Texas Rangers Rumors: Rougned Odor shockingly flipped to Yankees

When you heard that the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees were making an in-season trade, you would’ve expected to hear the name Jose Leclerc or another reliever’s name thrown around.

So when news dropped Tuesday afternoon that the Rangers would be shipping veteran second baseman Rougned Odor to the Bronx, it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that people in the baseball world were flat-out shocked by what had transpired.

After all of our attempts to ship Odor to various places, Texas finally found a match!

ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report that a deal was in the works.

The Texas Rangers are trading second baseman Rougned Odor to the Yankees in a stunner.

As is well-known by now, the Rangers officially ended the Rougned Odor era in Texas when it was made clear that he would not make the Opening Day roster just days before the first series of the season commenced in Kansas City.

Now, it appears Jon Daniels and Chris Young have found takers for their former disgruntled second baseman.

The Yankees will reportedly send two prospects (names not yet disclosed) to the Rangers for Odor, while Texas absorbs most of the 27-year-old’s remaining salary of, you guessed it, $27 million over the final two years of his contract.

It’s a fascinating exchange for both teams, as the Texas Rangers turn their once-maligned second baseman famous for throwing that big hook to Jose Bautista in 2016 into minor league depth.

More from Nolan Writin'

• Framework for a potential Max Fried trade to the Texas Rangers
• Early 2023 MLB mock draft has Texas Rangers selecting an Ohtani-lite
• 3 Texas Rangers outfield trade targets not named Bryan Reynolds
• Did Jacob deGrom really mean what he said at his Texas Rangers press conference?
• Where do Texas Rangers prospects Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker stand after the DeGrom signing?

From the Yankees’ standpoint, there doesn’t appear to be a path to regular at-bats for Odor, as DJ LeMahieu is their starting second baseman, while Gleyber Torres occupies shortstop and Gio Urshela at third base.

Perhaps New York envisions Odor’s left-handed pop transitioning seamlessly, especially as the short porch in Yankee Stadium’s right field is heavenly for southpaw hitters.

At the very least, Odor is depth for the Yankees, which they need with injuries aplenty to start the season for the Bronx Bombers.

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers are essentially buying two more prospects, like they did in the Andrus trade with Oakland in assuming more salary now for potential future benefit.

All in all, this is the bombshell absolutely no one could have forecasted, but alas, Odor has been traded to a winner. The Rangers received something of value for his services.

Hard not to call this one a win-win, even if it is shocking.