Texas Rangers Trade Jonathan Lucroy to Colorado Rockies

Veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy will finish out the 2017 season in Colorado. The Rangers have found a new home for the struggling catcher, but was trading Lucroy a good idea?

This is likely just the first of many trades general manager Jon Daniels will make before the trade deadline. The Texas Rangers could look to move many of their one-year veteran players for younger controllable players.

This season Jonathan Lucroy was hitting .242 with four home runs and 27 RBI in 77 games. The 31-year-old catcher was struggling heavily offensively and significantly hurt his trade value. The Rangers got what they could, but the return could have been much better.

The Rangers traded two-time All-Star Lucroy for a player to be named later. Basically meaning the team traded for a low-level minor league player. It’s not what Texas expected to get for Lucroy, but it was probably the best offer on the table.

There was absolutely no reason for the Rangers to keep Lucroy through 2017. He is pending free agency and the Rangers don’t need to sign anymore veterans long-term. Especially after his horrendous offensive season it’s hard to imagine the Rangers wanting to re-sign Lucroy.

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Through 77 games Lucroy is posting a -0.5 WAR this season. In his eight Major League seasons Lucroy has never finished with a negative WAR. It’s fair to say that this season is Lucroy’s worst season on offense of his career.

It’s a shame the Rangers gave up so much to get Lucroy last August. The Rangers will now go with a duo of Robinson Chirinos and Brett Nicholas at catcher. They also have No. 12 (MLB.com) prospect Jose Trevino in Double-A.

Sadly, the Rangers weren’t able to get move for Lucroy, but something is better than nothing. Expect more changes to the Rangers roster before the trade deadline is over.