Three starting pitchers the Texas Rangers should be willing to overspend on

Patrick Corbin

Corbin is the poster boy of the starting pitching free agent class. With that being the case, he’s going to join whichever team at a high price. The lefty had flown under the radar as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ rotation. Zack Greinke stole most of the headlines and Robbie Ray was a popular name after his impressive 2017 campaign.

Though, Corbin emerged as a household name this past season. All it took was 200 innings pitched, 246 strikeouts and a 3.15 ERA. His ERA even triumphed Grienke’s 3.21.

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He’s earned the offseason praise and he’ll earn whatever amount he is granted in the coming months. The Texas Rangers have the funds, and, as timing would have it, they have a very solid overall sales pitch.

They can sell Patrick Corbin on the young talent at the big league level and the minor league levels, of course implying the team will be competitive soon and for a long time. They can sell him on the brand-new ballpark coming in 2020. And, most importantly, they can pitch him on being the ace of the staff. This would be a legitimate promise that not many other teams could make or keep.

Ultimately, the market for Corbin will be too steep. There will be a contending team willing to break the bank on him, just wait and see. The Rangers could overspend based on their budget, but that doesn’t mean they can outspend the Yankees, Nationals or Phillies.

Texas would have to rely heavily on the aforementioned sales pitch.