Rangers not yet in works for any big off-season trades

Significant trade deadline acquisitions the past two seasons have gutted the Texas Rangers’ farm system of many of their best prospects, including four former first-round picks in three 2016 deals.

Gone are five starting pitchers and two center fielders, which helps explain why general manager Jon Daniels is zeroing in on those positions as the annual winter meetings rev up for four days of rumors and lobby-stalking at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

From a rotation standpoint, the pickings are slim via free agency. From a center-field standpoint, the pickings might be better when plucking from another team.

And, despite all that has been shipped away, the Rangers believe they have enough farm talent to woo teams with available top-flight players.

On Sunday, though, general manager Jon Daniels said that the Rangers weren’t currently doing any heavy-lifting on deals similar to the one that brought Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman from Philadelphia in 2015 for five prospects and catcher Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress from Milwaukee for three prospects.

In other words, trades that would bring in All-Star left-hander Chris Sale or former National League MVP Andrew McCutchen currently don’t appear to be in the works.

“If we don’t trade young players for established stars, it won’t be because we don’t have that opportunity. We do,” Daniels said. “It’s more of a decision that we make that it’s not the right move for us.

“In different circumstances, different time, different place, if the right deal lines up, we may do it. But generally speaking we’re probably a little less focused on those kinds of deals.”

But to say the Rangers aren’t equipped enough to make such a deal might be short-sighted despite the recent trades. Daniels said on Aug. 1 that the Rangers were asked about 32 different minor league players, not to mention young players on the major league roster.

Seven of them were dealt.

“We’ve have been asked about minor league players quite a bit,” Daniels said.

The question the Rangers are asking themselves is how many more can they afford to ship out. Daniels said that the two easiest things in the game to do are to go all-in or to rebuild.

The Rangers posted winning records seven of the past eight seasons and have gone to the playoffs five times. They are in the mode of trying to remain competitive for the long haul, not just 2017.

“The challenge we have is maintaining success, and you’ve got to thread that needle,” Daniels said. “A lot of our discussions have been, ‘How do we do that?’ That’s our challenge. I believe we can do that. I know we can do it.”

Filling voids in the rotation and center field apparently are the first step, and all other roster building is on hold until those spots are settled. Daniels said that first base will likely be filled by internal candidates, presumably Ryan Rua, Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo, and designated hitter won’t shake out until the Rangers settle on their outfield.

Ian Desmond and Carlos Gomez are in play. The Rangers remain in contact with all of their remaining free agents to varying degrees.

They’re also in contact with other clubs about trades. As of the eve of the winter meetings, though, the Big One doesn’t appear to be in the works.

This story was originally published December 4, 2016 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Rangers not yet in works for any big off-season trades."