Can the Texas Rangers benefit from the Los Angeles Angels miserable season?

4 Players the Texas Rangers should look at claiming

#4- Jose Cisneros

If they can not get anyone else Cisneros is not a bad consolation prize. He has not had a good season at all. Really it has been an awful summer as Cisnero has a 10+ ERA in both July and August. Before that he had been a somewhat reliable late inning option for the Tigers. In 2022 Cisnero has a 1.08 ERA in 28 appearances for Detroit.

The question for Texas becomes do they think he can rediscover that form form earlier in the season in the middle of a heated pennant race? Is he worth having to DFA a player to make room for him on the 40-man roster? The free agent to be would cost the Rangers next to nothing. He still has a good fastball that averages close to 96 mph and batters only hit .215 against the fastball. His issue has been with the sinker. It has been his least effective pitch as hitters have hit .472 against the pitch.

I could see Chris Young thinking that if they got him around Mike Maddux that maybe they can turn him around. I do not know if one month is enough time to really do that. If that is all they can get then go for it. This team does need more right-handed pitchers with swing and miss stuff and Cisnero does have that.

#3- Hunter Renfroe

Texas has had one of the best offenses in baseball for much of this season, but lately the lineup has fallen on hard times.. Prior to the All-Star break Texas led all of the majors in run scored. Since the break they rank 12th in the majors. One of the issues continues to be left-field production and the lack thereof. Once again in 2023 they are among the worst in the league in production from the left field spot. They rank 28th in home runs from the left field position with just nine and 25th in RBIs from left field with 51.

Hunter Renfroe could be that player who comes in and provides production in left field. Renfroe this season has a .239 batting average, with 18 home runs, 30 doubles, and 52 RBIs. He has a .725 OPS. The 31-year old Renfroe is not having the free-agent season I am sure he was hoping to have. He would probably come to Texas and potentially be energized by being in a playoff race. He does have recent experience playing in the playoffs. In 2020 he played for the Rays as they made their way to the World Series. In 2021 he was with the Boston Red Sox as they made their way to the American League Championship Series and a near upset of the Houston Astros.

The need for Texas is obviously pitching, but Renfroe would also fill a need.. He would be a veteran bat that still can hit with power and help out the middle of the order until Josh Jung returns in a few weeks.