Texas Rangers Trade Ariel Jurado to the New York Mets

The Texas Rangers have traded 24-year old pitcher Ariel Jurado to the Mets shortly after Jurado was designated for assignment.

The Ariel Jurado experiment was one of the stranger sagas in recent Texas Rangers’ memory. The 24-year old pitcher broke onto the scene in Arlington during the 2018 season as a potential rotation option and despite some promising showings, he was never able to lockdown a guaranteed spot. As the Rangers improved their rotation over time, Jurado’s role became harder and harder to nail down. Now, his time with the Texas Rangers has come to a close as he was dealt to the New York Mets in a minor deal.

Entering the 2020 season, Jurado had fallen drastically down the rotation ladder with the offseason additions of Corey Kluber, Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles. Further, last season’s acquisition of Kolby Allard and the emergence of other starting pitching options meant Jurado started the year at the Rangers’ Alternate Training Site rather than with the big league club. Jurado’s dwindling time with the Rangers became even more assured when he was designated for assignment on July 31st to make room on the 40-man roster.

In Jurado’s time with the Rangers he made 44 appearances across the 2018 and 2019 seasons with 26 starts. He has a career 5.85 ERA in 177 innings pitched. His stint with Texas saw him post a 1.514 WHIP and 5.2 strikeouts per nine innings rate. He’ll join a Mets team as a long-term option if they decide to utilize him. He isn’t arbitration eligible until 2022 and is under team control until the 2025 offseason.

The Rangers acquired the MVP of minor transactions, cash considerations and the perennial All-Star of those same deals, a player to be named later. I wouldn’t expect the Rangers to land anybody who is considered a notable player in the return side of this trade but considering Jurado theoretically could have been claimed for nothing, adding the potential of a young prospect is a strong consolation prize.

One Ranger Joins, Another Departs for the Mets

In a corresponding move, the Mets announced that they have designated former Texas Rangers’ draft pick Ryan Cordell for assignment. Cordell had made four appearances for New York this season and was 1-4 with a base hit and a stolen base. In his career, Cordell has 120 games played with a .205 average and .600 OPS.