ARLINGTON, Texas — The Major League Baseball trading deadline ended at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, but not before the Texas Rangers had already made their moves to enhance their division-leading squad. There was quite a flurry of activity from all across the league, with major players switching teams and the balance of power within divisions were altered.
For the Rangers, many of their big moves were made in advance of the deadline, but one move, possibly one that could have an unexpectedly large impact, occurred with less than half an hour before the deadline.
Here’s a look at what the Rangers accomplished and what grade they’ve earned as they’ve signaled a desire to win it all in 2023:
June 30
- Texas Rangers acquire: LHP Aroldis Chapman
- Kansas City Royals acquire: LHP Cole Ragans, OF Roni Cabrera
General Manager Chris Young actually got a head start on trade season by addressing one of the Rangers’ biggest needs going into the season. Aroldis Chapman had signed with the Kansas City Royals on a 1-year, $3.75 million pillow contract in an attempt to rebuild his value after a dismal and drama-filled final year with the New York Yankees. The bet on himself worked, as Chapman, at the time of acquisition, had posted a 2.45 ERA in 29.1 innings with the Royals, putting up an incredibly impressive 16.3 K/9 rate.
Chapman’s presence gave the Rangers something they did not have in their bullpen – strikeout power. Manager Bruce Bochy announced that both Chapman and Will Smith would be co-closers, and while Chapman to date has only saved one game for the Rangers, his presence is certainly felt, as the Cuban fireballer has recorded 14 strikeouts in just 8 innings with the club.
By acting early, the Rangers got themselves a whole additional month of Chapman, at a time when they sorely needed established bullpen help. In parting ways with Cole Ragans, the Rangers parted ways with their 2016 first round draft pick. The lefty Ragans did not seem to have a place on the big league club, as he spent a majority of his time with the Rangers waiting for mop-up or long-relief duty. Roni Cabrera is a low-level outfielder, not really of consequence in the near future.
Grade: A-
With the low price tag and the high impact to the club at an identified area of need, this trade has worked out well for the club thus far, except for one costly game against Houston where Chapman was unable to hold a lead that cost Texas a series against the hard-charging Astros.
July 30
- Texas Rangers acquire: RHP Max Scherzer and cash
- New York Mets acquire: SS Luisangel Acuña
The big one. This was the move that showed Texas was pushing their chips in. Similar to landing Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi before the season started, the acquisition of Max Scherzer signaled to the rest of the league that Texas’ main goal was to play more than 162 games and make it back to the World Series.
Scherzer, along with the rest of the Mets, have not had seasons that match their expectations. The Mets had been spiraling downwards and have persistently been looking up at the Atlanta Braves one summer after winning 100 games. Scherzer, for his part, has not performed like an eight-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young winner.
However, even though Scherzer just turned 39 and has had a down year, his contributions to a winning ball club should not be overlooked. The Mets, though, were not a winning ball club. They signified their intentions by trading away closer David Robertson, a move that was highly unpopular with Scherzer. After voicing his issues to Mets management, the righty found himself being sent to the Rangers, waiving his no-trade clause to join Texas after speaking with 2022 teammate deGrom.
The Mets fully committed to rebuilding for a couple of years, not just by confirming their plans to not be competitive in 2024, but by literally sending millions of dollars to their trade partners to take players and contracts off their hands. Texas will only end up paying $22.5 million for Scherzer’s services, and during the trade discussion, Scherzer activated his player option and will play with the club for the 2024 season as well, another year in which they intend to contend.
The biggest loss to the farm system came in this deal, as Texas shipped out Luisangel Acuña, their No. 3-rated prospect. Acuña certainly appears to have a bright big league future, and it will probably start sooner rather than later in New York, but with Marcus Semien and Corey Seager up the middle for the next five years at least, there was not going to be a path in Texas for the brother of leading NL MVP candidate Ronald Acuña Jr.
Because of that, this is a relatively low-impact deal for the club in terms of assets spent, but the impact on the 2023 season could be extremely high for Texas if Scherzer pitches like an ace in October.
Grade: A
With deGrom done for the year and Eovaldi hitting the injured list with worrisome arm issues, the Rangers needed someone who can top their rotation and Scherzer has been one of the league’s true aces for over a decade now, though one that is less of a sure thing than in recent years.
July 31
- Texas Rangers acquire: LHP Jordan Montgomery, RHP Chris Stratton, International bonus slot money
- St. Louis Cardinals acquire: INF Thomas Saggese, RHP Tekoah Roby, LHP John King
Not satisfied with Scherzer alone after the rotation had become shaky in recent weeks, the Rangers made a trade that, on paper, looked to give them too many starters. However, with Eovaldi going on the 15-day IL with a forearm strain, Jon Gray, and Dane Dunning showing signs of tiring out, and with lefties Martin Perez and Andrew Heaney having more bad performances than good since May, adding another middle-of-the-rotation starter like Montgomery serves to increase the durability of the staff.
Montgomery, over the course of two half-seasons with the Cardinals, has put up a respectable 3.31 ERA in 184.2 innings with the club with an 8.2 K/9. Whether Heaney, Perez or Dunning move to the bullpen or not remains to be seen, but all three have some experience coming on in relief and all three seem to be more effective in shorter bursts.
For now though, Texas also increased the strength of its bullpen by bringing in Stratton. Stratton might not be an additional closing option with Chapman and Smith, but he does give Bochy an additional middle-relief arm to lengthen the bullpen.
Stratton had a great half-year in 2022 with the Cardinals before tailing off this season. The difference? Perhaps it was Mike Maddux who was the pitching coach for St. Louis when Stratton posted a 2.78 ERA in 20 games last season. Stratton and Montgomery will reunite with Maddux in Texas.
As far as what Texas gave up, reliever John King had been up and down with the big league club’s bullpen, putting up a lackluster 5.79 ERA in 15 games with Texas. TK Roby and Thomas Saggese were outside of the organization’s Top 10 prospects to start the year but each were rising.
Saggese, like Acuña, was blocked at the big league level, although his hit tool could have played as a designated hitter. Roby has battled injuries over his brief minor league tenure, a pitcher that looks to stick as a middle of the rotation starter if all goes well.
Grade: A+
An argument could be made that Mongomery is the best pitcher the Rangers acquired this summer as he’s been more steady than Scherzer and should factor into a postseason rotation should the Rangers get that far.
Again, Chris Young seems to have extracted a deal for two players who will augment a major area of need with the team trying to win now and didn’t give up much that might come back and hurt the club in the immediate future, even if the prospects in this deal look like they could become good major leaguers down the road.
Aug. 1
- Texas Rangers acquire: C Austin Hedges
- Pittsburgh Pirates acquire: International bonus slot money
With Jonah Heim being placed on the IL with a wrist tendon strain, the Rangers have Mitch Garver and Sam Huff behind the dish. Garver and Huff are far more recognized for their bats than their game-calling and backstop prowess, but really only Garver is expected to get significant playing time with Heim out for an indeterminate amount of time.
With that in mind, the club acquired Hedges from the Pirates right before the deadline expired. Hedges isn’t going to have anywhere near the offensive production that Heim did as one of the worst hitters in the big leagues.
In 65 games with the Bucs, Hedges was slashing .180/.237/.230. It’s a terrible line, without question. But Texas didn’t acquire Hedges for his bat. Hedges possesses a career 28% caught stealing rate; he hasn’t hit that mark this year, but that reputation is key. Hedges also ranks, according to Baseball Savant, as the league’s best pitch framer – two slots ahead of Heim, with only around 370 fewer pitches seen.
On a team who has a lot of pitchers that pitch to the edges of the zone, Hedges can be an asset. With Heim’s season a question mark at this point, it’s clear that the Rangers needed a defensive-minded catcher who can work with their pitching additions and are clearly willing to sacrifice plate production to get it.
The price of international bonus slot money works out as a wash, since Texas got bonus slot money from the Cardinals in their trade just one day prior.
Grade: B
A backup catcher is low impact until you don’t have one. People will tear their hair out when Hedges is in the lineup but the truth is, the Rangers clearly saw that the pitching staff needed a trusted receiver behind the plate and got one of the best in the game right now. If he could hit, well, he’d be Jonah Heim.
Deadline grade: A-
With all the pieces that Texas got and what they gave up, Young and his front office appeared to work some magic. These were the moves of a GM that wants to see his team play some meaningful baseball in September and beyond while giving up pieces that should not impact the ability to do so again in 2024.
They were aggressive moves, and while a couple of them may be perceived as early trigger pulling, there’s no doubt that, at the time of the trade, the moves made all the sense in the world for a Rangers team that is primed to win now.
Perhaps the only negative was even more moves could have been explored – getting another offensive bat, another high leverage arm for the ‘pen, or a more reliable regular left fielder would have been a logical step – but the faith is there that Corey Seager will return soon to reignite one of the league’s best lineups, and that the pitching moves strengthened the team’s ability to stay in the ballgames.
What grade would you give the Rangers for their deadline trades? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.