MLB trade rumors: Landing spots for Texas Rangers catcher Jonathan Lucroy

The Texas Rangers appear willing to move catcher Jonathan Lucroy in order to upgrade the rest of their roster. Where could he be dealt?

The Texas Rangers, for all of their issues, are right in the thick of the AL Wild Card race. They are just two games out, although, they would need to climb over six teams to get there including two other teams in their own division.

One of the big flaws on this team is they don’t really have a closer and they don’t have an offense like the Washington Nationals to overcome that. They acquired Jason Grilli from Toronto yesterday, just trying to get some sort of depth out there. Their bullpen has 17 blown saves this year, which is the most in all of baseball.

Now, it appears they are willing to dangle catcher Jonathan Lucroy, whom they acquired last July, and put him back in the trade market this year to help fill a need like the bullpen. Robinson Chirinos would take over catching duties and although he’s hitting just .232, he has a .903 OPS.

The problem is, Lucroy has had a bad year. In 61 games, he’s slashing .263/.310/.373 with just four homers and 22 RBI in his contract year. He has a BABIP of just .279 after having a .322 BABIP last year. His hard hit rate is down to just 22.4 percent this year compared to 35.4 percent last year per Fangraphs.

So can the Rangers get what they  need in exchange for Lucroy? Where can he go? Let’s take a look.