By this point, we've pretty much come to terms with the fact that Jurickson Profar will not be traded by the Texas Rangers this month, or probably not even this winter unless it's for a transcendent superstar like Giancarlo Stanton or David Price.
That leaves two big prospects the Rangers still have who could be available at the trade deadline with the Rangers searching for both a frontline starting pitcher and a right-handed power bat, and those two guys are corner infield prospect Mike Olt and current big-league starting pitcher Martin Perez, who's been the club's top pitching prospect for years even though he's now just 22 years old.
According to several reports, the Rangers are fine parting ways with Olt, who is blocked in the organization at third base by Adrian Beltre and has another big prospect on his heels in Single-A player Joey Gallo, who leads all of minor league baseball in homers. But don't kid yourself, Olt is still a big prospect, one of the tops in baseball.
Perez, on the other hand, seems to be off the table, especially in a potential deal with the Chicago Cubs for rental starting pitcher Matt Garza, which makes a whole lot of sense.
First off, it'd make zero sense for the Rangers to trade Perez for Garza because they'd essentially be swapping starting pitchers — albeit two different levels of starting pitcher — when the Rangers are looking to add another arm, not swap arms out. Perez looks to be a piece to the Rangers' rotation for the remainder of the regular season and possibly a No. 4 starter in the playoffs.
Second, Perez has shown a lot of promise over the past month while shutting down some big-time lineups like the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles.
Olt doesn't fit into the Rangers' plans for at least the next three years as Beltre is locked in at third base.
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So this comes as no surprise, but don't expect to see the Rangers trade Perez this year. Olt, on the other hand, might be counting down his final days in the Rangers' organization.
