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Rangers Among Clubs With Interest In Yandy Díaz

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Rays infielder Yandy Díaz has been on the restricted list for almost a week while attending to an undisclosed personal matter, but the Rays announced that they reinstated him today. They already had three vacancies on their 40-man roster, so this move brings their count to 38. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relayed on X earlier that the club was hopeful of Díaz returning tonight. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported last night that the Rangers are interested in adding him to their lineup. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com says on X that the Astros, Mariners and Pirates are possible suitors, though it’s unclear if any of those clubs have engaged with the Rays.

Díaz, now 32, has been a fixture of the Rays for many years. He came to Tampa from Cleveland heading into 2019 as part of the three-team trade and quickly worked his way into being a regular for the Rays. From the start of 2019 to the present, he has drawn walks in 11.6% of his plate appearances while only striking out 14.5% of the time. His .288/.375/.439 batting line translates to a 133 wRC+, indicating he’s been 33% better than league average overall.

That offense is his best attribute. He’s not a burner on the basepaths and his third base defense was poorly regarded, though he’s been closer to average at first base and has been more or less permanently moved to that side of the diamond. But the 133 wRC+ that Díaz has put up from 2019 to the present is one of the top 15 marks in baseball among qualified hitters, highlighting that such consistently above-average production is hard to find.

Here in 2024, his season-long stats look mildly disappointing, a .273/.329/.396 line and 111 wRC+, but that’s mostly due to a brutal start that he has put behind him. He hit .211/.279/.276 through May 1 but his line of .302/.354/.453 since that time leads to a 134 wRC+, right in line with his overall track record.

The Rays don’t strictly have to move him but their behavior suggests he’s available. Going into 2023, he and the Rays signed an extension that runs through 2025 with a club option for 2026. He’ll make $10MM next year with the option valued at $12MM.

Tampa could certainly keep him but they have shown, both recently and in the past, that they are generally unafraid to move players nearing free agency. Although they are 52-51 this year and just four games out of a playoff spot, they have already traded Aaron Civale, Phil Maton and Randy Arozarena in recent weeks.

Some recent reporting suggested the Rays were more likely to trade arbitrations players than those signed to long-term deals, but that contradicts their past behavior. Players like Evan Longoria, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot have all signed extensions and then been traded before those contracts ended, so there’s no real reason to believe the Rays won’t be open to trade offers on Díaz.

Doing so wouldn’t even be a signal that the club is giving up on 2024, as players like Isaac Paredes and Curtis Mead could fill in at first base. Jonathan Aranda is currently hurt but could be in the mix later. Infielders like Junior Caminero, Austin Shenton and Osleivis Basabe could be called up to fill in elsewhere around the infield. In the long term, Xavier Isaac is a first baseman and considered one of the top 50 prospects in the league, though he’s yet to reach Double-A.

For the Rangers, Rosenthal relays that they are looking for “either a left-handed hitting outfielder/DH or a platoon-neutral right-handed hitter.” Díaz is better against lefties but isn’t a liability without the platoon advantage. He has a 148 wRC+ against southpaws in his career and a 121 wRC+ against righties. It’s a far wider split of 151 and 99 this year, though in a much smaller sample size.

Texas hitters have a collective line of .237/.309/.378 against right-handed pitching, with that line leading to a 93 wRC+, putting them ahead of just seven clubs in that split. They have Nathaniel Lowe at first base but don’t really have a regular designated hitter and should be able to fit both him and Díaz into the same lineup.

The Rays and Mariners already lined up on one deal, sending the aforementioned Arozarena to Seattle as the M’s look for more offense. Díaz could further augment their lineup, especially with the struggling Ty France have been recently designated for assignment and leaving an opening at first base. They have plugged Tyler Locklear into that spot but he has only 40 major league plate appearances thus far.

The Astros also cut ties with a struggling first baseman, releasing José Abreu earlier this year. They have mostly used Jon Singleton to fill that hole but he’s hitting just .231/.319/.343 this year for a 93 wRC+.

The Pirates have a bit less of a dire need as they held onto their struggling first baseman and were rewarded with a bounceback. Rowdy Tellez was hitting .177/.239/.223 through the end of May but has a line of .328/.364/.588 since the calendar flipped to June. His season-long line is still subpar thanks to that early slump but the Pirates probably feel less inclined to replaced Tellez on the heels of his hot streak this summer. They have Andrew McCutchen in the designated hitter spot most days, which makes the lineup fit a bit less clean unless they plan on moving on from Tellez, who is a free agent at season’s end.

Both the Astros and Rangers are set to pay the competitive balance tax at season’s end, so they may have to consider the taxes involved in taking on the Díaz contract. The Astros are set to be a first-time payor and have a base rate of 20% but RosterResource has their CBT number at $256MM. Crossing over the $257MM second tier would increase their tax rate to 32% for spending beyond that line. Recent reporting suggested they are trying to move Rafael Montero’s contract to lessen their tax burden but doing so will be difficult given his poor results of late. RosterResource has the Rangers at $249MM but they are set to be a second-time payor and have a base tax rate of 30%.

Latest On Rangers’ Rotation, Trade Possibilities

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The Rangers have patched together their rotation for much of the season as they anticipate the returns of veterans Max Scherzer, Tyler Mahle and Jacob deGrom. Scherzer has already returned. Mahle is set to make his fifth minor league rehab start today and should make his Rangers debut before long. It’ll be a bit longer before deGrom makes it back, but he tossed a 40-pitch bullpen just yesterday, per Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com. Left-hander Cody Bradford is on a minor league rehab assignment and expected to return soon, though Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that he’ll work out of the bullpen upon his return. Texas reinstated righty Dane Dunning from the injured list earlier today, too. He’s in the ’pen for now but could move back to a starting role depending on how the next week goes.

What once was a starting pitching hodgepodge looks increasingly enviable. If Mahle is cleared to return after today’s start, he’ll join Scherzer, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Michael Lorenzen, Andrew Heaney and Dunning as viable rotation options, with Bradford in the bullpen and deGrom looming on the horizon. That’s nine MLB-caliber starters, to say nothing of veteran starter Jose Ureña (who started six games but is in the bullpen presently).

With so many options suddenly at their fingertips, there’s been plenty of speculation about the Rangers trading from that stockpile of arms — even as they narrow the deficit in the postseason hunt. Texas has won four straight games. The Mariners have lost three straight. The Rangers now sit only three games back of the first-place Astros in the West and are just 5.5 games out in the Wild Card hunt. They’re not going to operate as a pure seller, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggests that Lorenzen or perhaps even Gray could be moved before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Lorenzen, 32, signed with the Rangers on a one-year, $4.5MM deal in spring training. It was a bargain price for a veteran righty coming off a solid season, and he’s proven to be well worth the investment. He’s pitched 97 innings over the course of 17 starts and turned in a 3.53 ERA. Lorenzen’s 18.5% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate both leave plenty to be desired and point to some likely ERA regression, but he’s been precisely the type of veteran rotation stabilizer the Rangers hoped to be acquiring when signing him.

As of deadline day, Lorenzen will have just $1.5MM of that base salary yet to be paid out. He’s already picked up $800K of innings-based incentives and will get another $200K when he reaches 100 innings, likely in his next start. Assuming that comes with the Rangers — he’s their probable starter Saturday — a new team would be on the hook for the remaining portion of his base and additional incentives he’d unlock by reaching 120 innings ($300K), 140 innings ($350K), 160 innings ($400K) and 180 innings ($450K). He’s on pace to barely reach that final milestone.

At most, a team adding Lorenzen would pay around $1.5MM in base salary and an additional $1.5MM worth of incentives. If Lorenzen is pitching well enough to reach that 180-inning mark, it’d be considered money well spent. If nothing else, a budget-conscious team looking to add a stable starter (e.g. Twins, Guardians) could view Lorenzen as an affordable option.

Gray would be a more surprising trade candidate. He’s in the third season of a four-year, $56MM contract that’s paying $13MM both this year and next. Thus far, he’s posted 94 innings of 3.73 ERA ball on the season. While Gray’s 19.7% strikeout rate is the lowest of his career (aside from the shortened 2020 season), his 5.8% walk rate is a career-best mark. He’s still averaging 95 mph with his heater, while his opponents’ chase rate and swinging-strike rate are roughly in line with his 2022-23 marks.

Rosenthal also cites a pair of names the Rangers would prefer to hang onto even as they ponder trading from their rotation depth: Eovaldi and Heaney. The former is well on his way to vesting a $20MM player option for the 2025 season. That option would decrease his trade value — a new team would be stuck with the $20MM in the event of a major, post-trade injury. Beyond that, Eovaldi has been one of the team’s best arms this season, notching a 3.31 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate in 106 innings. He’d likely be ticketed for their playoff rotation, should they get there. And, even if they don’t, the Rangers might simply hope Eovaldi stays healthy and enjoys pitching in his home state enough that he’d pick up that player option for the 2025 season.

As for Heaney, he’s turned things around after a shaky first season in Texas. The veteran southpaw boasts a 3.60 ERA, 23.5% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate in exactly 100 innings. He’s a free agent at season’s end, so one would imagine he’s an on-paper trade candidate in this scenario where Texas deals from its excess. However, the Rangers don’t have an established left-hander in their bullpen. Brock Burke was excellent in 2022 but took a step back in ’23 and was optioned earlier this season after being shelled through 9 2/3 innings. Rookie Jacob Latz has a solid 3.68 ERA in 36 2/3 innings, but he’s walked 13.5% of his opponents. Bradford could possibly fill that role, but he’s yet to return from a stress reaction in his ribcage.

Heaney has experience pitching both as a starter and reliever, including during his time with Texas. He’s throwing well right now but would likely be pushed out of a theoretical postseason rotation. In that setting, he could slide into the bullpen and match up against tough lefties and/or provide multiple innings in long relief.

Giants Claim Derek Hill From Rangers

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The Giants are claiming outfielder Derek Hill off waivers from the Rangers, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. Texas designated the speedster for assignment over the weekend. San Francisco already had an opening on their 40-man roster, so they won’t need to make a corresponding move until Hill reports to the team.

Texas signed Hill, a former first-round pick of the Tigers, to a minor league deal over the winter. They gave him a pair of stints on the big league roster. He connected on three home runs in 16 games, though he also struck out 14 times while drawing only two walks. The 28-year-old has had an excellent season in Triple-A, hitting .350/.415/.631 with eight home runs through 176 plate appearances.

Hill can play all three outfield positions. He hasn’t hit much at the MLB level, running a .232/.280/.334 line over parts of five seasons. He’s a career .300/.360/.502 hitter over 224 Triple-A contests, making him an intriguing depth piece. Hill has exhausted his minor league options, so the Giants will need to keep him on the big league roster or designate him for assignment themselves moving forward.

Rangers Designate Derek Hill For Assignment

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The Rangers announced that outfielder Derek Hill has been designated for assignment.  The move opens up roster space for Texas to call up infield prospect Justin Foscue from Triple-A.

Hill has been DFA’ed multiple times during his pro career, and this is the second time the Rangers have designated him in as many months.  The previous designation in June saw Hill clear waivers and then choose free agency rather than an outright assignment, but he quickly re-signed with the Rangers on a new minors contract.  Hill’s deal was selected again to the Texas roster last month, and overall he has hit .256/.289/.465 with three home runs over 45 plate appearances and 16 games this season.

While Hill provided a bit of extra pop during his brief stints on the 26-man roster, he’ll again be exposed to the DFA wire since he is out of minor league options, and thus can’t be just cleanly sent down to Triple-A.  Since Hill has been outrighted in the past, he has the right to again elect free agency if he clears waivers and Texas again tries to outright him off the 40-man, or we could see a repeat of the earlier scenario where Hill just rejoins the organization as Triple-A depth.

Appearing in each of the last five MLB seasons, Hill has a career .232/.280/.334 slash line in 349 plate appearances with the Rangers, Nationals, and Tigers.  The lack of hitting has limited Hill’s playing time, but the 28-year-old can provide solid glovework at all three outfield positions and outstanding speed, making him an interesting bench option.  Selected 23rd overall by Detroit in the 2014 draft, Hill has also crushed Triple-A pitching in his minor league career, including an 1.045 OPS in 176 PA with Triple-A Round Rock this year.

Foscue made his Major League debut this season and appeared in two games for the Rangers before suffering an oblique strain that has sidelined him for over three and a half months.  A highly-touted hitter during his college days at Mississippi State, Foscue was picked 14th overall in the 2020 draft, and delivered big numbers during his time in the Texas farm system.  His excellent contact skills and decent power hint that Foscue’s bat may be ready for the Show, even if it isn’t yet clear which position (if any) will be his eventual landing spot.  Since Marcus Semien is blocking Foscue’s natural second base position and Nathaniel Lowe has first base covered, Foscue could be used as a DH or as a third baseman with Josh Jung still injured.

Rangers GM: Hoping To Be In Buyer Position

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The Rangers are the defending World Series champions but they currently sport a record of 46-50 that has them 7.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. They’re five games out in the AL West, where they trail the Mariners and Astros. With less than two weeks until the trade deadline, general manager Chris Young will have some decisions to make but is currently hoping his players make the decision for him.

“We are going to do everything we can to win this year,” Young tells Joel Sherman of The New York Post, though he also left some ambiguity by adding that he “wants to take as much time as possible to make a choice and hope in the next week [the results] make it clear we are buyers.”

The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs currently give them a 12.3% chance at cracking the postseason while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are slightly more optimistic at 18.2%. Young and his staff will presumably be discussing all kinds of trade scenarios with other clubs in the coming days, as the Rangers host the Orioles for three games, the White Sox for four and then cross the northern border to play three in Toronto. They will then start a three-game set in St. Louis but the deadline will be on July 30, after just one game against the Cardinals.

It’s an interesting spot for Young and the Rangers to be in, with potential arguments for buying, selling or some kind of combination. The argument in favor of buying would largely hinge on the club having much better health in the second half than in the first.

On the position player side, both Evan Carter and Josh Jung are currently on the injured list. Carter struggled over the first two months of the season, hitting just .188/.272/.361 while battling back tightness that eventually put him on the shelf. Manager Bruce Bochy later described it as a stress reaction, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News, with the timeline still unclear. Jung has only played four games this year before being hit by a pitch and suffering a wrist fracture that required surgery. His rehab assignment was shut down a few weeks ago due to continued discomfort and his ramp-up is also somewhat murky.

On the pitching side, Andrew Heaney has been the only consistent rotation member. Each of Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Lorenzen and Jon Gray spent some time on the injured list, though each is currently active. Max Scherzer had offseason back surgery and began the season on the IL, then had his return delayed by a thumb injury. He has missed most of this season so far but returned in recent weeks and has taken the ball five times this year.

The rotation could be getting further reinforcements, with both Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle working back from Tommy John surgeries they underwent last summer. Dane Dunning and Cody Bradford are also on the IL and could return later in the year.

That theoretically stronger rotation and the possible returns of Carter and/or Jung could perhaps inspire the club to push hard at the deadline, hoping to gain steam for a strong second half. But it could also be an argument for doing some selling. Hypothetically, if everyone were to be healthy at some point in the coming months, the club would have nine rotation candidates in deGrom, Scherzer, Eovaldi, Gray, Mahle, Heaney, Lorenzen, Bradford and Dunning.

The club probably doesn’t want to bank on all of them being healthy at the same time, so they wouldn’t necessarily need to trim the number to five. Dunning has often pitched in relief and can be kept there. Bradford has a 1.40 ERA this year but in a small sample of three starts. Despite the strong results, the Rangers would be justified in optioning him to the minors if he were blocked by their more established guys.

But that still leaves seven solid veteran options that could all be healthy in the weeks to come. Perhaps the club will feel they could trade an impending free agent or two without really “selling” here in 2024 or hurting themselves too much in the future, something that MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a look at in a piece for Front Office subscribers. Lorenzen is on a one-year deal and set to return to the open market at season’s end. Heaney is in the final season of his two-year deal.

Scherzer is also slated for free agency at season’s end but has a full no-trade clause. He was recently asked on Foul Territory about waiving it again, as he did to come to the Rangers from the Mets, with that show relaying video on X. Scherzer said “I’m not gonna do that” before elaborating that he thought the club would play better and make it a moot point.

Eovaldi is in the final guaranteed year of his deal though there’s a vesting player option for 2025 he could potentially unlock. There were three ways for him to unlock that player option, though one of them involved making the 2024 All-Star team. Since he wasn’t chosen, he’s down to two paths. His best chance is to get to 300 combined innings pitched over 2023 and 2024. He’s currently at 238 and therefore 62 shy of the line, which he should be able to cross if he stays healthy the rest of the year. His other path to unlocking the player option is to finish in the top five in Cy Young voting. That option muddies any trade the Rangers might consider and he has limited trade protection on his deal as well.

Gray and Mahle each have one year left of their deals, making them at least somewhat plausible trade candidates, though moving them would hurt the club’s chances next year. With Scherzer, Heaney and Lorenzen slated for free agency after 2024, the Rangers might want to keep Gray and Mahle in the mix for 2025 alongside deGrom, Bradford, Dunning and maybe Eovaldi.

If the Rangers end up more firmly in the seller camp, they would have those aforementioned pitchers to market, as well as impending free agents David Robertson, José Leclerc, Kirby Yates, José Ureña, Travis Jankowski and Robbie Grossman. Based on Young’s comments, it sounds like it would take a rough performance in the coming weeks for them to sell, but those would be the options. Sherman also floats the possibility of Adolis García or Nathaniel Lowe being available, though each is arbitration controlled through 2026 and it doesn’t seem as though something that drastic is on the table, though it could always come about if some club comes in with an offer that can’t be refused.

Like many other clubs around the league, the Rangers are set for a pseudo postseason push in the weeks to come. With the buyer and seller paths both seemingly on the table, the Texas season will be on the line in the coming weeks, at least to an extent. As Young and his crew have to decide how hard to push in one direction or the other, the upcoming part of the schedule could perhaps define the team for the months that follow.

Poll: Who Will Win The 2024 Home Run Derby?

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The 2024 All-Star break festivities are already well underway, with the Futures Game in the books and the second of three draft days currently taking place. Tonight, the Home Run Derby will take center stage at 7pm Central time, with these participants:

The winner will get $1MM, with $500K for the runner-up and $150K for everyone else in the field. There’s also a $100K bonus for the player who hits the longest home run. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won last year but opted not to defend his title, so there will be a new champion, though Alonso has two previous titles from 2019 and 2021 and will be looking for a third.

This year’s format will be different from previous versions, with Cole Jacobson of MLB.com providing a rundown. The primary change is that there will be no head-to-head matchups in the first round, as the four players with the most home runs will advance. If two players tie, the longest home run will be a tiebreaker. Previously, the knockout-style bracket system started right away but this year’s version won’t see that until the field has been narrowed to four. Once the knockout stage begins, ties will be settled by 60 seconds of extra time. If the players are still tied, they will engage in three-swing showdowns until they are no longer tied.

In the first two rounds, players with have three minutes, which drops to two minutes in the final round. The three-minute rounds will now have a 40-pitch maximum while the two-minute round will feature a 27-pitch maximum.

The bonus time is also different. Previous versions featured 30 seconds of automatic extra time, which jumped to 60 seconds if the player hit two or more home runs 440 feet or longer. This year, the bonus time will continue until a player record three “outs,” which is a swing that doesn’t result in a home run. If a player hits a home run 425 feet or longer in the bonus period, he will get a fourth out.

Of the eight players competing this year, Henderson has the most homers this year with 28. He is followed by Ozuna at 26, Ramírez at 23, Alonso and Hernández at 19, García at 17, Witt at 16 and Bohm at 11.

Who do you want to win and who do you think will win? Have you say in the polls below!

Rockies Claim Antoine Kelly, Designate Josh Rogers

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The Rockies announced Monday that they’ve claimed left-hander Antoine Kelly off waivers from the Rangers, who’d previously designated him for assignment. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Colorado designated fellow lefty Josh Rogers for assignment.

Kelly, 24, was a second-round pick by the Brewers in 2019 and went to the Rangers alongside utilityman Mark Mathias in the 2022 deadline deal that sent righty Matt Bush from Texas to Milwaukee. Kelly pitched in the 2022 Futures Game and enjoyed a standout 2023 season split the Rangers’ Double-A and Triple-A bullpens: 57 1/3 innings, 11 saves, 2.04 ERA, 32.1% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate.

That promising trajectory has gone off the rails in 2024, however. Kelly has missed significant time with a forearm injury this season and been ineffective when healthy, yielding 17 earned runs in a span of 16 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. His strikeout rate has dropped considerably, though at 25%, it’s still better than average. However, Kelly has issued nearly as many walks as he has recorded strikeouts, with a glaring 22.9% of his opponents reaching via base on balls. Add in the two batters he’s plunked, and he’s at a combined 24 walks/HBP — the same number of strikeouts he’s yielded this season.

Command troubles — albeit not to this extent — are nothing new for Kelly. Even prior to this season, he’d walked 13% of his career opponents. Last year’s strong K-BB profile represented a significant step forward for the southpaw, and the Rockies will hope they can get him back to that form down the stretch and into future seasons. Kelly is in the first of three minor league option seasons, so the Rox will be able to freely option him not only this year but also in 2025 and 2026 if they keep him on the roster for that long.

The 30-year-old Rogers signed minor league deals with Colorado in each of the past two offseasons. He didn’t pitch for the Rockies in ’23 but has appeared in five games this season, logging 9 1/3 innings out of the bullpen and surrendering seven runs on a dozen hits and two walks with two strikeouts. The Rockies selected Rogers to the MLB roster in late May but placed him on the injured list barely two weeks later, owing to a strain in his left rotator cuff. Rogers was reinstated from the injured list and optioned to Triple-A just yesterday. He’ll now spend up to a week in DFA limbo as he waits to learn whether he’s been traded, claimed by another club, passed through outright waivers or released.

Originally an 11th-round pick by the 2015 Yankees, Rogers went to the Orioles as part of the Zack Britton trade in 2018. He pitched parts of two seasons with the O’s and another two with the Nats after being released and signing a minor league deal in Washington. Overall, he’s pitched 97 1/3 innings in the majors between three teams and yielded a 5.55 ERA with a 10.9% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate. He’s pitched 496 innings in Triple-A as well but had similar struggles there: 5.72 ERA, 15% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate.

Rangers Sign Matt Festa To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have signed right-hander Matt Festa to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The righty, who elected free agency last week, has been assigned to Triple-A Round Rock.

Festa, 31, started the year on a minor league deal with the Padres. He tossed 16 innings for their Triple-A club with a 4.50 earned run average, 21.6% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 46% ground ball rate. Those peripherals were all fairly close to average but a .360 batting average on balls in play helped push some more runs across, with his 3.43 FIP painting a nicer picture of his work with the Chihuahuas.

The righty was released by the Padres in mid-May, which was perhaps the results of an opt-out since his numbers with El Paso weren’t bad. He then landed another minor league deal, this one with the Mets, and posted even better numbers. In 15 1/3 Triple-A frames with Syracuse, he had a 1.76 ERA, 32.2% strikeout rate, 5.1% walk rate and 45.7% ground ball rate.

He was called up to join a struggling Mets bullpen but his one outing with that club was a disaster. On June 30, the Mets and Astros were tied at five after 10 innings and Festa was sent to the mound in the 11th. The inning started with Alex Bregman as the free runner on second, then the Mets intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez. Festa went on to surrender four hits in the inning from there, allowing Bregman and four others to score as the Mets lost 10-5.

He was designated for assignment a few days later and elected free agency after clearing waivers, which was his right as a player with a previous career outright. He has now landed his third minor league deal of the year, this time with the Rangers.

The relief corps in Texas has a combined 4.37 ERA on the year, which places them 22nd in the majors. Festa will give them a non-roster depth arm with some major league experience. He has 94 2/3 big league innings on his track record with a 4.66 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. If he gets added to their roster, he is out of options but has between one and two years of service time, meaning he can be retained beyond the current campaign if he finishes the year on the roster.

Rangers Select Daniel Robert

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The Rangers selected reliever Daniel Robert onto the MLB roster for tonight’s matchup with the Angels. Texas optioned Grant Anderson to Triple-A Round Rock to clear a spot in the bullpen. In order to open space on the 40-man roster, the Rangers designated lefty Antoine Kelly for assignment.

Robert gets his first big league call a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday. Texas drafted him in 2017 as a 21st-round pick out of Auburn. Robert has pitched parts of three seasons (including all of 2024) in Round Rock. After struggling in his first two seasons there, he has posted excellent numbers across 25 appearances this year.

Through 30 2/3 innings, Robert carries a 2.35 earned run average. He has punched out more than 35% of batters faced while walking only 6.1% of opponents. It’s a massive improvement over last season, when he fanned 26.4% of hitters with a near-12% walk percentage. Robert has fanned 12 without issuing a walk in his most recent 10 2/3 frames.

His promotion bumps Kelly off the roster. The 24-year-old is a former second-round pick of the Brewers who runs his fastball into the high 90s. Milwaukee traded him to Texas at the 2022 deadline in the Matt Bush deal. Texas added Kelly to the 40-man roster to keep him out of last winter’s Rule 5 draft, but things haven’t gone well this season.

Kelly has walked 21 of the 91 hitters he’s faced in Round Rock. That’s clearly not viable and resulted in a 9.39 ERA. That pushed him back to Double-A last week and now off the roster entirely. The Rangers have five days to trade the 6’5″ lefty or put him on waivers. Kelly pitched to a 1.95 ERA with a 32% strikeout rate in Double-A last season. He still has a full slate of options and could find some interest on the waiver wire, this year’s control woes notwithstanding.

Will The Rangers Sell At The Deadline?

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The Rangers entered the 2024 season looking like a potential juggernaut. Not only was the club coming off a World Series championship in 2023, but they were looking forward to the rookie campaigns of top prospects Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford, which were widely expected to further bolster an excellent lineup anchored by 2023 AL MVP runner-up Corey Seager, third-place finisher Marcus Semien, and ALCS MVP Adolis Garcia. On the pitching side, the club had added a pair of back-end relievers to their shaky bullpen in the form of David Robertson and Kirby Yates.

While their rotation wouldn’t be at full strength entering the year, the promise of midseason reinforcements in the form of Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, and Tyler Mahle was more than enough to inspire confidence that Texas was on the right trajectory to return to the postseason and defend the first World Series title in franchise history. Projection systems felt similarly: PECOTA at Baseball Prospectus gave the Rangers strong playoff odds of 55.4% in their preseason projections. Those playoff odds have fallen to just 14.6% entering play today, however, and it’s not hard to see why.

Carter and Langford have both struggled to below average slash lines in their rookie seasons and have each spent time on the injured list this year. They were joined by young third baseman Josh Jung on the injured list, as the 26-year-old has made it into just four games this season amid a number of setbacks as he works his way back from an early-season wrist fracture. In addition to those youngsters not provided the offensive impact expected from them headed into the season, the club’s core hitters have also taken steps back after strong 2023 campaigns. Semien (90 wRC+) and Garcia (91 wRC+) have both been around 10% worse than league average at the plate this year after big seasons last year, while Seager’s 122 wRC+ is well above average but a far cry from the 6.1 fWAR campaign he posted last year that saw him finish second to only Shohei Ohtani in AL MVP voting.

The club has similarly struggled to get the most out of its role players. Utility bat Ezequiel Duran was an above-average hitter in 2023 but crashed back down to Earth this year, slashing just .256/.294/.324 (74 wRC+) before being optioned to the minors in late June. Catcher Jonah Heim as struggled similarly, with a 76 wRC+ just one year after pairing his Gold Glove defense behind the plate with an above average slash line. The one bright spot offensively has been infielder Josh Smith, who has broken out in a big way and slashed .293/.386/.451 (139 wRC+) as the club’s regular third baseman in Jung’s absence.

All those offensive woes have added up to a 41-48 record for the Rangers, and things get all the more worrisome when you consider the fact that they’ve won just 25 of their 59 games since May 1. The club’s .424 winning percentage over that span is roughly on par with the record the Angels have posted this year. Between the pronounced struggles at the plate this year and their familiar struggles in the bullpen (their relievers’ 4.46 ERA is second-worst among all AL clubs), Rangers brass have been left in the uncomfortable situation of having to seriously consider a sell-off just months after parading through Dallas in celebration of championship.

The club certainly has pieces to sell if that’s the route they choose to take. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported earlier this morning that rival GMs “expect” the Rangers to make several notable pitchers on expiring contracts available. That group is led by Scherzer but also includes Robertson, Yates, Andrew Heaney, and Michael Lorenzen. Each of those arms would surely receive plenty of interest on a trade market that’s facing a relative dearth of quality pitching options, particularly when looking at rental starting pitching. Each of Scherzer, Heaney, and Lorenzen would fall into that latter category, while Robertson has been dealt at each of the past two trade deadlines. Yates could be among the most coveted relievers dealt this summer if the Rangers were to decide to move him given his eye-popping 0.86 ERA, 35.8% strikeout rate, and history as an All-Star caliber closer who led the majors with 41 saves back in 2019.

With so many interesting pieces to sell and the club falling further behind the Mariners and Astros in the AL West by the day, it’s easy to make the argument that the team ought to pull the plug on 2024 and start focusing on the future, when Seager will be joined in the lineup by a healthy Jung and the club’s pair of rookies in the outfield will have another year of development under their belts. Appealing as that might seem from an outside perspective, however, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News noted this morning that GM Chris Young made clear to reporters yesterday that the club has not yet decided on a path for the trade deadline, and is still open to the possibility the club plays their way back into contention.

“I believe in this team,” Young said, as relayed by Grant. “I believe they are capable of a run. We just have to put ourselves in a better position so that nothing is insurmountable. This team had a 40-20 run last year. It’s in there.”

There’s certainly reasons for the Rangers to hold out hope the club can fight their way back into contention this year. Semien will celebrate his 34th birthday in September, and as he enters his mid-30’s it’s fair to wonder if this year’s meager .232/.296/.383 slash line is closer to what he’ll produce going forward than last year’s more impressive .276/.348/.478 line. 31-year-old Garcia and 30-year-old Seager are both younger than Semien but also now on the wrong side of 30, and that’s not to mention the uncertainty surrounding 36-year-old deGrom and his checkered injury history. Semien, Seager, and deGrom are due a combined $98.5MM in 2025. With so much money tied up in that trio and key pieces like Scherzer and Eovaldi on the verge of free agency, it’s fair to wonder if this year may be the club’s best shot at another postseason run with their current group.

With just over three weeks remaining until the trade deadline on July 30, how will the Rangers proceed? Have your say in the poll below:

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