Pitchers Linked to Texas Rangers as Trade Deadline Nears

Upgrading the biggest staff appears to be the priority for the Texas Rangers with the trade deadline fast approaching.

The trade deadline is about a week away and the Texas Rangers haven’t made a move since acquiring Aroldis Chapman last month.

The club continues to get mentioned in the Shohei Ohtani Sweepstakes, but dealing for the best player in baseball won’t be easy. While adding the Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar would solve several issues, the Rangers have to be looking elsewhere, as well, to beef up the roster.

MLB.com’s collection of writers put together a list of what every team should do before the Aug. 1 deadline. The need for the Rangers is pretty obvious: “Add lots of pitchers.” Here’s the rationale:

Lots may sound dramatic, but the Rangers have glaring holes in both the rotation and bullpen that likely won’t be fixed by a single trade. Texas already opened the trade floodgates by acquiring Aroldis Chapman on June 30, but the bullpen still has a 4.78 ERA as a whole. A starter has been an obvious need since Jacob deGrom went down, but it’s become dramatically obvious that Nathan Eovaldi (2.69 ERA) and Jon Gray (3.31 ERA) are the only consistently reliable arms in the rotation.

A case is made for several pitchers believed to be on the trading block, though Ohtani is not mentioned. These arms appear to be gettable and the Rangers are armed with trade assets (prospects, MLB-ready talent) to get deals done.

If the Padres end up selling, the combination of Josh Hader and Blake Snell could fortify the staff, and both Chicago teams could end up dealing veteran starters like Marcus Stroman and Lucas Giolito. There are plenty of arms on the market, the Rangers just have to decide who they’re willing to trade valuable prospect capital for.

Giolito has been tied to the Rangers previously. Hader, Snell and Stroman would definitely help fortify the staff for the playoff run.

The Rangers figure to do something significant. The question is what and when.

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