Texas Rangers' Bochy on Trade Deadline: 'A Lot of Rumors, Possibilities'
ARLINGTON, Texas — The trade deadline is Aug. 1. Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy knows it. And he knows you’re going to hear a lot of noise leading up to it.
“One thing you’re all going to hear is a lot of rumors, possibilities and that can be distractions to the players and I don’t want it to be,” Bochy said on Friday.
Indeed, the rumor mill is moving into overdrive as the All-Star Break ends and the second half of the season begins. In just the past few days, the Rangers have been attached to rumors that involve Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani and Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito.
That’s the nature of the final few weeks of the trade deadline in baseball. There’s a lot of noise to cut through.
But, for the first time in several years, the Rangers are looked upon as buyers at the deadline and not sellers. The Rangers have already made one trade, acquiring reliever Aroldis Chapman from the Kansas City Royals for two players, one of which was pitcher Cole Ragans.
Chapman has thrown three scoreless innings in three games for Texas so far.
It’s likely the next deal the Rangers try to swing will require more capital.
Bochy said he and general manager Chris Young are in daily contact about potential deals. He knows what Young knows and Bochy gives his input.
For a team that led the American League West by two games over the Houston Astros at the break, the needs would appear clear. The Rangers could use more help in the bullpen. It’s possible the Rangers could seek to acquire a starting pitcher for the back end of the rotation.
Texas could also go after one more bat that could give one of the best offenses in baseball a little more juice.
Bochy said that there is plenty of time for a deal — or more — to get done. Part of that is due to the number of teams remaining in postseason contention, thanks to the expanded playoff format that allows six teams to reach the postseason.
It’s part of the reason there could be a flurry of activity in the last day or two before the deadline.
“I’ll wait to see if something happens,” Bochy said. “A lot of names are going to be out there. Some teams aren’t sure if they’re selling or not. So we still have a couple of weeks on that.”
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