Three Trade Deadline Needs for the Texas Rangers

July 1st means the hot stove will now be in full effect. As the Texas Rangers try to make a surprising playoff push, what are the needs that should be addressed?

Trade season is always one that generates excitement among the MLB faithful. The rumor mill is churning, deals are getting done, and the futures of organizations shift constantly. Every team in the league will involve themselves in talks as either a buyer or a seller, either making a playoff push or trying to build for the future. A few weeks ago, the Texas Rangers looked very much in between. Having entered the season on the outside looking in, Texas consistently surprised everybody and worked their way into the playoff picture raising questions about their deadline plans. That was with Texas still very much an outside looking in team, however, now the Rangers look like legitimate Wild Card contenders.

Despite being firmly a part of the AL Wild Card race, the Rangers surely won’t be spending big in trying to acquire pieces to help them compete this season. All expectations are that if Texas does buy, it will buy low on players that have multiple years of control ensuring their long-term plan isn’t altered. That’s a tricky way to do business because good players are expensive at the deadline and good players with control are at a premium price. Navigating these deals will be tough business for Jon Daniels and the front office, but there are holes that Texas needs to fill.

Find an Upgrade at Catcher

If there’s been one glaring hole in the Texas Rangers lineup this season, it’s at catcher. A mixture of Jeff Mathis, Tim Federowicz, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa have filled that role this season with varied results, none of them great. Jeff Mathis, an offseason free agent signing, came to Texas with all the focus on his defensive prowess. He had a career average below .200 but was known as a defensive wizard behind the plate which Texas coveted to help tutor catcher conversion project Kiner-Falefa. Somehow, Mathis has lowered the bar with a bat in his hand this season hitting just .152, with a .208 on-base percentage and a .425 OPS. That’s catastrophically awful and is holding back an already elite offense. Defensively, he hasn’t been as good as advertised either which really hurts his argument to get into the lineup. His saving grace is that as the primary catcher, he’s helped Mike Minor have a career year, Lance Lynn rebound phenomenally and helped Ariel Jurado and Adrian Sampson take steps forward. His influence on them should be noted but Texas cannot continue to have a number one catcher put up this kind of production.

Kiner-Falefa was slotted as the backup for Mathis this season as he tries to transition to that position moving forward. Currently, on the IL, he’s been poor as a catcher though and has been a net negative in run production defensively. He’s also taken a step back at the plate, not all that surprising for a player trying to learn and adapt to a new position. The idea is growing that he’s not a long-term answer at catcher and if it came down to needing a catcher in the playoffs, I can’t imagine it would be him.

As an insurance policy when IKF got injured, Texas acquired Tim Federowicz from the Indians Triple-A affiliate. A veteran who has bounced back and forth between the bigs and the minors, Federowicz has been an improvement on a very low bar at the plate. His OPS of .684 is his best argument for sticking around but I’d imagine the Rangers would like an upgrade from him as well.

Catchers are extremely tough to find on the trade market. A friend of mine noted that they’re like goaltenders in hockey as there are fewer starting-caliber catchers than there are teams in the league. And when a team gets one, they won’t just give them away because they’re rebuilding. Texas is going to have to work hard to find an upgrade behind the dish that doesn’t cost them a fortune. If there was a position to invest in a rental for, this would be the position.

Bolster the Late-Inning Bullpen

Of the three needs, this one seems the least urgent. Right now, Texas features a late-inning relief crew of Shawn Kelley, Chris Martin, and Jose Leclerc. The latter has really had a disappointing season that saw him get bumped from the closer role but Kelley and Martin have been very solid this year. Kelley, who has assumed the closer role, has been reliable and Chris Martin has been consistent in his opportunities giving you confidence in the 8th and 9th inning options. We could add Jesse Chavez to that mix if the former need gets addressed which really forms your late-inning core.

With that trio of Kelley, Martin, and Chavez, Texas has a reliable late-inning group, however adding one more option never hurts. The Rangers added LHP Jesse Biddle off waivers and it remains to be seen how that works out although his 2.426 WHIP isn’t promising. If Texas could protect their rotation with a solid 4-man relief core, they would have the ability to make a run at the playoffs and potentially during the postseason because of the sheer might of their offense.