The trade deadline is six days away, but it wouldn’t appear that the Rangers are likely to be real active
In the run up to the All Star Break, the big question in regards to the Texas Rangers and the trade deadline was whether they would be buyers or sellers. The team did not hit for the first two and a half months of the season, had been below .500 since mid-May, and there appeared to be the real possibility that they’d be far enough out of the race come the deadline that it would make sense for them to sell.
The Rangers have gone 8-3 in their last 11 games, however, including winning 5 of 6 since the Break, and it now looks unlikely they will be in full on sell mode at the deadline. Its not out of the question — Texas plays six more games before Thursday’s 5 p.m. Central deadline, and going 0-6 or 1-5 may lead to selling — but Texas is a game and a half back of the third Wild Card spot and two games back of the second Wild Card, with Fangraphs putting their playoff odds at 31.8%. As things stand right now, the team is in the race.
Thus, the Rangers would appear to be heading into the deadline as buyers. That said, and with the caveat that things can change in the next few days due to injuries or other surprises, as things stand now, the Rangers don’t appear to be in a position where they’re going to be real aggressive buyers at the deadline.
The rotation, in a bit of a departure from previous years of Rangers contention, does not appear to be an area in need of reinforcements. Texas is currently rolling with a rotation of Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Patrick Corbin, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. Jon Gray just returned from the injured list, and while he is in the bullpen currently, he could move into the rotation should a need arise. Tyler Mahle is on the injured list, but the hope is that he will be back at some point in August or September.
The Rangers are lacking a bit in rotation depth right now — Jacob Latz has been used as a spot starter, but there’s really no one else who is a viable starting option in the organization right now beyond these names, especially with Dane Dunning having been dealt to the Braves. Caleb Boushley, who is in the pen as a long man right now, or 34 year old journeyman Ty Blach, who is in the Round Rock rotation, would seem to be the depth options, unless the team wanted to throw Kohl Drake (who has all of 12 innings of AAA experience) in the deep end. That lack of depth could lead to the Rangers sending Rocker back to AAA and putting Gray in the rotation, so that the team actually has a stretched out starter available if needed.
But the Rangers don’t appear to be in a position at this point to need to go out and acquire a starting pitcher to plug into their rotation. Its possible they could make a move for a starter to displace someone currently in place — especially if they are pessimistic about Mahle’s return — but it seems unlikely.
On the position player front, one would think that a team with a 95 OPS+ on the year would have glaring needs to be addressed at the deadline. With the bats having perked up as the summer has progressed, however, the offense is less of a problem, and there’s not necessarily a spot where a major upgrade seems realistic.
Joc Pederson is expected back as soon as Monday, and while he was terrible to start the season, he’s got a track record of hitting righthanders well, and once he’s healthy, he’ll be the DH against righthanded pitchers. Jake Burger should be back by the middle of August, and like Pederson, got off to an awful start to the season, but has slashed .250/.275/.442 since his return from his brief AAA demotion. The rest of the starting lineup includes some guys who are underperforming, but even in those cases, its not clear that anyone you’d look to go out and get would represent a meaningful upgrade over what the incumbent would be expected to do going forward.
On the bench, you’ve got Josh Smith as the super-utility guy and first man up if someone sits. You have Sam Haggerty, who has performed well as kinda-platoon partner for Evan Carter. You have either Kyle Higashioka or Jonah Heim as your backup catcher.
The Rangers could use a decent righthanded bench bat as a platoon partner for Joc. You can also make a case for getting a first baseman, and relegating Burger to a platoon role with Joc at DH. Or maybe getting a right fielder and making Adolis Garcia Joc’s platoon partner at DH. Hey, you could aim big and go get Eugenio Suarez to replace Josh Jung at third base.
But the Rangers seem to like the energy Adolis brings to the lineup, and he’s been terrific defensively this year. Replacing Jung with two months of Suarez seems rather dramatic, with a likely high price for Suarez despite him being a rental, and if you wanted to replace Jung as a starter, you’d seemingly just go with Josh Smith.
So on the position player side, it seems unlikely that the marginal improvement from going and getting a regular to replace a current starter would warrant the cost. If a move is made on the position player side, it would seem likely to be a righthanded bench bat/platoon DH, someone to fill a part-time role at a relatively low cost, rather than an impact regular.
Which leaves the bullpen — the one area where just about every contender, every year, tends to look to upgrade, and where the Rangers seem most likely to make a move in the next six days.
The Rangers’ bullpen has done quality work this season, with a 3.24 ERA that is third in MLB and an 81 ERA- that is tied for fourth. The pen has way exceeded expectations coming into this year, and Chris Young and Ross Fenstermaker deserve a lot of praise for essentially putting together the 2025 Ranger pen from scratch on the cheap.
That said, looking forward to the final couple of months of the regular season and, hopefully, the playoffs, you’re going to probably want to look to make some upgrades, particularly for the late innings. The Rangers started the year with Luke Jackson as their closer and Chris Martin and Robert Garcia as their top late inning guys. Jackson has been DFA’d, Martin has been good when he’s been healthy but has struggled to stay healthy and likely is out until September with a calf strain, and Garcia has been fine, with a 2.72 ERA, though an xERA almost a run higher at 3.64 is concerning.
Aside from Garcia, the current bullpen consists of:
Jacob Webb
Shawn Armstrong
Jon Gray
Hoby Milner
Cole Winn
Jacob Latz
Caleb Boushley
The hope is that Gray can be an effective late inning guy, but he could also end up back in the rotation if injuries or ineffectiveness strike. Webb and Armstrong are journeyman middle reliever types. Milner has been very good, and has had surprising success against righthanded hitters, but you probably want to limit him to facing primarily lefties if possible. Latz and Boushley have been good but are long men or multi-inning guys, and Winn is an up-and-down guy.
Internal options? Josh Sborz is on a rehab assignment currently, having missed all season due to offseason shoulder surgery, but who knows what he’ll be like when he returns in August. The team was hoping that Marc Church and Emiliano Teodo would be viable options at this point, but Church has thrown only 11 innings this year and has been on the i.l. for the past month, while Teodo has been bad when he’s been on the mound and has been on the i.l. since June 12.
There are pitchers at Round Rock who you could bring up if you just wanted an arm in the pen, but no one who you’d look at as someone who could displace Shawn Armstrong as your righthanded eighth inning guy, unless you believe Craig Kimbrel has access to a time machine. Codi Heuer isn’t going to do anything to upgrade the Rangers’ pen.
So the Rangers will likely be in the market for relief help, but one would think they’d be looking for late inning guys, eighth and ninth inning options, rather than a Chris Stratton or an Andrew Chafin. Someone who can miss bats with the game on the line. Unlike the strategy this past offseason, at the deadline, I’d expect the Rangers to be looking quality over quantity in terms of relief pitching.
Of course, that’s what every other contender is looking for at the deadline.
So, barring injuries or a collapse in the next six days, I don’t expect a ton of action from the Texas Rangers at the deadline. No Cliff Lee deals, no Max Scherzer deals, no Jordan Montgomery deals. Maybe a righthanded bench bat, probably a late inning reliever or two, but that’s probably it for the Texas Rangers.