The non-waiver trade deadline is right around the corner. Will the Texas Rangers be sellers?
As the second half of the 2017 MLB season gets underway this weekend, one of the biggest subjects over the next couple weeks will be the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. One team that may be particularly interesting to keep an eye on is the Texas Rangers.
After a rough 2014 campaign, the Rangers rebounded to win back-to-back AL West titles under manager Jeff Banister in 2015 and 2016. This season, however, has been a bit of a struggle for the Rangers. Texas is currently sitting in third place in the AL West with a sub-.500 record of 43-45. The Rangers trail the intrastate rival Houston Astros by 16.5 games. That said, they are only three games back of an AL Wild Card spot.
Will the Rangers trade key players?
Over the past two years, the Rangers have been buyers at the trade deadline, making major moves such as acquiring starting pitcher Cole Hamels and catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Some are now beginning to suspect, however, that the Rangers could end up being sellers this time around.
The Rangers clearly have a number of assets that contending teams may be interested in. According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, the club may even be prepared to begin listening to offers on Yu Darvish and Hamels, barring a second-half turnaround.
There's an increasing buzz that #Rangers will listen on Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels if team doesn't pick up its play before July 31 deadline.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 13, 2017
Proven commodities
After coming over from Japan and signing a six-year, $60 million deal with the Rangers prior to the 2012 season, Darvish has consistently put up ace-caliber numbers. During his first three seasons stateside, Darvish went 39-25 with a 3.27 ERA (128 ERA+) and a 1.20 WHIP. After missing the entire 2015 campaign due to undergoing Tommy John surgery, he came back to post a 7-5 record with a 3.41 ERA (131 ERA+) and a 1.12 WHIP last season.
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This year, Darvish has gone 6-8 with a 3.49 ERA (132 ERA+) and a 1.13 WHIP. He has been worth 3.2 bWAR and 2.2 fWAR. Darvish will reach free agency after this season, however, and teams might be hesitant to surrender top prospects for a rental.
Hamels, who has done excellent work for the Rangers since coming over in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies two summers ago, missed a considerable amount of time with an oblique strain this season. He returned to the mound in late June, though, and has now gone an impressive 4-0 with a 3.51 ERA (132 ERA+) and a 1.07 WHIP.
Unlike Darvish, Hamels would not be a rental. Per Baseball-Reference, he is slated to make $23.5 million next year and also has a $20 million team option for 2019 or a $24 million vesting option.
Next: Cubs send message to Brewers with trade
The Rangers will open the second half with a three-game series against the red-hot Kansas City Royals. Though the Rangers are still far from being out of the race, it definitely appears that it is now crunch time. It should be very interesting to see what happens if they fall any further behind in the AL Wild Card race.