The Texas Rangers are denying reports today that they have agreed to send third base prospect Mike Olt to Miami in a deal for Marlins’ starter Josh Johnson.
Citing an unnamed source, Bob Nightengale of USA Today said that the two sides had agreed to a deal on Wednesday, the main pieces of which would be Olt and Johnson:
“The Marlins also have starter Josh Johnson on the trade block, and the Texas Rangers are one of the teams actively pursuing him, a Marlins executive told USA TODAY Sports, with the Rangers informing the Marlins they would be willing to part with third-base prospect Mike Olt.”
But Rangers officials, in contact with the Dallas Morning News, have since come out and said the reports are untrue.
Olt, along with Double-A Frisco teammate Jurickson Profar, represented the Rangers in this year’s Futures Game, but there’s certainly some evidence to suggest that Texas would part ways with the young third baseman--namely the recent comments of Ron Washington, who said that, concerning the trade deadline, Profar is the only name completely “off-the-table” in negotiations.
