Texas Rangers: The Asdrubal Cabrera signing answers three important questions

Question: What does the one-year Cabrera signing mean for next year?

Answer: Nolan Arenado/Nick Castellanos

You know Arenado’s 2019-2020 free agency is a big deal when everyone is already talking about it. The Rangers’ interest in Machado was surprising this offseason, but their interest in Arenado next offseason will be assumed.

It all makes sense. They’ll be getting ready to move into their new ballpark, they’ll be one step closer to contention and they’ll need a third baseman. Arenado will be the top third baseman on the market. That may be a reason Texas is okay with losing out on Machado: they can stack the deck for Arenado a year from now.

Of course, he will be chased by many teams. It would be naive of the Rangers to place all their marbles in the Nolan Arenado basket. Hence, every team needs a fallback option. The Rangers’ fallback? Nick Castellanos.

Castellanos will be cheaper, and the drop-off from superstar third baseman to star third baseman may very well justify the discount. He would bring plenty of bat talent, enough to makeup for any struggles at third.

Chris Woodward would have to take him on as a defensive project, but it’s not like third base would be brand-new to Castellanos. He would simply have to re-familiarize himself with the position after having played the outfield for a few seasons.