Texas Rangers: 4 takeaways from an awesomely important weekend

Takeaway #3: Trade deadline assets performed well for the Texas Rangers

This is perhaps the most significant takeaway from the weekend triumph over the KC Royals.

For a team like the Texas Rangers that is going to enter total sell-off mode come July and the trade deadline, they need their best trade pieces to perform well in their final auditions before being shipped off to likely contenders next month.

Well, that definitely went right for the Rangers this past weekend.

First, ace Kyle Gibson (pictured above), tossed a gem on Saturday in an 8-0 Rangers win, going seven shutout innings and striking out 10 while walking just one and allowing two hits. It was a masterpiece and lowered the potential AL All-Star’s ERA to 2.00 on the season. That’s a great look for his trade value come July.

On the offensive side, Joey Gallo appears to heating up in a massive way. The slugging right fielder had himself a series, with three homers and seven (!) RBIs over the three games against the Royals. In his last seven games, he has four homers and eight RBIs to go along with an .818 OPS. That’ll play!

Oh, and he’s still a great defender in right field. Think teams will be putting Gallo back on their trade radars this July?

It also helps that closer Ian Kennedy tossed two scoreless innings in two appearances against his former team over the weekend, enhancing what was already a robust trade value for him.

And keep an eye on reliever Spencer Patton, who has a sparkling 1.13 ERA out of the pen.