Rangers rumors: This trade with the Brewers could move rebuild forward

Evaluating a recent trade proposal made between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Texas Rangers.

The Texas Rangers have a first base conundrum on their hands.

After Ronald Guzman reportedly took home a Dominican Winter League MVP award on Thursday, the stakes in the competition for the starting first base job in Texas couldn’t be higher.

This is especially true when you consider how much the Rangers gave up for Nate Lowe.

But perhaps there might be a solution to this whole situation.

Enter the Milwaukee Brewers, who could be here to save the day.

Our friends over at Reviewing the Brew recently proposed a trade wherein the Texas Rangers would ship Ronald Guzman to Milwaukee in exchange for a intriguing young pitching prospect.

The full deal is illustrated below:

Why would the Texas Rangers make this deal?

Pretty easy: The Rangers have a logjam at the first base position. This deal would eradicate it.

If Guzman and Lowe were opposite side hitters at the plate, a trade wouldn’t even be necessary since a platoon arrangement could be worked out.

However, that isn’t the case down in Arlington, as Guzman and Lowe both profile as big left-handed bats with good pop.

While a competition would be fascinating to monitor, why not clear the way altogether for one player while the other gets a fresh start elsewhere?

Additionally, should Nate Lowe win the first base job as expected (the Rangers paid a premium for him, after all), it would be to Texas’ detriment to simply let “The Condor” go for nothing.

Thus, trading Guzman to the Brewers (or anywhere) would seem prudent.

In this specific swap, Reviewing the Brew proposed sending young righty Victor Castaneda back to the Rangers.

Castaneda, just 22-years-old, was signed out of Mexico in 2018 as an international free agent.

Though Castaneda has only made it as far as Single-A in his development, he has good velocity on his fastball and is able to strike out batters at a high clip, both traits that usually bode well for pitchers in development.

According to Reviewing the Brew, the 22-year-old was also a star in the 2019 Arizona Fall League season, where he sported an excellent 1.99 ERA.

Castaneda doesn’t make any of Milwaukee’s top prospect lists, but this shouldn’t be discouraging, as other players in their system are perhaps further along in their development.

Some of the gems found in a minor league system can be ones that aren’t always ranked, as well.

Ultimately, Castaneda possesses the kind of upside and talent that should pique the interest of the Texas Rangers, even if he is years away from making any sort of real impact.

And especially if it means clearing a path for Nate Lowe, while also providing Ronald Guzman with a change of scenery and a chance to thrive elsewhere.