The Texas Rangers are acquiring 2-time Cy Young Corey Kluber, but is that enough for them to contend in a deep division?
The Texas Rangers surprised the baseball world when they traded for two time Cy Young award winner Corey Kluber on Sunday morning.
I just recently wrote that the Rangers were the biggest disappointment of the Winter Meetings because they didn’t add to the rotation or to third base, but they aren’t disappointing right now.
Before the offseason, they already had a solid top of the rotation with Mike Minor and Lance Lynn proving to be good signings in the previous offseason, but Jon Daniels still went ahead and signed two upside starters in Jordan Lyles and Kyle Gibson to short term deals to anchor the back of the rotation.
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Now with the Kluber addition, they arguably have one of the deepest rotations in the American League along with the New York Yankees.
With that said, there are still a couple of holes to fill before I would call them a viable contender.
They still have a significant hole at third base, but there are a lot of options to fill there with guys like Starlin Castro, Maikel Franco in free agency in addition to Kris Bryant and Kyle Seager in trades.
They are giving up Delino DeShields in the trade, which creates another uncertainty in center field.
They could also strengthen their bullpen because they don’t have a strong enough bullpen in my opinion in front of Joe Leclerc to shorten games to seven innings instead of nine.
You also have to look around at their division, which is quickly becoming one of the best divisions in all of the game.
Of course, you have all of the star power in Houston amid their sign-stealing scandal, the Oakland Athletics always seem to be in the Wild Card race on a yearly basis, and the Angels now have a very appealing roster with one of the best middle of the lineups in baseball now in Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, and Shohei Ohtani.
The Mariners are the only weak link in the division, so there is still work for the Texas Rangers to do despite the Kluber acquisition if the rangers want to be true contenders through September.