The Texas Rangers seem to finally be winning the crucial trades

For what felt like too long, the Texas Rangers were stuck in their own way.

This feeling really came to a head following Adrian Beltre’s retirement in 2018, when the franchise lost one of its icons and leaders to father time. At that point, the organization was facing the harsh reality ahead: an impending transition period.

Texas traded Yu Darvish in 2017 to the LA Dodgers once they realized their contention window with an aging core was on its last legs. In receiving then-prospects Willie Calhoun and A.J. Alexy, that should’ve signaled the beginning of a full-blown rebuild. Instead, the process was delayed, insisting that the team could still win.

That clearly failed.

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?

And so the teardown begun in earnest following the 2020 season. And it’s no coincidence that since then, it appears the Texas Rangers have started to win some of the massive trades they’ve made.

Make no mistake, we’re still years away from unlocking the true potential of more recent swaps like the Joey Gallo to the Yankees blockbuster back in July, or the Kyle Gibson/Ian Kennedy to Philadelphia trade that sent Spencer Howard our way.

Heck, it took until 2021 for A.J. Alexy to make his MLB debut with the Rangers after acquiring him in that aforementioned Dodgers-Darvish trade.

But even if the organization has been on the tardier side in making these necessary, game-changing trades, they do seem to be winning them in the interim. And that’s kind of important if this rebuild is to fully succeed and bear considerable fruit.

It’s about time the Texas Rangers tipped the trade scales in their favor

Take Glenn Otto, for example. It only took him a month to debut for the Rangers after acquiring him from the Yankees for Gallo. He was dominant in his first start, gutsy in his second. He looks like a real building block early on. And that’s without mentioning the three other promising prospects Texas picked up in the deal. And did we mention we may have replaced Gallo with a waiver claim?

Spencer Howard is much like Glenn Otto, though not with his early success. However, the former top pitching prospect in the Phillies’ organization has as high a ceiling as anyone in the organization. To have someone like Howard who could blossom before our very eyes? That was great work by the Texas Rangers to bring him in and give him time to find his form. It can’t hurt to bring in a high-upside play, after all.

Even the Nathaniel Lowe trade from last winter has been a solid one, acquiring the potential first baseman of the future at a position where the organization hasn’t had real stability since Mark Teixeira left town. Good prospects were surrendered in that deal to the Tampa Bay Rays, but it means something to acquire a clubhouse leader and stability at an important position on the diamond.

Look, the Texas Rangers won’t win every trade they make. That would be impossible, as no team does. But it seems as though the ones they’ve made recently (or even the 2017 Darvish deal) have panned out in their favor for the time being. And that alone can inspire a lot of confidence in the fact that this time, things will be different for the future of baseball in Arlington.