The Rangers were one of a few teams that pursued Anthony Rendon before the star third baseman signed with the Angels on Wednesday, and the teams that missed out are believed to be turning their attention toward Josh Donaldson. Texas is apparently not likely to end up with him, either.
Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports that the contract Donaldson is seeking is not one the Rangers are comfortable handing out. Unless the price drops, Texas is seemingly out of the Donaldson sweepstakes.
Sources indicate that the price on Josh Donaldson has exceeded the Rangers' comfort level, and they are likely out.
The Dodgers, Nationals and Phillies are all reportedly in on Donaldson, so it makes sense that the price is climbing with Rendon no longer on the market. Rendon was said to be Philadelphia’s top target this offseason. Washington also now has a major hole in its lineup after winning the World Series, and they may try to fill it with Donaldson.
Donaldson signed a one-year, $23 million deal with the Braves last season to rebuild his value after a poor 2018. The 34-year-old hit 37 homers and had a .900 OPS for the NL East champs, and there has been talk of him potentially getting a four-year deal.
Mike Leake is one of several veteran starting pitchers that have been made available in trade discussions ahead of Wednesday afternoon’s deadline, and there are multiple teams interested in adding him.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers have engaged in trade conversations with the Seattle Mariners surrounding Leake.
#Brewers one of teams on #Mariners’ Mike Leake, sources tell The Athletic. #Rangers also have been in mix. Trade possible, even after Leake pitched last night. Leake holds full no-trade, but told reporters he was willing to waive it for deal that did not come to fruition – yet.
The Mariners appear motivated to move Leake, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported on Tuesday that they are willing to eat a significant portion of the 31-year-old’s remaining salary to help facilitate a deal.
The #Mariners are telling teams they will eat large amount of Mike Leake's remaining salary to facilitate a trade. He's earning $16 million this year, $15M in 2020, and has an $18M option or $5M buyout in 2021. The #STLCards are paying $5M of his contract this year, and $4M next.
Leake is 9-8 with a 4.40 ERA this season and has a career ERA of 4.05 and WHIP of 1.28. He has thrown 175 innings or more in every season since 2012 and is on pace to surpass that mark again this year, so he would be a nice innings-eater down the stretch for a contending team.
It’s safe to say the Texas Rangers’ social media team has had enough of fans tweeting them trade deadline suggestions.
The Rangers mocked up a hilarious Twitter graphic on Monday for fans who would send them trade suggestions, with all roads leading to a simple reminder that the social media team has nothing to do with roster decisions.
The best part? The small “tank for Zion” arrow in the top right corner.
The trade deadline can be a rather stressful time for everyone involved in the sport. Beyond the social media team, a prominent target of trade rumors made light of the speculation surrounding him. None of them have any control over this, so they might as well make light of it.
The Texas Rangers are in a difficult situation at the trade deadline, but it appears they’re going to stick to their rebuilding plan instead of going for it.
According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, Rangers pitcher Mike Minor is “increasingly likely” to be traded by the deadline, with both the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies as interested parties.
Sources: Mike Minor is increasingly likely to be traded in the next two weeks, as I reported a short time ago on @MLBNetwork. The #Brewers and #Phillies are among the interested teams, although there’s no indication that a deal is close. @MLB
The Rangers were not expected to contend this season, as evidenced by the fact that Minor has been the subject of trade rumors since April. Texas, however, sits at 50-45, just four games out of the second wild card spot. They’ve decided, apparently, that it’s not worth trying to go for it this year, and their best chance of being competitive in the long-term is to stick to the plan they already had in place.
The Texas Rangers are taking extra care of a key trade candidate.
Pitcher Mike Minor will not make his scheduled start Sunday ahead of the All-Star break, with the Rangers using the opportunity to skip him and give him some extra rest.
Mike Minor won't pitch Sunday…Rangers want to use the All-Star break to give him extra rest….he is not hurt….Joe Palumbo will start
The Rangers have a lot of incentive to take extra good care of Minor. He has an injury history and has thrown 117 innings this year after tossing 157 in all of last season. Plus, he’s been great, posting a 2.54 ERA for the Rangers, and they need him to stay healthy if they want to capitalize on his potential as a trade candidate. That’s a separate discussion altogether — the Rangers are just two games out of a wild card spot, and they’ll have to decide if they want to buy, sell, or simply stand pat over the next three weeks.
The Texas Rangers continue to fill their starting rotation with buy-low candidates.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Rangers have signed pitcher Shelby Miller to a one-year deal that, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, is incentive-laden.
#Rangers in agreement with free-agent RHP Shelby Miller on a one-year contract, source tells The Athletic.
Miller was once regarded as one of the best young pitchers in the game with the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves, posting a 3.22 ERA in his first 575 big league innings. He was then traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a blockbuster deal that backfired immensely, as he posted an ERA over six in 2016. The next year, his career was totally derailed by Tommy John surgery that he’s only just started to come back from.
Miller is still only 28. The Rangers will hope that he can reclaim his health and find something close to the form he flashed in St. Louis. If not, it’s a one-year commitment that they can move on from easily.
The Oakland A’s have reportedly acquired infielder Jurickson Profar from the Texas Rangers in a three-team trade.
Profar is the centerpiece of the trade, with the Tampa Bay Rays also involved and several players changing teams. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports has the details:
Full trade, sources tell Yahoo Sports:
Oakland gets: Jurickson Profar
Texas gets: Brock Burke, Eli White, Kyle Bird, Yoel Espinal, international $
Tampa Bay gets: 38th pick in 2019 draft, Emilio Pagan, Rollie Lacy
Profar, who has had difficulty staying healthy during his MLB career, had by far his best season last year. He appeared in 146 games and batted .254 with 20 home runs and 77 RBI. Interestingly enough, it was the Rays who expressed interest in trading for him last winter, but they did not end up with him in Friday’s deal.
Profar has two more years of arbitration before he is eligible to become a free agent in 2021. The 25-year-old is a career .240 hitter. He could either play second base full-time for the A’s or be used as a utility infielder.
