Key drawback to Rangers selling at deadline explained by Jeff Passan's top trade candidate list

ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel's recent article that ranked the top 2026 MLB trade deadline candidates included 100 players. While the Texas Rangers were listed as potential fits for five of the candidates, including Twins center fielder Byron Buxton, none of the players in the article are currently on the Rangers.

Texas is currently tied for first place in the AL West with the Seattle Mariners, but the club's standing atop the division feels precarious. Wyatt Langford is back on the IL with a sore hamstring and will stay there until after the All-Star break. Corey Seager is joining him in the infirmary once again. The Rangers were flying high with a six-game winning streak, but MacKenzie Gore's Jekyll and Hyde act put an end to that. Overall, it's still a question as to whether or not the team can sustain this competitive streak.

Even if they can't, and it would seem like selling is the best possible course of action, there is an inconvenient truth that Chris Young must contend with.

The fact that no Texas players were named in the article brings attention to one issue: the Rangers don't have many attractive trade candidates. Therefore, it may not make sense for the team to sell at the deadline.

The Rangers are still talented despite a spotty record and a lack of attractive trade candidates

Just because Texas doesn't have attractive trade candidates and has many holes to fill doesn't mean the team lacks talent. Most of the team's players who could be trade candidates are on bloated multi-year contracts and/or aging. Obviously, if the Rangers made a young star like Wyatt Langford or Josh Jung available, they'd likely be the most sought-after player on the market, but that would never happen.

Guys like Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, and Corey Seager all have a great deal of value in a vacuum. However, the most valuable commodity for contenders at the deadline is rentals, and all three of these players (plus many more) are signed beyond 2026 with big salaries. Moving them now would mean getting pennies on the dollar.

In the event the Rangers do sell, trade candidates include Joc Pederson and Jake Burger. Even though both players are having solid offensive seasons so far, it's hard to imagine Texas could get much for them. If Texas were to trade Pederson, the club would likely have to eat much of the remainder of his contract to get anyone of value.

Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young showed he's willing to be aggressive by acquiring outfielder Brandon Nimmo and left-hander MacKenzie Gore in the offseason. If the team is still in the playoff race in the days leading up to the trade deadline, expect Young to address the team's needs through trades, not sell off pieces teams aren't even that interested in.

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