Potential Bullpen Trade Targets for Texas Rangers From AL Central

The Texas Rangers could be the market for bullpen help once the trade deadline talks pick up in July.

If the Texas Rangers are looking for bullpen help at the trade deadline, there could be a few names to watch coming out of the American League Central.

CBS Sports put together a list of 20 players that could move by the trade deadline and which teams would be the best fits. The site selected two relievers the Rangers could be interested in come late July.

The first is one the Rangers ran into on their last road trip — Detroit Tigers right-hander Alex Lange. The former Chicago Cubs first-round pick has a sub-3.00 ERA for the Tigers, a live arm and is handling the Tigers’ late inning relief work. Plus, he’s only in his third year in the league.

That’s a good reason to go after him, according to CBS Sports:

We suspect Lange will still be a Tiger come August. He throws the hardest curveball in the majors, a pitch that benefits greatly from seam-shifted wake. Factor in his mid-90s fastball, and he's turned into a late-inning demon for Detroit.

The other is Chicago White Sox reliever Joe Kelly, a 35-year-old who is playing out the final year of his guaranteed contract. A new team wouldn’t be tied to his new deal, because it would hold a club option and could just release him.

The Rangers would be getting a reliever that has been a bright spot for Chicago this season:

He's been dynamite this year, pumping upper-90s gas and generating an absurd amount of whiffs using a new-look gyro slider. Barring a miraculous turnaround over the next two months, there's no reason for him to remain with the Southsiders.

The MLB trade deadline Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. CT.

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