Grading GM Chris Young’s first offseason with the Texas Rangers

Texas Rangers traded C/OF/1B Heriberto Hernandez, IF Osleivis Basabe, and OF/1B Alexander Ovalles to the Rays for 1B Nate Lowe, 1B Jake Guenther and OF Carl Chester

In a surprising move, the Texas Rangers acquired two first basemen for a bevy of prospects.

Incumbent first baseman Ronald Guzman got some competition when the Rangers acquired Nate Lowe from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lowe was ranked as the #97 prospect by Baseball America in 2019, but was blocked at the major league level by Ji-Man Choi.

The Texas Rangers believe that Lowe has the inside track to the first base job, and pushing Guzman out the door.

Only to find out that “Condor” had won the Dominican Winter League MVP.

The three prospects that Texas sent to Tampa are quality prospects, don’t get me wrong, but were stashed at the low levels of the minors and were blocked at every level above them in the Rangers system.

The Texas Rangers traded from depth for quality, controllable big league talent that they will build around going forward.

Another win-win for both clubs, but especially for Texas if they can flip Guzman for more prospects at the end of Spring Training.

Grade: B+