The 2014 non-waiver MLB trade deadline has now come and gone, and there's been a lot to digest.
The Rangers, after much talk and ties between other teams and Alex Rios and Neal Cotts, ended up doing nothing. They could still make waiver trades, but it's not likely with those two as neither have a big contract to take on, which is usually the case with guys traded after the deadline.
The Rangers will now have Rios to come back as their right fielder for the 2015 season when they hope all of their injured pieces will be back to health, and they will likely hope to bring Cotts back in free agency and hope they can get a bit of a discount from Cotts after they helped resurrect his career.
We'll get more into it on Friday, but personally this seems like the right move for the Rangers involving Rios, who probably wasn't drawing the return the Rangers had hoped, but also could be a key piece moving forward and said he preferred to stay in Texas.
The biggest trade involving the Texas Rangers didn't actually involve the Rangers, at all. The AL West leading Oakland A's went even further all-in on their quest to win a World Series by acquiring Boston Red Sox ace Jon Lester, who's in the midst of the best season of his career and is the top-of-the-rotation, October-tested pitcher that puts the A's rotation on par with anyone in baseball up there with Detroit and the Dodgers of the world.
The trade was odd, given that the A's sent slugger Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox as a player controlled through 2016 with an option. It takes away a big chunk of power from the A's lineup, but it's still a really good lineup with a fantastic pitching staff. Now, they have a true rental in Lester and are parting ways with a core piece of their lineup.
Speaking of blockbusters, Tampa Bay sent ace David Price to the Detroit Tigers, who seemingly were trying to keep pace with the A's rotation stacking. He'll fit in nicely with Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez and Justin Verlander. Wow. Just wow. The Tigers now have the last three AL Cy Young winners. The Mariners are getting Austin Jackson from the Tigers as the Denton native will be a long-term fix in center field for the Mariners and will give them a boost on offense they've craved.
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The A's and Tigers have been at this race for a few weeks now and now seem to be the heavy favorites to meet up for the AL pennant, but from a Rangers perspective you have to like this seeing as how it seemingly cripples the A's, at least a bit, beyond this season.
So again, the Rangers are standing pat, and we don't think that's a bad thing. But as for not standing pat, buckle up for the final two months of the season. It's going to be an exciting finish with all of these blockbusters.
