Texas Rangers acquire Nate Jones, International Money from White Sox

The Texas Rangers have made their first move of deadline day acquiring reliever Nate Jones and international pool money from the White Sox.

Just a few hours before the trade deadline, the Texas Rangers made their first move of deadline day acquiring White Sox reliever Nate Jones and international bonus money for a pair of minor league pitchers.

News of the deal broke around 11 a.m. on Wednesday that Texas was sending a pair of minor league right-handers to Chicago for veteran reliever Nate Jones, $1 million in international slot money and cash considerations.

Jones was transferred to the Rangers 60-day IL after going through forearm surgery earlier this season and will miss the remainder of the season. Jones had made 13 appearances this season prior to the injury and posted a 3.48 ERA. In his 8-year career the 33-year old has made 284 total appearances and has a career ERA of 3.12 and 3.41 FIP. He’s under contract through the end of this season with a team option for 2020. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com noted the option details on Twitter.

Nate Jones will likely play a role in the Rangers bullpen next season but that perhaps is just the add-on to the main part of this deal which is the international bonus money. Texas was short on bonus pool cash which was preventing them from signing star Dominican OF Bayron Lora whom they agreed a deal with earlier in the month.

Lora was the 3rd ranked international free agent by MLB.com in this past J-2 signing period. The 16-year old outfielder is noted for his power from the right side of the plate and would instantly become one of the better prospects in the Rangers system. However, Texas had a finite amount of international slot money and after signing other amateur free agents including SS Maximo Acosta, Texas was going to have to make a trade to acquire more pool money.

In return the Rangers parted way with a couple of minor league pitchers in Joe Jarneski and Ray Castro. Jarneski was a 12th round draft pick of the Rangers back in 2017 and currently is working as a reliever at the Rookie-Ball level. In 10 appearances, the 19-year old had posted a 1.62 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Castro was signed as an international free agent back in 2016 and was currently with the Rangers Dominican Summer League affiliate. The 22-year old made 9 appearances, 7 of which were starts and posted a 2.02 ERA in 35.2 innings.

Trade Roundup

In short, the Rangers flipped a couple of low-level minor leaguers for international bonus money that will allow them to ink a highly-touted 16-year old slugger. In addition they get some insurance for their bullpen in 2020 meaning it was a pretty solid trade all around for Texas.