Evan Grant, Rangers beat writer for SportsDayDFW.com and The Dallas Morning News, answered questions about the team in a live chat recently. Here are some highlights:

Question: How concerned should the Rangers be about Cole Hamels after a down year?

Evan Grant: He's no longer a No. 1. Might not even be a No. 2. But he's still a capable pitcher. The real concern would be if the Rangers had money tied up in him past 2018. Then they'd potentially be financially tied up long-term to a guy who is in decline. As it is, he's not going to reach the vesting option in his contract for 2019 (he'd need 252 innings in 2018 to do so; it won't happen). He's a driven guy who is motivated to show that the way 2016 ended and the way 2017 transpired don't define him. I think he's got another strong season left in him. I just wouldn't want to be committed to him much beyond that. The issue for the Rangers isn't Hamels, it's that they haven't found a replacement for him. They didn't keep Darvish. Martin Perez has never become a top-half of the rotation guy. They traded away Luis Ortiz, Dillon Tate and Jake Thompson. It's only natural that Hamels start to regress. The Rangers have failed but not yet finding/developing a proper replacement.

Question: How much do you think it's going to cost to retain Andrew Cashner?

Evan Grant: I think he's pitched himself into something like a 3-year 50 million deal or 4 years and maybe $55-60. Something along those lines. I don't see the Rangers doing that, but I do think they should offer a one-year qualifying offer of $18 million. I don't think Cashner would take it, but if he does it would only be an "overpay" of about $3 million for one year, which is far less risk than overpaying by $10-15 in total cash outlay over 3-4 years. And if he doesn't take it, the Rangers, who are still trying to restock their farm system will recoup some kind of draft compensation.

Question: Do you think the Rangers will be players for getting Eric Hosmer? We could use some pop at first that doesn't strike out as much as Gallo

Evan Grant: No. The priority list is A) Starting pitching, B) More starting pitching C) Late inning and versatile relievers D) Center field E) Right-handed hitters. Hosmer fits none of those.

Question: Can Gallo have a career hitting 210-220 and 40 homers?

Evan Grant: It is impossible for me to kind of project what is needed out of a player any more to validate the worth of his contribution. Clearly batting averages and strikeouts matter less and OPS/homers both matter more. That in mind, I think Gallo's first year was acceptable in terms of OBP, higher than I'd expected in OPS and homers. But I still think he's got to hit .250 and raise the OBP to .350 or higher. If the homers are 30 or 35 or 40, I don't think matters as much. He's going to homer. I think he had a great starting point this year. I expect the batting average and OBP to creep up a bit in the coming years.

Question: Why are Iopace and Brocail still here? Would Mike Maddux make a good/better manager than Bannister. Is Bannister learning anything these days?

Evan Grant: Well, how shall I put this? I'll go with blunt. They are here because Jeff Banister and Jon Daniels believe in them. It's that simple. Coaches don't solve problems. Coaches communicate. It's still up to players to fix themselves. Hint, hint: Rougned Odor. I think both communicate well and reach certain players and probably don't reach others as well. I don't think there is a case where a player has tuned either one out. If you want to play credit/blame game, well, you have to say Elvis Andrus has had his two best years as a major leaguer with Iapoce. Oh, you credit Elvis for that? OK, well, then don't blame Iapoce for a 23-year-old Odor being unable to make adjustments either. Would you say Joey Gallo made adjustments as the year went on? Did you expect him to post an .850 OPS in his rookie year? Well, then if coaches share credit/blame, Iapoce gets some credit there. Same thing on pitching side. Did the bullpen implode this year? Yeah. Was it pretty good last year with Bush, Barnette and Diekman all playing big roles? Yeah, it was. Were the same guys part of the 2016 bullpen? Yep. Sometimes guys performance varies from year to year. .... As for pitching coaches turned manager, there are exceptions, but, by and large, I think they, at heart, remain pitching coaches and, thus, are a little too one dimensional in their approaches. The offense, pitching, defense and Jeff Banister all have flaws and all have work to grow, but I absolutely Believe, based on merit, Jeff Banister deserves a chance to rebound from one losing season.

Click here to view the full chat.