ARLINGTON, Texas — The Rangers are making moves. And it appears they're playing both sides of the upcoming trade deadline, as buyers and sellers.
Texas on Monday morning announced they've traded starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen to the Kansas City Royals for left-handed pitcher Walter Pennington, who's currently playing in the minor leagues.
The Lorenzen trade comes on the heels of the Rangers' trade for Tigers catcher Carson Kelly on Sunday. Texas sent minor leaguers Liam Hicks and Tyler Owens to Detroit in the deal.
Both moves were in line with the Rangers' needs heading down the stretch. Texas' offense has struggled at times, and Kelly should provide a solid bat as another catching option behind Jonah Heim. The Rangers' pitching has been solid and should get a boost from several starters returning from injury, including the possibility of Jacob deGrom soon. So Lorenzen, who was on a one-year deal with the club, was a trade option.
In return for Lorenzen, the Rangers are getting the lefty Pennington, who's only made one appearance in the majors. But he's been solid in the minors this year, carrying a 2.26 ERA through 59.2 innings for Triple-A Omaha.
In the Kelly trade, the Rangers will get a solid bat at the catcher position. Kelly has seven homers in 60 games with a .716 on-base plus slugging percentage.
The Rangers entered Monday 4.5 games behind both the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners after getting swept over the weekend in Toronto. Texas went into the weekend reportedly intending to buy at the deadline. And despite the weekend sweep, that strategy still seems like a possibility.
