Rangers Mailbag: Shipping Andrus To San Diego?

105.3 THE FAN -- On Tuesday, Jared Sandler (@sandlerj) asked questions on Twitter using the hashtag, #AskJared, for 105.3 The Fan. Here are some of the interactions.

What would you want from the Padres for Elvis?
@rangerjayfilm

I'd want Tyson Ross, which they would never do. Unfortunately, their top prospect, Hunter Renfroe, wouldn't be available and, while I doubt they'd make their second best prospect, Austin Hedges, available for Elvis Andrus, even if they did, it wouldn't be a good fit with the Rangers sitting on Jorge Alfaro.

It's no secret that the Rangers made calls to teams about Elvis Andrus this off-season, but their desire to trade him has probably waned for the interim with Jurickson Profar's setback and the departure of Luis Sardinas in the Yovani Gallardo trade.

From San Diego's perspective, they've already taken on a ton of money with their acquisitions in the off-season, and I doubt they'd be interested in taking on one of the biggest shortstop contracts in the league, especially when their are concerns of underperformance hovering over the player.

If the Padres made a "splash" move, my guess is that it's for Cubs shortstop, Starlin Castro.

Any concerns of criticizing [the] team and losing access/respect in locker room with players?
@stevelspence

That's a great question and the answer is no, not really.

It's important for any media member to have a good working relationship with the team and the people they cover. The best way to maintain this while providing fair analysis, which sometimes includes negative opinions and sentiments, is to be honest. Media members run into trouble when they say things that are either unfounded or unfair.

My goal is to never do that and remain fair and honest to these people and the organizations I cover at all times.

How long does Andrus get before he gets shipped to the bottom part of the order where he belongs?
@TonyNorwood5

I've gone on the record several times indicating that one disagreement I have with Jeff Banister's decision-making is his commitment to hitting Elvis second in the lineup.

There is a growing trend that I'm fascinated by that builds lineups with the team's best hitter, or, at the very least, a high on-base guy, batting second. The Reds do it with Joey Votto and the Angels with Mike Trout, to name a few. Whereas the meat of a lineup used to be considered 3-4-5, it seems like more and more teams are aiming at 2-3-4 and if that is so, Elvis doesn't belong in that grouping.

I'd like to see him hit ninth because, at the end of the day, he is still a capable hitter and having him at the very bottom stretches out the lineup's depth and threat. Plus, by hitting that low it relieves pressure and responsibility from his production.

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