3 Texas Rangers trade proposals with the Tampa Bay Rays

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The Texas Rangers and the Tampa Rays have a long history of making deals with each other. Since 2018 there have been five trades involving each other, the most notable (and recent) being Texas trading for Nathaniel Lowe in 2020.

Tampa Bay is notorious for fleecing teams and raking in pitching. Texas has yet to fall prey to them in a major deal, though (Pete Fairbanks for Nick Solak has worked out well for Tampa, but that’s no major deal). Do they dare test their luck and make an earth-shattering trade with the (Devil) Rays?

The South Florida team is always looking to move players and restock to keep payroll down. They don’t seem to keep their “Ace” pitchers around for long either (see Blake Snell). Savvy on their part as we’ve seen what happens to the likes of David Price, Chris Archer, and even Snell with San Diego in 2021.

Things will be different this time around, right? The Rangers have Jon Daniels AND Chris Young to help make fair deals all around. So let’s take a dive and see what we can come up with to help.

3 trades between the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays

Much has been discussed (a lot by me) about taking Hosmer off the Padres’ hands and landing Robert Hassell. That does seem a bit difficult, so we pivot to the Rays.

Kevin Kiermaier has a contract of $12 million due in 2022 and a $2.5 million buy-out after the season. That is a load for the cash strapped Rays to pay for an under-performing outfielder.

The Rangers would be all too happy to take that money off their hands to bring in Nathaniel Lowe’s younger brother, Josh. The younger Lowe had his best year yet in 2021, hitting .291 with 21 homers in AAA. He is an athletic center fielder who is defense first. He made adjustments to his swing and could develop into an everyday player.

In return, the Rays nab Adolis Garcia to pair with AL Rookie of the Year Randy Arozarena. It’s a steep price to pay to bring in Lowe, but the Rangers’ offense figures to be strong enough with new additions if his bat doesn’t improve.

Jun 8, 2021; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow (20) throws a pitch during the third inning against the Washington Nationals at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

The Texas Rangers could land their ace of the future by trading for Tyler Glasnow

This is where teams like the Pirates get in trouble. Glasnow is out for at least the majority of the ’22 season, so this deal would be moved to 2023 when the Texas Rangers figure to be more competitive.

That would mean this package is very dependent on the 2022 minor league performances of the guys listed above, but let’s stick with it for this exercise.

The Rangers still give up quite a haul when compared to the Blake Snell deal. The Rays don’t have a NEED for Foscue, but I’d imagine they’d be happy with the talent level for future purposes. Zavala was a bat-first second rounder who could move up similarly to Foscue. Apostel is the forgotten talent and could battle for both corner infield spots. Bradford, meanwhile, is the type of “moving up” pitcher Tampa loves.

It’s a dangerous game to bank on Glasnow coming back to form after Tommy John surgery, but if he does, he would give the Rangers an excellent rotation and an ace for ’23. He would need to be extended to really make it worth it, but that’s a bridge to cross later.

Oct 2, 2021; Bronx, New York, USA; Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Austin Meadows (17) hits a three run home run in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports /

Austin Meadows could be a solution to the Texas Rangers’ outfield issue

Kevin Kiermaier isn’t the only outfielder who could be on the move to free up room for the Rays. Manuel Margot is probably the next most likely to be traded, but Tampa would still get more from trading Austin Meadows.

Meadows has had back-to-back down years at the plate and his defense is average at best. He did have a great 2019 where he hit .291 with 33 home runs so Tampa may feel they’re selling low. He also has two more years of team control to work things out.

In this trade, though, the Rays get two high ceiling prospects and a good reliever. Henriquez is one of the top pitching prospects in the Rangers organization for good reason. He has a 60-grade fastball that comes with a high spin rate. He could benefit from fine-tuning his secondary pitches to be a starter, but he’ll be just fine in whatever capacity.

Lora was the 3rd ranked J2 player in 2019. At only 19 years old, he has plenty of time to develop into the power hitter most project him to be.

King fits Tampa’s insatiable need for solid bullpen arms and he comes with five years of very affordable pay, also right in their wheelhouse.

Next. The 10 most influential trades in Rangers history. dark

There is never a shortage of trade options when dealing with the Tampa Bay Rays. The trick for the Texas Rangers will be to make sure they keep their heads level and feet planted. Tampa survives on making excellent trades but that doesn’t have to mean Texas should be afraid. After all, they do need to prepare for the upcoming playoff years!

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3 trades between the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays

The Texas Rangers could land their ace of the future by trading for Tyler Glasnow

Austin Meadows could be a solution to the Texas Rangers’ outfield issue

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