Key players don’t go anywhere at trade deadline. Where do the Rangers go now?
The phone rang or buzzed, or did whatever Jon Daniels’ phone does, for a good two weeks and for three harried hours Wednesday as the annual 3 p.m. trade deadline approached.
Daniels received offers throughout, offers that didn’t meet the value the Texas Rangers had placed on their top trade pieces. As he told teams they needed to do better, he said that he wasn’t going to buckle in the 11th hour.
And he didn’t.
As a result, Mike Minor was the Rangers’ starting pitcher Wednesday and Hunter Pence was the designated hitter four hours after the deadline passed. They aren’t going anywhere the rest of the season.
Where are the Rangers going?
Players say they’re going the right direction with their key players largely in place. The Rangers traded right-handed reliever Chris Martin on Tuesday to the Atlanta Braves, but a team that still includes Minor, Pence, Lance Lynn, Danny Santana and Nomar Mazara has more of a fighting chance than a team holding tryouts for 2020.
Ah, 2020. Hopes were high that the Rangers could be more serious playoff contenders in a new ballpark, with the same core group, if ownership sprinkled some more money around the roster.
“The great thing about it, keeping the whole team, is it’s about adding and moving forward,” shortstop Elvis Andrus said. “I see it, personally, and I’m hoping the front office is seeing it the same way. If we can add a few guys to help us, it would be a really good team. We’re super close, super close.”
Daniels confirmed that he expects to have a little more spending money in the off-season, money that can be doled out in, say, a Minor contract extension and a free-agent starting pitcher to put with Minor and Lynn.
The organization, Daniels said, is in a better place than it was a year ago, when the Rangers were sellers at the deadline. The minor leagues have more depth, the big-league coaching staff has revamped the team culture, and some players, namely Joey Gallo, have taken steps forward.
The Rangers still trail the Houston Astros and Oakland A’s and, arguably, the Los Angeles Angels in overall talent in the American League West. The Astros and A’s were both active ahead of the deadline, and the Astros acquired former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke.
No MLB team offered the Rangers a deal they thought would give them fair value and help them gain on the division.
“That’s probably the best way to put it,” Daniels said.
The Rangers announced one trade Wednesday morning. They sent two low-level pitchers to the Chicago White Sox for injured reliever Nate Jones, cash and international slot money.
Jones won’t pitch this season, and the Rangers will likely decline the $5,150,000 club option for 2020. However, they will strongly considered keeping him after they are able to evaluate him following his May surgery for a torn flexor tendon in his right arm.
The slot money will help the Rangers finalize their reported $4.25 million deal for 16-year-old outfielder Bayron Lora, one of the top free agents available in the current international class.
The Martin trade produced left-hander Kolby Allard, a former first-round pick who is likely to pitch this season for the Rangers after a stop at Triple A Nashville.
Minor pitched for them against Wednesday. Pence played for them again Wednesday. They will be with the Rangers the rest of the season, and perhaps in 2020.
Pence can be a free agent, the Rangers could still trade any player in the off-season, but for now the Rangers believe they will be competitive the rest of this season and contenders next season.
“We still have two months to go,” manager Chris Woodward said. “We’re trying to win every game.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2019 at 8:20 PM.
