Kansas City Royals Trade Aroldis Chapman to Texas Rangers as First Trade Domino Falls

We are still one month away from the MLB Trade Deadline, but the Texas Rangers got busy early, acquiring reliever Aroldis Chapman from the Kansas City Royals.

We are still one month away from the MLB Trade deadline but the Texas Rangers got started early by acquiring veteran reliever Aroldis Chapman from the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals tweeted the deal on Friday night:

We have traded LHP Aroldis Chapman to the Texas Rangers in exchange for LHP Cole Ragans and OF Roni Cabrera. Ragans, a 40-man roster player, has been optioned to Omaha (AAA) and Cabrera has been assigned to the Royals Dominican Summer League team.

The 35-year-old Chapman is one of the hardest throwers in baseball history. He's long been one of the best closers in baseball as well, having registered 317 career saves over his 14-year career with the Reds, Yankees, Cubs and Royals.

He's got a lifetime 2.47 ERA and a dominant 14.8 K/9 ratio.

While he's not quite the same pitcher that he used to be, he was highly effective this year for the Royals, going 4-2 with two saves in 31 appearances. He has an ERA of 2.45 and a 16.3 K/9.

He faltered in his last year with the Yankees (2022) but maybe the change of scenery to Kansas City and now Texas will help him continue to keep succeeding.

As for the players that the Royals acquired, Ragans is a 25-year-old, who has appeared in 26 career games (nine starts). He's got a lifetime ERA of 5.32 in 64.1 innings and is under contract through 2029.

Cabrera is not on the Rangers Top 30 prospect list, per MLB.com. He's hitting .247 this season for the DSL Rangers with three homers and 28 RBI. He's 17-years-old and will turn 18 on July 31.

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