Remember the good ol’ days of not so long ago when the Major League Baseball trading deadline arrived and your first-place Rangers were buyers, looking for a deal or two to strengthen a run for the World Series? Cliff Lee for Justin Smoak in 2010. Koji Uehara for Chris Davis in 2011. Ryan Dempster for Kyle Hendricks in 2012. Matt Garza for Mike Olt, and Alex Rios for Leury Garcia in 2013.
Don’t look now, but when this year’s July 31 deadline arrives the reeling Rangers will likely be on the other side of fence – as sellers.
Unless something drastically changes in the next three weeks, the Rangers won’t make the playoffs and will have to face the reality that 2014 was an injury-riddled waste of time. I’m not suggesting a fire sale of every veteran to pick up prospects – Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz and Matt Harrison for Mark Teixeira in 2008 comes to mind – because the Rangers don’t unequivocally suck, they’re just not good enough contend without star players (Harrison, Martin Perez, Prince Fielder, Jurickson Profar, Mitch Moreland, etc.) who should return to form in 2015.
When the Rangers passed on signing Kendrys Morales, it was a hint of selling things to come.
There are buyers out there that will come sniffing around veteran assets like Alex Rios, Joakim Soria and even Andrus. It’s sad to be sellers at mid-season, but still important to make – or pass on – the right deals.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
