Things have been looking up in Texas recently. The Rangers have won five straight games, 14 of their last 20, and 26 of their last 41. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the club’s front office is “moving closer to adding than subtracting.” For a club that’s just half a game out of a Wild Card spot as things stand, it would be somewhat shocking if they opted to sell at this point. Should the Rangers commit to buying, Rosenthal went on to highlight two areas of need for the roster: a high-leverage reliever and a right-handed bat.
Both are reasonable needs for the club to focus on. The Texas bullpen has actually been quite strong this year overall, but their recent loss of Chris Martin to the injured list created some uncertainty at the back end. What’s more, the Rangers don’t have a locked in closer at the moment, meaning they could be a strong fit for a number of veteran closing options who could hit the market like Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals, Raisel Iglesias of the Braves, or perhaps even Kenley Jansen of the Angels should Anaheim decide to sell this summer. A longer-term addition like Twins closer Jhoan Duran or Rays closer Pete Fairbanks could also make plenty of sense for a club that is sure to be attempting to compete for years to come, though those names would inherently come with a higher acquisition cost than a player ticketed for free agency this winter.
As for a right-handed bat, the Rangers’ offense has been lackluster all season. Corey Seager has been elite as always, Josh Smith is reliable as ever as a super-utility bat, and the duo of Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford have turned in above average results in the outfield. Everyone else has fallen short of expectations this year, however, and while some veterans like Marcus Semien have managed to turn things around enough over the past two months to bring their season-long numbers up to a respectable level the club still has the sixth-worst offense in baseball on the season. Those struggles have been most pronounced against left-handed pitching, which perhaps isn’t a surprise given that Seager, Carter, and Smith all bat lefty. Against southpaws, the Rangers have produced a wRC+ of just 75. That’s better than only the Pirates and Rockies amongst all MLB clubs.
Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez is the best right-handed hitter available this summer, and given the lackluster performance of Josh Jung (91 wRC+) at the hot corner this year the veteran could make plenty of sense for Texas. The bidding for Suarez figures to be contentious, however, with a number of clubs having been connected to the infielder already. Switch-hitting Twins utility man Willi Castro, Orioles outfielder Ramon Laureano, and Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz would all be strong additions and are rumored to be varying levels of available. Any of those players could fit the Rangers’ roster given the below average production they’ve received from the majority of their lineup, though it would be a surprise to see the club bench someone like Adolis Garcia to make room for a player like Laureano in the lineup.
Of course, any conversation about the Rangers buying must include reference to their precarious position regarding the luxury tax. Club ownership was clearly motivated to keep the club under the tax entering this season, and as things stand the Rangers are just over $6MM below the first threshold of the tax according to RosterResource. That doesn’t include future incentives and escalators in the contracts of existing players, meaning the Rangers have very little room to maneuver at this point. Selling a piece or two to clear more budget space could be an option, though any piece of significance dealt would have to be weighed against the production lost by trading them. Another option could be trading with teams willing to pay down their players’ salary, but that could be complicated by the fact that any deal where the selling club kicks in cash would presumably involve a much higher asking price than if the Rangers took on the player’s salary entirely.
Ward & Jansen
I think they’ll be targeting a first baseman or third baseman
And a DH! Their DH’s have been atrocious.
Right but adding an infielder you’ll be able to slide someone to dh
1st base makes more sense to me than 3rd. Jung is a very reliable player if he can stay healthy long enough to get his rhythm going
So much for the Pads and Rangers mat hing up in a trade.
Kudos to the Rangers for the turnaround!
If you’re referring to Adolis, I still think it’s possible he gets traded even if the rangers decide to add
Helsley and Arenado
For Jung I would probably do that. That would allow Bloom to start with a cleaner slate as far as contracts go and Jung is capable at 3b with potential for more.
Texas laughs unless you’re sending 15 or 20 million along with Arenado.
Says the guy who thinks it makes sense to trade Herrera for Rosario
Welcome to TX. Rangers have a municipal obligation after using tax money for that new stadium. They must be able to defend their decisions or doing nothing in civil court.
Wut?
LOL – absolutely ridiculous statement
Yandy and Uceta
Laureano and Kittredge
I think the Braves would be okay leaving Iglesias and Ozuna in town as they depart later today. Just sayin’.
Second!
Iglesias and Ozuna, while better recently are out of the Rangers price range, unless the Brave kick in 75 to 80%of remaining money owed.
Sebastian Walcott to the Rays for YandyDiaz, Fairbanks and DeLuca
Uh
NOT
Hard pass.
Helsley and Herrera. It will cost your best pitching prospect though.
Herrera? And you dont even seem to know or care who the Rangers Best pitching prospects is.
Rosario. They don’t have a worthy outfield prospect.
You want to give up Herrera for that guy???
The club needs pitching very badly. Yes, I do like the idea of selling high on Herrera. He’s a DH/1B. The Cardinals have too many of them. Moving him would open DH for either Burleson or Donovan next year. I’m not even mentioning Walker and Gorman who are also 1B/DH types. I’m not saying Donovan isn’t a fine 2B. That spot will be occupied next year.
If you only get back what you are suggesting its not really selling high.
Gorman and or Walker need to go not Herrera.
Are you one of those fans who believes your team’s table scraps will get you something of value in return? The team isn’t spending money and the pitching is really, really thin. In fairness, the Cardinals could probably get another middling prospect in the deal.
Why would we give up Herrera for some maybe prospect who isnt even that good? The guys available are Helsley, Maton and Matz. Walker and Gorman perhaps if another team wants to bet on them getting a fresh start. Thats it. Herrera is not part of the equation.
Each of them will get mid level prospects which will probably never make the MLB team. Helsley might bring back something better if he were having his normal stellar year. He’s a rental in a down year
If Helsley doesnt bring back much then dont trade him.
Get what you can for him instead of nothing.
I wouldn’t mind having Herrera, but rather have Helsley and Donovan.
I wouldn’t mind having Herrera, but rather have Helsley and Donovan. Plus without Herrera it doesn’t cost are top pitching prospect.
I wouldn’t mind having Herrera, but rather have Helsley and Donovan. Plus without Herrera it doesn’t cost are top pitching prospect, and besides Herrera doesn’t play 1st base he is a dh/c
Should still buy and sell. You have to make room for a bat and none of the players on the 40-man are terrible players who you would just cut.
A challenge trade could work too, like Garcia for Ozuna to see if it sparks them, but that’s more a wish (and a wash) than an upgrade. Anything more and you are giving up prospects, so might as well sell what’s not working and get something back.
Odds very high you get back less for what you are offering than what you are trading for, but lottery tickets hit occasionally and even 10% value back better than 0%.
I don’t think Texas will want a rental mired in a months long slump.
Want? Not really. Might could spark a team that has been mired in a season long slump? Maybe. Two players not living up to expectations have been traded a lot. Usually doesn’t work, but occasionally it does.
Plus Rangers would save money in future seasons. There’s a value in moving off a contract they don’t seem sold on that isn’t purely on-field production. Aren’t getting a king’s ransom for Garcia, so if the best deal available is a maybe, possibly someone plays better in Arlington and you have a bit more freedom to spend in off-season might be worth it.
I’m really not sure why everyone is hyping up the idea of Ozuna to the Rangers. Texas has been really hot at the plate for awhile now, like the 7th or 8th best offense since July 1st or something. Also just got Joc Pederson back today to be the full time DH. I think Adolis is probably staying put, he’s a good defender and has looked a bit better at the plate lately. I could see them maybe taking a run at Laureano but I would be shocked if they got Ozuna, lousy defender and we don’t have a DH spot for him.
Id agree, why add another slumping DH to Garcia and Pederson.
Maybe something around Helsley for Bratt?
Mitch Bratt? If that’s all it takes to get Helsley then I’m in lol. The Rangers don’t have a ton in upper level pitching prospects that are healthy at the moment. Leiter Rocker are kind of the homegrown future as it sits.
As a M’s fan, I’m so sad we bailed Texas out with the Taveras claim. Saving them $3M in luxury tax obligations may make a big deal on who they can bring in.
If deGrom and Eovaldi can just stay healthy, Rangers are going to be a tough playoff foe for anyone should they nail down tight WC/even ALW race.. It will be interesting to see if they get an impact bat like Suarez or a surprise name that comes out of nowhere.
White Sox and the Rangers could get something done centered around Benintendi for Pederson.
Might not look like a great trade but Benintendi is the White Sox best hitter. Their salaries would offset in ’25 and the White Sox would get out from 33M of Benintendi in ’26 and ’27. Probably wouldnt get much else in return but Rangers could have their pick from our bullpen and send us a pair of low level prospects.
Rangers get a nice OF and a bullpen arm and dont add any salary.
A ‘nice’ OF ??
He has good manners or something ?
I don’t know, I’m not his mother. It’s an adjective that is less expressive than “awesome” and more emphatic than “good” — I like to say “nice” to imply that a player has skills and is worth acquiring.
Laureano makes unbelievable sense if Baltimore actually makes him available.
Yup, not sure why Baltimore wouldn’t trade him.
Hope they call the Mets about Marte if they want a right-handed bat.
The rangers need to think about trading semien and seager in off-season. Semien is not the player he was, seager gets hurt too much and their contracts are big and hinder flexibility to add payroll. Plus smith needs a regular position now, and walcott is probably gonna be ready within a year. I know unpopular position for a ranger fan but if you think about it makes a lot of sense, on so many levels. Especially if u take ur emotion out of it
Yeah… no haha. Seager is the best player on the team and he’s only 31. I think a position change would happen before they did something nuts like trade him. Walcott either just takes third from Jung if Josh continues to suck or RF from Adolis when we don’t extend him. Semien, sure I would think about it but who in their right mind would take that contract?
I dont dispute he’s the best player on team. He’s also the 2nd highest paid, he also spends on average 50-60 games on il. And that contract also runs for 6 more years. All that is recipe for disaster
Smith is super util, he doesnt need regularity. Walcott’s further away …
Never trade seager ( too valuable for playoffs )
Trading semien sounds fine
I think it’s likely that they only add a closer with the slim wiggle room in payroll. And needing a right handed bat, it doesn’t make much sense to trade Adolis even with his struggles. He’s the kind of player who can carry a team if he gets hot. (Plus he’s bounced back defensively in a big way. He leads all OF in assists since 2021.) Jung has also looked a lot better since getting recalled from AAA- 8/18 with a Homer and 3 walks, has hit safely in every game. Sometimes the best upgrades are from within. If they could unload Pederson, they could justify bringing in another 1B/DH right handed bat, but I don’t see another team taking on his entire contract right now.
Perhaps utilize a time machine to go back and not sign pederson ( sounded good at the time, as with burger )
I agree. One high leverage reliever and this team is ready to roll. I don’t see a bat out there that’s going to be a material upgrade with the amount of money Texas has to spend. Yes, they are going to have to hope that at least one of Pederson/Burger are able to get back to their career averages for the run to and through the playoffs, but even if they don’t the pitching is good enough to keep them competitive.
Nnnoooo… Iglesias has been atrocious.