SEATTLE – Major League Baseball’s trade market spun at such a record-breaking pace leading up to Thursday’s deadline that it was barely possible to keep up with the transactions, much less process what they meant.
Some things were pretty obvious after the dust from 52 trades in the final 48 hours before the deadline: The Rangers worked to strengthen a strength, largely because it’s what they could do. They didn’t have the capital to fix all the issues with the offense; either guys will get hot for a bit or the playoff hopes will shrivel.
Other obvious notes: The AL West, as a whole, was aggressive. And nice as the addition of Merrill Kelly was, it didn’t have the headline power of Carlos Correa back to the Astros or Eugenio Suarez back to the Mariners. Though, to be honest, headlines don’t win championships.
Related:AL West’s busy deadline sets up a sprint to the playoffs between Rangers, Astros, Mariners
Rangers
After it was all done, it left a slew of things to consider where the Rangers were concerned. So, after a hard night’s sleep, here are five things we think we think about the Rangers deadline performance.
— The payroll: Agreeing to eclipse the CBT threshold showed a late willingness to push harder for a playoff berth this year, but not sure how it affects the long-term plan for the Rangers. Nobody is concerned about the 50% tax on the approximate $2 million above $241 million the Rangers now project to be. It’s not going to break Ray Davis. But the philosophy to stay below was supposedly to reset the tax penalties lower for 2026. That seemed to imply the Rangers were willing to be more aggressive spenders this winter if things were reset. Now, the Rangers will face 50% tax if they go over again next year. They could still go under with a strategic waiver placement or two in August if things don’t go well, but they are over for the time being and willing to end there.
It still leaves a lot of questions. Does Davis now not intend to spend big over the winter? Does it suggest revenues from the RSN sports outlet have been so good the Rangers are willing to be a full-fledged big-market spender? And if the Rangers knew they had extra financial wherewithal might they have been able to do even more at the deadline, like add a bat?
— About adding a bat: After getting shut out by George Kirby and company in the first game after the break, the knee-jerk reaction would be: “Lotta good the pitching additions are if this team can’t hit.”
Little impulsive to judge off a Kirby start. His numbers against the Rangers are ridiculous. He’s got a 1.04 ERA in 10 career starts. It’s historic-type domination. Doesn’t mean there aren’t still issues with the offense, but also isn’t truly indicative of the offense either.
The hitting has been better over the last two months. Still, this team could have used another bat, perhaps a right-handed hitter to platoon at DH with Joc Pederson. The right-handed options on the platoon side: Whichever catcher does not start behind the plate (Kyle Higashioka has a .659 OPS vs. LH; Jonah Heim .560). Or the Rangers could go with left-handed hitting Josh Smith (.558 OPS vs. LH). Neither option is really attractive. If there was a place the Rangers came up short at the deadline, it was in fortifying this weakness. Some right-handed batts moved – Eugenio Suarez, Harrison Bader, Randal Grichuk and Austin Slater to name a few – but the Rangers were never closely linked to any of them. They either didn’t have the financial or player capital. Given the fact they ultimately were willing to go over the CBT, you have to think it’s the latter.
— The state of the farm: It’s not great, at least according to the rankings. And it’s really low on position players, which was probably another reason why they weren’t more seriously involved in Eugenio Suarez, who moved from Arizona to Seattle. The Rangers began the season ranked No. 19 in both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America organizational talent rankings. Those have not been updated. But Bleacher Report had the Rangers at No. 29, ahead of only the Los Angeles Angels, post draft (and pre-trade deadline).
And from that the Rangers peeled off six players, five of them from their top 30, to complete these deals, so, with the possible exception of Sebastian Walcott, it seems very unlikely the Rangers will have farm system help available to them next year. The best hope is that pitchers Emiliano Teodo and Winston Santos recover from injuries and that José Corniell, just back from Tommy John, moves fast next year.
— The state of the roster: To that, add that the major league roster is going to have significant overhaul this offseason. Nine – NINE! – of the 13 pitchers currently on the staff or IL are free agents after this season. Easier to say what’s under contract: Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jack Leiter, Robert Garcia and Cole Winn. Now, you would expect both Kumar Rocker and Jacob Latz to figure in the staff, too. Maybe Josh Sborz, but that’s a lot of positions to fill.
And that’s just the pitching staff. The Rangers will have real decisions to make about tendering contracts to Adolis García and Jonah Heim, who will both be in the final year of arbitration eligibility. Jake Burger has not had a great showing, but figure he’d be too inexpensive to risk losing for nothing. Bottom line: Work to do.
— What this all means: It’s important to be self aware. The Rangers have a weakened farm system and are facing a winter of roster turnover with uncertainty about where the payroll is going to go. Add in labor uncertainty for 2027 which may add a layer of complexity to how teams approach free agency this winter and it kind of distills a pretty clear picture: The plan needs to be about maximizing every opportunity to contend. This is not lost on Chris Young. As a baseball executives go, he leans more to the Dave Dombrowski school of understanding how precious chances to win are vs. another GM who might be more inclined to pull back.
At least, that’s what we think.
Texas Rangers’ Kumar Rocker, Jacob Latz optioned to make room for trade deadline additionsOne of baseball’s best bullpens got better. How can the Rangers use their new relievers?
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.