Texas Rangers Rumors: Club is Listening to Offers on Lance Lynn

While the Texas Rangers remain a bit of a mystery as to their plans at the MLB Trade Deadline, a recent report says they’re at least open to offers.

The general consensus from those plugged in around the Texas Rangers franchise and the league as a whole seems to be that the Rangers’ are still somewhat undecided on what to do with ace Lance Lynn. The Cy Young hopeful is a prime candidate to be dealt over the coming days as the MLB Trade Deadline approaches yet the Rangers aren’t certain that moving Lynn is the best move for the club in the long run.

Despite the uncertainty, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported on Tuesday ($) that Texas is “entertaining” offers for their prized starter ahead of the August 31 deadline. In his piece, Rosenthal also draws an interesting link between Lynn’s situation and that of Mike Minor last season as well as league executives opinion on the Lynn market.

The fact that the Rangers are listening to offers on Lynn come as no surprise. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be fully doing their job. However whether an offer will come in that would prompt the club to part ways with their dominant right-hander remains to be seen. So far, Texas seems at least willing to hold Lynn for the remainder of the season where they can either have him headline their staff in 2021 or listen to offers again during the offseason.

At this particular deadline, the normal dynamics that factor into a team’s decision-making process are heavily altered. Teams cannot scout prospects to the same degree they normally would because there is no minor league baseball. Financial implications of COVID-19 are being felt in every organization and cheap, controllable assets have become even more valuable. Even further, there still is some degree of doubt, albeit smaller, that this season will even be played in its entirety.

All those factors play into a hesitancy to commit to large scale deals at the deadline. Yet Lance Lynn will still have a number of suitors at the trade deadline. One of the elite starters in the game, Lynn is among the league leaders in WAR from pitchers and has held opponents to two or fewer runs in each of his seven starts this season. That, plus his contact extending through next season makes him an incredibly valuable player to a contender. Among teams that are likely to show an interest in the Texas right-hander are the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers, who have all been linked with starting pitching at this year’s deadline.