The Texas Rangers are a struggling team near the bottom of the AL West. For a better future, they must start rebuilding today.
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Texas Rangers could use today’s trade deadline as a possible way to launch their rebuild.
Yu Darvish has undoubtedly been the hottest commodity and name floated out there leading up to the deadline. Darvish is having the worst season of his career, but for a team needing a dominant, front-end starter, he is still the perfect fit.
Darvish has a career 3.42 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. For the Rangers, dealing Darvish would be a very smart move. He would bring back two to three high-end prospects because of how desperate teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Indians are for a pitcher. The Rangers don’t have to deal him, but it would be nice to get something for the soon-to-be free agent.
The best case scenario would be for the Rangers to get top prospects in exchange for Darvish and then re-sign him this offseason.
Overpaying for talent is the way in which the trade deadline works, and for Darvish’s market that would be 100 percent accurate.
If Darvish goes, could be first of several deals by #Rangers; other moves lined up (Cashner? Napoli? RPs?) Otherwise might play it out.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2017
But taking Rosenthal’s tweet into account, the Rangers may not even re-sign Darvish at season’s end and instead head for a full-on rebuild.
The Rangers don’t have a lot of promise with regard to their future and could turn some of their bigger names into a strengthened farm system. If the Rangers want to compete in the AL West, they’ll have to figure out a way to match up with the Houston Astros.
This current roster can’t do that.
The AL West is not a very strong division. The Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics don’t have promising futures, at least as of now. The division will most likely be led by the Astros for years to come unless, of course, the Rangers can rebuild.
That could start today.
Next: Addison Reed to the Red Sox
Andrew Cashner has been a respectable starter for the team with a 3.48 ERA. A club in need of a middle-of-the-rotation-type starter could overpay for the big right-hander. The New York Yankees, Indians or Kansas City Royals could all use a starter like Cashner and all three are prone to overpay.
If the Rangers want to make today a good one, they’ll begin the process of rebuilding.