Lance Lynn
While Lance Lynn‘s trade value will extend to the offseason, the Texas Rangers keeping him through this season’s trade deadline creates the belief that they want him to head the rotation next year, and perhaps years after that.
Lynn, 33, is among the league leaders in ERA, strikeouts, and opponent’s batting average. He leads the American League in innings pitched and quality starts.
Texas has its ace. The questions are, how long will they keep their current ace, and how long will he be an ace?
The Rangers have Lynn under contract through next season at the cost of $8 million. As Lynn will be 35 years old for the 2022 season, it’s unlikely he’ll get much money on the open market. Texas could use his age as leverage and sign him to a team-friendly extension if they believe his success will sustain.
They’ll have a steal if he continues to pitch like an ace. Lynn has improved with age, so there’s a chance that he does. If he does regress, he’ll likely still be a quality mid-rotation arm, plus he can share some wisdom with the Rangers’ emerging starters as time goes on.
Hopefully, Lynn has additional dominant seasons that aren’t tarnished like the present one. He has been nothing shy of outstanding for the Texas Rangers.