Over the last ten seasons, the Texas Rangers have the fifth highest number of regular season wins in major league baseball. They finished first in their division four times, going to two World Series, two Division Series and one Wild Card game. The Houston Astros have the least number of regular season wins in that same time span.
The Astros have a World Series ring. The Rangers don’t. That’s got to sting a bit.
It wasn’t that long ago that the Rangers finished in first place, going 95-67 in 2016 before getting swept by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Division Series. Since then, the Rangers are 105-127, including a 27-43 mark at the time of this writing in 2018. They sit in last place in the AL West and 18 games out of first place.
The Rangers are trying to give the team over to young position players such as Rougned Odor, Jurickson Profar, Joey Gallo, and Delino DeShields, but they aren’t performing well. The veteran rotation behind Cole Hamels has been disappointing as well.
Hamels was acquired in a big trade with the rebuilding Philadelphia Phillies in 2015 that sent Jorge Alfaro, Alec Asher, Jerad Eickhoff, Matt Harrison, Jake Thompson, and Nick Williams to the Phillies. Harrison was included as salary ballast, but Alfaro, Eickhoff, Thompson, and Williams were significant prospects at the time. Was this a good trade? Hamels and left-handed reliever Jake Diekman, the other player going to Texas in this deal, pitched well down the stretch and in the years since then. All things considering, this still seams like a good trade for both sides.
The following year, the Rangers found themselves once again in a pennant race, and once again they made moves at the trading deadline. They sent minor leaguer pitchers Nick Green, Erik Swanson, and Dillon Tate to the New York Yankees to rent Carlos Beltran to fill a Prince Fielder-sized hole in their DH position. Beltran hit about league-average down the stretch and none of the pitchers by the Yankees have made the majors yet (though all three are pitching well in the upper minor-league levels now), so another solid move for a team in contention.
On the same day, the Rangers acquired right-handed reliever Jeremy Jeffress and catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the Brewers. Again, both players were rentals, and both played well down the stretch. The package going the other way to Milwaukee however was substantial, and included the top Rangers prospect, outfielder Lewis Brinson as well as top pitching prospect Luis Ortiz and outfielder Ryan Cordell. Cordell is now a 26-year-old quad-A type in the White Sox system, but Brinson is now the starting centerfielder for the Miami Marlins after being the main piece of the Christian Yelich trade. Ortiz is still in the Brewers system, and one of the best pitching prospects in the Southern League. Again, another trade that seems to have worked out for both sides.
But the Rangers sure would look better right now with Alfaro, Eickhoff, Thompson, Williams, Dillon, Brinson, and Ortiz all still in their system.
Now the Rangers have an opportunity to rebuild some of that lost prospect depth. Here are three current Texas Rangers that could be on the block this trading deadline that may interest the Braves.
Cole Hamels
Over the past 10 years, Hamels is only behind Clayton Kershaw among left-handed pitchers in bWAR, and he’s having yet another solid Cole Hamels-type season this year at age 34. This is the final year of a big contract, and if the Braves traded for him at the deadline, they would be on the hook for approximately $7.8 million for the rest of the season.
How he could fit: He’s not a “true ace” anymore like he was with the Phillies in his late 20s, but he would fit in the Braves rotation among the emerging stars like Foltynewicz, Newcomb, and Soroka.
The question is, what about Braves veteran starters like Julio Teheran, Anibal Sanchez, and Brandon McCarthy? I have an idea about that. The Braves are know to be strapped this season for salary, though the front office has indicated that room could be found for the right pieces. To make that easier, Teheran and/or McCarthy could be included as salary ballast for Hamels, much like how Matt Harrison was traded to the Phillies in 2015 to help make that deal more palatable for the Rangers that season. Trading McCarthy would save the Braves around $3.89 million at the deadline, making the net salary increase for Atlanta a more reasonable $3.91 million.
The Rangers however may prefer Teheran, who is both under control for another season and is a better pitcher than McCarthy. Trading Teheran instead of McCarthy would save the Braves $2.72 million, making the net salary increase for Atlanta $5.08 million. It would also clear Teheran’s $11.2 million from the books for 2019.
What would it take? Either by taking on a salary like McCarthy or Teheran or sending cash, a trade for Hamels would likely require the Rangers helping Atlanta out with the salary. While Hamels is a fine pitcher that would help the Braves rotation, his acquisition probably isn’t the kind of big splash that the front office would take to ownership for underwriting. McCarthy would pretty much be a straight salary dump, but Teheran would actually have value to the Rangers. My proposal will deal both, plus have the Rangers send $1 million to make the trade essentially salary-neutral, giving the Rangers the best possible return.
Example: Julio Teheran, Brandon McCarthy, Drew Waters, and Drew Lugbauer for Cole Hamels and $1 million.
Jake Diekman
The “other guy” in the Cole Hamels trade with Philadelphia, the 31-year-old Diekman will become a free agent at the end of the season. Diekman has been one of the steadier left-handed relievers in the American League since the trade, owning a 2.95 ERA with Texas while striking out 10.2 batters per nine innings pitched.
He also once had to go on the disabled list after he cut his finger on a broken souvenir beer mug.
How he could fit: Diekman would be an upgrade to the left-side of the Braves bullpen, having a stronger record of success than any of Sam Freeman, A.J. Minter, Jesse Biddle, or Luiz Gohara. Any of the last three could be optioned, while Freeman would have to be designated for assignment to make room and would almost certainly be claimed by another team. My guess is that Biddle or Gohara would be optioned in the event of a Diekman acquisition.
What would it take? The relief market is always hard to gauge, but even at the trade deadline, a non-closing lefty with only two months of control remaining should not command a huge return. My guess is that if the Braves and Rangers are talking, they would be talking about Hamels, and Diekman could be included in that kind of deal; if that’s the case, look at the example above and slightly upgrade one of the pieces. Below is an example for Diekman alone.
Example: Corbin Clouse and Kelvin Rodriguez for Jake Diekman.
Adrian Beltre
Let me say from the start that I think it is unlikely that the Rangers will deal Adrian Beltre, even though he is on the last year of a contract that is paying him $18 million for 2018 and that hamstring problems are a recurring issue that have caused the typically durable Beltre to only play 133 games since the start of 2017. The reason being that Beltre is by far the most popular player on the team, and is a reason for fans to continue to come out to the ballpark, to pay their respects to a future Hall-of-Famer who will knock down several career milestones by the end of the year if he remains healthy, and is also a team leader and one of the great ambassadors of the sport.
That said… there’s also something about giving one of the greats a shot at a ring, something the 39-year-old Beltre only had one shot at in his 21-year major league career, in 2011 when the Rangers fell to the St. Louis Cardinals. There is also the fact that Beltre has not indicated that he intends to retire after this season, and it doesn’t take much imagination to believe that he could return to Texas in 2019 under a short-term contract, regardless if he’s traded at the deadline or not.
How he could fit: Even with the hamstring issues, Beltre is a tremendous hitter, and is currently hitting .324/.380/.434 in 39 games. He has not had a wRC+ under 100 since 2009. He also remains a capable fielder. If I were manager Brian Snitker, I would pencil Beltre’s name in the line-up three out of every four days, and use Johan Camargo liberally to give Beltre extra innings off late in games. But make no mistake, Beltre could very well be that right-handed power bat for the middle of the line-up that is the most glaring deficiency of the offense.
What would it take? Like with the Hamels scenarios, the Braves would likely need some assistance from the Rangers to help mitigate the salary impact, so I will be including Brandon McCarthy in the deal and cash coming back to Atlanta.
Example: Brandon McCarthy, Lucas Sims, and Jefrey Ramos for Adrian Beltre and $2 million.
i dont understand for the life of me why people want to trade teheran after all he has done for this team…..Alex Anthopolous has already said Julio is as close to untouchable as you can get
No, Jason, he has not said that.
You trade Teheran (or any other player) if doing so makes your team better. It all depends on the return players.