Texas Rangers Trade for Corey Kluber
The Cleveland Indians have agreed to trade two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers. The Indians will receive outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. and RHP Emmanuel Clase in exchange for the right-hander. The Rangers have made it a point of emphasis to strengthen their rotation this offseason, as they have already inked Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles earlier this month.
Career of Corey Kluber
Corey Kluber has been the ace of a deep Indians rotation for quite some time now. Since breaking into the league in 2011, the righty is a three-time All-Star and a four-time Cy Young finalist.
Throughout his nine seasons in Cleveland, he has sported a 98-58 record with a 3.16 ERA. In 2019 Kluber only made seven appearances with a 5.80 ERA — the first time since 2012 that his ERA hasn’t been below 3.85. The peak of Kluber’s career to this point came in 2017 when he led all of baseball with 18 wins, a 2.25 ERA, five complete games, three shutouts, and a 0.869 WHIP.
DeShields and Clase head to Cleveland
The Indians will add DeShields to a thin outfield unit. Entering his age 27 season, in five years with the Rangers the outfielder slashed .246/.326/.342 with 18 total home runs.
Clase is 21 years old and only has one year of experience under his belt. He appeared in 21 games in 2019 and threw for a 2.31 ERA. The 21-year old is a flame-throwing relief pitcher who has the ability to reach triple digits.
Texas Rangers Offseason Outlook
The Rangers now appear to have their starting-five set: Kluber, Mike Minor, Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and Jordan Lyles. Minor and Lynn are the only two that will be returning to the veteran rotation from 2019. The rotation now has a combined career ERA of 4.06, including three of whom sit below 4.00.
Since the team missed out on Anthony Rendon, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels, the team could be in the market for another position player. Players like Josh Donaldson or Travis Shaw could be in play if the Rangers want to make some noise in 2020.
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