Texas Rangers Potential Trade for Royals Reliever Aroldis Chapman
The Texas Rangers will likely look for bullpen help at the trade deadline Aug. 1. The Rangers have the best offense in baseball and a solid starting rotation. The bullpen has been a bit of a problem for most of the season.
How? For instance, entering the Tampa Bay Rays series on Friday, the Rangers bullpen had given up two or more earned runs in three of its last four games pitched, going back to June 3. Before that, the bullpen had thrown four straight scoreless outings.
The excellence of the rotation has insulated the bullpen somewhat. Before the Tampa Bay series, the Rangers had thrown the fewest innings (186 2/3) of an bullpen in baseball. It also had the second-fewest strikeouts (186).
Is there a way for the Rangers to solve that problem? Sure, and the solution might be with the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals are among the worst teams in baseball and figure to be sellers at the trade deadline. The Athletic reported earlier this week that the Royals are already shopping veteran reliever Aroldis Chapman. They’re even giving teams options:
Part with a better prospect package to gain control of Chapman for nearly four months of the regular season, rather than the two months a team would get by acquiring him at the trade Aug. 1 deadline. (Or)
Accept Chapman as part of a package with another Royals player, enabling Kansas City to shed payroll while ensuring a better return in a trade.
Chapman is a seven-time All-Star, a 2016 World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs and has more than 300 career saves. But he’s with Kansas City on a bit of career rehab after his unceremonious finish with the New York Yankees, where he skipped a mandatory workout going into the postseason and was left off the postseason roster.
He’s only saved two games for Kansas City, but he’s 1-2 with a 2.95 ERA in 23 games with 35 strikeouts. He’s also relatively cheap, as the Royals are only paying him $3.75 million.
If the Royals are really interested in shedding payroll, there is another reliever that could be worth getting and that’s Scott Barlow, who is being paid $5.3 million this season. Barlow entered the weekend with a 2-3 record, a 3.52 ERA with seven saves and 33 strikeouts.
The Rangers have one of the best-stocked minor league systems in baseball. Would they spend a few prospects to trade for two closers that also have set-up experience and fortify their bullpen?
The trade deadline is less than two months away.
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