By Joey McGraw
The Rangers are in first place with 902 and the Angels are in second place with a distant 469. 902 is the number of days that Rangers players have combined to be on the DL.
There will be many tough decisions for the Rangers’ front office as the trade deadline comes closer. During the last few years the Rangers organization has been on the receiving end.
2010 – Seattle Mariners traded LHP Cliff Lee and RHP Mark Lowe to the Rangers for RHP Blake Beaven, RHP Josh Lueke, 1B Justin Smoak and 2B Matt Lawson.
2011 – Baltimore Orioles traded Koji Uehara to the Rangers for 1B Chris Davis and RHP Tommy Hunter.
2012 – Chicago Cubs traded RHP Ryan Dempster to the Rangers for RHP Kyle Hendricks and 3B Christian Villanueva, and Cubs traded Geovany Soto for RHP Jake Brigham.
2013 – Chicago Cubs traded RHP Matt Garza to the Rangers for RHP C.J. Edwards, RHP Justin Grim, 1B Mike Ott, and a player to be named later.
It makes perfect sense for the Rangers to have been buyers at the trade deadline in recent years; the team has had a winning record of 90 plus wins or more during the last four years.
This year unlucky woes have the Rangers in an unfamiliar territory. Being sellers in the short term feels like the team might be giving up on the season. However, Jon Daniels and the Rangers would get a pass based on the circumstances.
The team will have to entertain offers to help rebuild for the 2015 campaign if this season continues to slide. Some of the names that have been thrown out there are Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre, Alex Rios, and Joakim Soria.
Being a seller at the trade deadline if done correctly can pay huge dividends for next season and for the future. Daniels will have some tough decisions in the weeks ahead, and I would put money on it that the Rangers scouting team is working overtime to find the next big deal.
