From sellers to sharks? Rangers hot streak sets up an aggressive deadline spree

In the last few weeks, the Texas Rangers looked like the best bet for the MLB Trade Deadline was to sell, however after winning 8 of 9 since the All-Star break, Bruce Bochy's squad is squarely back in the playoff race and among the analysts who believes the club will be aggressive at the deadline is none other than ESPN's Buster Olney.

The speed with which the Rangers went from sellers to buyers is quite impressive. Adolis Garcia was said to be on his way out of town for sure. Now it looks like everyone is staying put and some reinforcements are on the way, either hitters or pitchers.

Buster Olney expects aggressive Texas Rangers moves before deadline

Olney isn't sure just who the Texas Rangers might go after, but he does think he knows that Chris Young is going to be plenty active this week. With trades already going down over the weekend, it is possible that the team could be adding a player before Thursday.

"If you were to line up all the MLB president of baseball operations and general managers on a spectrum from most competitive to least," Olney wrote. "The peers of Rangers GM Chris Young would probably pick him to be the most competitive -- which is why other teams assume that with Texas surging in the standings of late, the Rangers will be adding before the deadline."

With the Rangers just 4 games out of the AL West lead and a half game out of the Wild Card, their playoff hopes seem to be alive and well. An offense that struggled mightily the first two and a half months is red hot and a pitching staff that's been among the best in baseball is still excellent.

All that is why the Texas Rangers should be active at the deadline. And then Olney provided this little tidbit: "Remember, in 2023, Texas limped into the postseason and wound up winning the World Series."