The Texas Rangers are certainly in no position to be buyers come the July 31 trade deadline, but the question is to what degree they will be sellers?
On the move: Alex Rios, OF
2014 stats: .305 batting average, .333 on-base percentage, 21 doubles, 8 triples, 4 home runs, 42 RBIs, 16 stolen bases
Reasons to move: Rios would be an appealing addition to a contending club with his unique blend of speed and power, even though the power hasn't really shown up this season. He leads the league in triples and is having the best year of his career as far as batting average is concerned. His career-high is .304, which he finished the 2012 season with. In an offense-starved trade market, Rios would be one of the top available bats.
Reasons to keep: Rios is perhaps the biggest question among the Rangers who will seemingly be shopped as the Rangers move to "seller" status for the first time since 2008. He has a nice, affordable team option for 2015 that would make him a key piece of the lineup next season when things will be assumed to be much-improved after this season's historically bad luck with the injury bug. And just keep this in mind, the Rangers acquired Rios after the deadline last year for so-so middle infield prospect Leury Garcia, straight up. That might give you some kind of hint of what the Rangers could expect in return. Plus, if you deal Rios, you have the combination of Mitch Moreland and Michael Choice back to play right field in 2015. How much do you want that?
Final verdict: This is a toss-up. You can make a good case for moving Rios, and can also make a solid case for keeping him and hoping he can be a part of a healthy lineup that looked to be one of baseball's best in the spring with another possible addition or two. Right now, we'll put it at a 60 percent chance he's dealt.
