The one trade Rangers' fans begged for but didn't get

It's been a few days since the trade deadline and the Texas Rangers have faltered from the lack of moves to get the offense in order.

The Rangers did upgrade their pitching staff with bullpen arms Danny Coluombe and Phil Maton, and Merrill Kelly to their rotation, which is massive. One of the deals that President of Baseball Operations Chris Young should've made was for at least one more bat.

This one deadline move that didn't happen has Rangers' fans upset

There were a few rumored bats linked to Texas as the deadline neared but none more intriguing than 1B/DH Ryan O'Hearn. The left-handed slugger in Baltimore, who was eventually traded to San Diego.

What the Orioles ended up getting for O'Hearn was likely a deal that Texas would have been hesitant to make in the first place. O'Hearn went over to the Padres with OF Ramon Laureano in exchange for San Diego's No. 4, No. 6, No. 12, No. 29 prospects and RHP Tanner Smith.

But it was still a possibility based on timing as Baltimore and San Diego struck a deal at 3:28 pm CT, about an hour before Texas acquired right-handed pitcher Merrill Kelly from Arizona for their No. 5, No. 9 and No. 13 prospects.

O'Hearn slashed .283/.374/.463 with 13 home runs, 43 RBIs, 15 doubles and an .837 OPS in 94 games with the Orioles this season.

Like Kelly, O'Hearn is in a contract year and San Diego is only on the hook for measley $2.5 million the final two months of the season. Texas does get out a little but ahead of that just owing Kelly $2.2 million for the remainder of 2025.

This move is still not sitting as well in the minds of Rangers' fans despite a solid first showing from Kelly in Seattle, where he struck out six and allowed just two earned runs in the Rangers' 6-4 11th inning victory.

It was more on the offensive side that fans are upset about. In the first two games in Seattle, Texas managed to only score three runs in 18 innings and lose the first two games of the crucial four game series. It also didn't help that the hitter Texas is relying on instead of getting O'Hearn, Joc Pederson, has struggled since his return from IL on July 27.

Fans are going to need to see a massive turnaround in the offense that is more consistently in line with their last 8-1 home stand in order to gets fans to forget about missing out on a potentially massive offensive upgrade at the the trade deadline.