3 trade proposals between the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees

The Texas Rangers and New York Yankees seem to have as active a trade history as anyone. This past year they were able to make a couple of deals sending veterans Rougned Odor, Joey Gallo, and Joely Rodriguez to the Big Apple. Prior to that, the Rangers received Carlos Beltran for their most recent playoff push. Sandwiched between them was a publicity move that saw QB Russell Wilson wear pinstripes.

Now, neither side has taken advantage of the other in their years of dealing. At the time, some trades had seemed lopsided but hindsight once again comes to the rescue. The one that might change the recent view though is the Gallo deal. He has BOMBED in New York and us Rangers fans would GLADLY take him back.

Unfortunately for the Joey-loving Rangers fans, however, I don’t believe it will happen via trade.

So what kind of deal can be made between these 2 teams?  The Texas Rangers don’t have too much in the way of major league players that would come at value for other teams at the moment, but let’s take a look at what a possible deal between these teams could look like.4

3 trades between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees

Here we go again.

Taking on a poor-performing, overpaid player for prospects, this isn’t exactly a blockbuster trade, but Hicks is a fairly common name amongst baseball fans.

The difference is Hicks is making $10.5 million for each of ’22/’23 an $9.5 million for ’24/’25. He has a club option for ’26 but that would be swiftly declined. So that’s $40 million for four years.  Hicks hasn’t put up anything resembling even half a season since 2018. When he has played in the past three years (145 games) he’s hit .223 with 22 home runs. This production is similar to the recently signed Kole Calhoun so let’s look at his $5.2 million salary as a base. New York would need to spot some cash to complete this deal so let’s add $20 million to it ($5 million per year). Hicks isn’t going to net the Yankees anything more than a couple of LOW-tiered players himself so he comes attached to Estevan Florial and Stephen Ridings.

Florial is an exceptionally talented athlete. He has great speed and an absolute cannon for an arm. He does come with concern though. He has been sent back and forth between AAA and the majors almost a dozen times but has yet to secure a spot on the big league roster. Concerning from a team that is already OF needy. He also only managed to slash .218/.315/.404 in AAA through 78 games in ’21. His minimal major league experience was positive though. He slashed .304/.440/.550 in 12 games with 23 AB. Most of his value comes with his defensive capabilities which stem from his prior mentioned athleticism. Florial also has some power to be had but would need to be refined to make him an everyday player. Estevan is 24 already so that development would need to come soon and would be best done by him staying healthy.

Stephen Ridings meanwhile comes in with the potential to become a major bullpen piece. The Texas Rangers are still at least a year away from contention, and adding closers/ late-inning relievers is the last step of the process. That doesn’t mean Texas shouldn’t be stacking talent there though. Ridings comes in with an electric fastball that can touch 100 mph. As with any flame thrower though, control is the concern. This profiles him as more of a bullpen piece and anyone who can throw 97-100 mph with life on it has the potential to have a major impact late in games.

In the exchange, Texas sends over what every contending team can never have enough. Reliable relief help and depth. Brett Martin is controllable, cheap, and frankly quite good. He’s not exactly seen as closer material but he has done well in his time on the mound. In the past 2 years, he’s pitched 77 innings and held onto a tidy 2.57 ERA. Cherry-picking stats here, he posted an ERA+ of 248 in 2020. For perspective, 100 is league average.

The favorite trait of a good reliever is missing bats AND not walking people. The latter is what Martin excelled at with only 14 free passes in 62.1 innings for 2021. Joining him on the flight is the long-forgotten and very tradable Sherten Apostel. Apostel was a steal in the Keona Kela deal. He brought much-needed talent to the corner infield spots for a sparse system. Unfortunately, injuries have slowed his growth and he’s since been passed up for a starting or even depth spot. This would benefit the Yankees who don’t have a 1st or 3rd base prospect in their top 10, according to their MLB Pipeline top 30.

Apostel isn’t coming in to be an everyday starter or take over for Voit/Rizzo. He’s depth. He could use some time in the minors to come back from the injury but he isn’t far off. He’s talented and still has a ton of power so his value is there.