A few Texas Rangers have bought themselves more time

The majority of rumored Texas Rangers survived the trade deadline. Three of them could reemerge in trade talks this offseason if not finishing the season strong.

It’s tough to avoid trade rumors for just about any player on an average or below average team. The Texas Rangers are an average team this year. That’s why selling quickly became the expectation as the deadline neared. That’s why you heard names like Nomar Mazara, Danny Santana and Rougned Odor spattered in trade talks.

None of those guys were dealt, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are safe. What it means is each player has bought himself more time to prove that he’s worth keeping around.

There’s Mazara, who has not had the season the organization or fan base expected. There’s Santana, who has set the bar extremely high after being signed as an “irrelevant” minor league addition last winter. And there’s Odor, who is hanging by the thinnest of threads after yet another stretch of miserable months prior to July.

Let’s dive into why the next two months are so important for the trio.

Nomar Mazara

It seems inevitable that the Texas Rangers will have to shake-up their outfield as some point very soon. Outfielder Loedy Taveras, Texas’ #5 prospect, is working his way through the minor leagues and could make his way to the big league club as early as next year. The 20-year-old is a center fielder through and through, so, if all goes according to plan, he’ll force Joey Gallo over to left field by 2021.

That takes care of two outfield spots, leaving right field to be determined. It’s Mazara’s to lose, but he has been far from convincing this season. Defense is not his specialty; therefore, he is not worth a whole lot when his bat is lagging. Willie Calhoun is not defensive wizard either, but he’s been more consistent with the bat in 2019. Calhoun will be fighting hard for a starting spot somewhere next season.

If you look further down the road, Texas has Bubba Thompson and Julio Pablo Martinez as high potential prospects who have not progressed as aimed for in the lower levels of the minors. The most updated Texas Rangers prospect rankings has Thompson at #8 and Martinez at #25. If either picks up the pace, the future outfield will be even more clustered.

The key takeaway is Mazara has some heat on him really for the first time in his young career. If the Rangers aren’t completely sold on him soon, he could be sent elsewhere.

Rougned Odor

What a headache Rougned Odor is. He’s terrible about 85% of the time, but the other 15% he’s tremendous. Those percentages aren’t adding up for the Rangers. As the club looks to contend for a playoff spot in 2020, they can’t be messing around with a player who is only good 15% of the time.

Odor has become such a liability that the protective shield over his hefty contract has weakened. He MUST have a strong finish to the season or else Texas may have to do something drastic over the offseason. They can’t send him to the minors and they can’t afford to play him everyday if he’s routinely below the Mendoza line.

The Rangers could waive him, or they could toss his name into modest trade, in which they’ll surely have to eat the majority of his contract. They’ll do whatever they can to avoid both, but Odor has practically no credibility at this point. More than anyone on the current Texas Rangers team, Rougned Odor needs to go into the offseason with some serious momentum. He needs to leave positive thoughts in the heads of the front office representatives.