nothing, but we had a nice Thanksgiving break and hope you all did, too.

Before we closed shop, though, we lined up our guest for this week, right-hander Owen White. He’s the hottest commodity in the Rangers’ farm system after dominating the Arizona Fall League and being selected as its Pitcher of the Year.

White is back home in North Carolina, working out after only a week off from Fall League duty. He’s throwing at 60 feet as he starts to build back up for spring training.

He talks about his season, which included a self-inflicted injury in the season opener. But he learned from it, collected more innings in the Fall League and is now one of the top five pitching prospects in the organization.

John and I also talk about the big week the Rangers had and the lockout that has been a freeze on all baseball transactions.

To listen to our 14th episode, hit the play button above or click on one of the links below. Don’t forget to push the “Give a give subscription” button if you know a Rangers fan who would enjoy having a subscription in their Christmas stocking.

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The right-hander, his girlfriend, his best friend and the best friend’s girlfriend are in Gatlinburg, Tenn., for some R&R after what was a tumultuous 2021 season. Roby started at Low A Down East, had a few weeks of uncertainty surrounding a torn ligmaent in his elbow, and then months of rehab in the desert sun.

He capped it off with a healthy stint in the fall instructional league and entered the offseason confident that he is healthy.

After all of that, Roby needed a break. He’ll begin a throwing program after Thanksgiving and hopes to head back to Arizona in mid-January to get a jump-start on spring training.

He unpacked all of it during his podcast appearance, and more topics like the story behind his full name, Tekoah.

It’s yet another entertaining episode that can be heard by clicking the play button above or by clicking on the links below.

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Jeff Wilson's Texas Rangers Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Before outfielder Aaron Zavala first revealed the “medical anomaly” that was discovered during a routine physical before he signed his first professional contract, the only peep from Texas Rangers officials was how well he was handling the situation and what terrific character he had.

That was in late July and early August after doctors found a small, benign tumor toward the top of his spine. The good news is it’s not preventing him from playing baseball, which he did very well before the draft at Oregon and after he made his pro debut.

Zavala hasn’t slowed much since the regular season ended. He went to Arizona for the instructional league, was part of the team’s four-game barnstorming tour against Texas college teams, and is back at the Surprise Recreation Campus for the offseason.

He talks about all of it in the 12th episode of the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast, which hit your favorite platforms Thursday afternoon. John Moore and I talk about where the Rangers stand in the aftermath of the qualifying offers and the general managers meetings.

Give it a listen either by clicking the play button above or by selecting the links below to other platforms.

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Oh, and if you haven’t subscribed to the podcast YouTube channel, do it. We are slowly but surely adding the video element. Plus, there are videos of prospects doing stuff, like this one of Zavala.

Somehow, the power went out for two hours, an issue that was somewhat alleviated when guest Chris Young had to push back the scheduled start time from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. because of general manager stuff.

The power had been restored by the time he hopped and everything was going great until … the wireless connection dropped. Also dropped by me? An F-bomb, that John Moore decided added color to the episode.

Alas, I reconnected via phone and we finished up our 11th episode.

Young is almost finished with his first year as Rangers GM. He’s diving into his first full run at free agency, which he will do (supposedly) with a big budget that will allow the Rangers to be players on every free agent they target.

Young talked about the ballclub, and then about some non-Rangers stuff like his promising basketball career at Princeton (he’s 6-foot-10) and the biggest regret of his career.

Give it a listen play clicking the play button above or by clicking the links below.

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Yet, he summoned the energy and found the necessary temperament to put up with me and the Recliner Nerd on the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast.

The Texas Rangers’ 2020 first-round pick and their No. 4 prospect was the guest on our 10th episode. He talked about his day job, at which he’s very good, and what’s going on in the Rangers’ farm system.

He also talked about Halloween candy, where to eat in Surprise, Ariz., and asked John Moore and I if we were going to ask him about Mississippi State winning the 2021 national championship … the year after he was drafted.

Someone with the podcast dropped the ball.

Before Foscue hopped on, John and I talked about what we saw Tuesday night as the Rangers instructs team took on Dallas Baptist. We also broke down the offseason calendar, which begins in earnest five days after the last out of the World Series.

It was good talk, and it will be a good listen.

To listen, click the play button above or click on one of the links below.

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John Moore and I welcomed Emily Jones to talk about the Do It For Durrett Foundation, which honors the legacy of former DFW sports personality Richard Durrett. He died suddenly in 2014, leaving behind a pregnant wife and two young kids, and the foundation helps families who find themselves in a similar situation.

Emily and I are two of the six DIFD board members, and our main event was Saturday night at Legal Draft. This podcast gives background on Richard and the foundation, and also gives information on how to donate after the event.

The Recliner Nerd and I also talked about my trip to the fall instructional league, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Lots of good info on who looked good and who I talked to while in Arizona.

So, give it a listen. It’s free to do so. Either click on the play button above or on a link below that will take your to another platform.

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The Texas Rangers hadn’t officially said if Huff would catch this fall. He had been working on a progression geared to getting him ready for spring training, and it turned into game action this week.

Huff won’t catch in the Arizona Fall League, and he doesn’t know when he will catch again. But it’s been a long time coming for a prospect who needed knee surgery in April and wasn’t allowed to catch during the regular season.

It wasn’t easy mentally, he said, but coping with injury is something all players will eventually have to experience.

Huff said he’s better for it, though he wished it had never happened.

That’s the main topic of the eighth episode of the Podcast, but Huff was game for just about any topic. He talked about his longest home runs, just avoiding the Texas winter storm in February, and his facial hair.

To listen to the episode, click the play button at the top of this story or click on one of the following links.

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The Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast is still churning out the episodes.

And we’re still making Chris Woodward do Zoom calls.

The Rangers manager did 324 regular-season Zooms. Yes, two per game.

He had one more in him Friday from his home in Arizona to help John Moore and me wrap of he 2021 season.

Woodward didn’t duck any questions, and he rarely does. He always speaks openly about the club, and he did again on the podcast.

Give it a listen by clicking the play button up above or at your favorite podcast platform.

A few are listed below.

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Thursday was a good at the Texas Rangers Newsletter.

T.R. Sullivan dropped another of his T.R’s Memoirs, and it’s good.

A few hours later, John Moore and I hosted Ricky Vanasco on the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast, and it’s good, too.

Vanasco is two weeks away from pitching in a game, albeit at instructs. You’ll get the impression that he would excited mowing down 9-year-olds. It’s a game after a year of rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

He’s also been plowing through Chipotle burritos en route to a 40-pound weight game. It’s good, healthy weight, unlike the kind the rest of us put on.

Give it a listen by either clicking play atop this story or at the links below. You won’t regret it, nor will you regret a paid subscription to the Texas Rangers Newsletter so that you can read T.R.’s Memoirs and the good stuff coming today (Friday on the Farm) and Sunday (The Sunday Read).

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Major League Baseball was so concerned about COVID-19 that it didn’t run big-league camp concurrently with minor-league camp, thus pushing the start of the minor-league seasons from April to May.

That also pushed the end of the minor-league seasons to late September, or, in the case of the Triple A, to end concurrently with the MLB season Oct. 3.

But the rest are ending Sunday.

For the Texas Rangers, two full-season affiliates could make the postseason. Double A Frisco and Low A Down East are fighting to keep their seasons going, and the races could go down to Sunday.

With most regular seasons ending, the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast decided to give a detailed review of the 2021 minor-league season. Spoiler alert: It was good.

Don’t take our word for it. Director of baseball operations Paul Kruger and left-hander Cole Ragans drop in to provide some details of what they saw and experienced.

John Moore and I pick out some strengths and weaknesses, some highs and lows, and dole out some awards.

Take a listen by hitting the play button above or by following the links below.

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An MLB history-maker and media-friendly? The Rangers might really have something here.

John Moore and I asked Alexy a bunch of questions before he hit the streets of San Francisco, starting with that MLB history. He is the only pitcher to ever open a career with consecutive outings of at least five scoreless innings on no more than one hit.

Alexy, who has 11 scoreless innings, also fielded questions about a crazy growth spurt he had in high school, going from 5-foot-6 as a freshman to his current 6-foot-4.

Lots of ground was covered with Alexy and also by John and me as we discussed the relatively hot Rangers and picked the top prospect at each position in the farm system.

Take a listen.

To listen to the latest episode of the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast, just click right above the logo. You’ll here me and John Moore yap about the state of the Rangers, and then we’re joined by prospect Josh Jung from a hotel in El Paso.

He was great. If you only know him by his statistics, get to know more about the person he is by listening to this podcast.

The podcast is available on six platforms, including Spotify and Apple. The links are below.

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The episode is free to all. However, if you’re not a paying subscriber to the Texas Rangers Newsletter, you really should be. Excellent premium content is posted every week, including the weekly staples T.R'.’s Memoirs, Friday on the Farm and The Sunday Read.

Click the button below to get started.

Thanks in advance to everyone who will undertake the task of listening to the inaugural episode of the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast, hosted by John Moore and me.

Our guest was Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels, who covered a variety of topics from is palatial office at Globe Life Field. John with an H and I talked about other stuff, including plans for this podcast and the depth in the minor leagues.

Take a listen (it’s also available at Anchor and Spotify). As Bluto says in Animal House, “Don’t cost nuthin’.” Then, consider a subscription to the Texas Rangers Newsletter for $5.99 a month or $60 a year.

We might have talked about that, too.

Oh, one more: This episode is brought to you buy Superior Sports Investments. Enter promo code THANKS5 for a discount for any purchase.