The Rangers are still waiting to make their first big off-season splash, if they make one at all, and they lost out on a chance on Wednesday when the Atlanta Braves traded Rangers target Evan Gattis to the Houston Astros.
The Star-Telegram reported the Rangers believed the Braves' asking price was too high as some combination of prospects Alex "Chi-Chi" Gonzalez and Nomar Mazara, who are two of the Rangers' primo prospects.
Gattis is a Dallas native, having played high school baseball at Bishop Lynch, and would have given the Rangers a power bat at the DH spot who could also play at catcher (despite some defensive deficiencies) and first base.
Gattis is a power bat, there is no denying that, but he's a not much of on-base guy, drawing just more than 20 walks last season, and he's been an injury concern throughout his career.
Being in the state and in the division now, the Rangers will have plenty of chance to see Gattis in 2015 and see if they made the right call by backing off of him.
