Texas Rangers 2020 Trade Deadline Recap
One thing that will always remain constant in Major League Baseball is questions. Teams are never going to stop asking them. Questions regarding their players, coaching staff, front office, and when the time comes to ask them, about their seasonal employees as well. Questions like “Is a player performing the way we had hoped?” and “What pieces do we need to go forward in the future?”
Change of Scenery
Now that the trade deadline has passed, the Texas Rangers need to decide what to do with the players that they still have. That, however, might be a question that needs to be answered in the offseason. After all, they still have several weeks to go in this season. One individual that was key for the Rangers down the stretch in 2019 is now gone. That individual is left-hander Mike Minor, who was traded to the Oakland Athletics at the deadline. Thus far in 2020, Minor has a record of 0-5 and an earned run average of 5.60. It is true that Minor wasn’t performing, and the Rangers need guys that can. So they opted to move Minor, believing that pitching in a place that isn’t Arlington might be in his best interest as well as theirs.
Player/Mentor
Ranger fans everywhere were shocked when they heard that their starting ace Lance Lynn had not been dealt on August 31. Everyone, including Lynn himself, was well aware that he was being shopped to other teams. The 33-year-old is having the best year out of anyone on the Rangers pitching staff. With that said, it could be vital that a deal for Lynn didn’t come together. The Rangers see Lynn as a mentor as well as a pitcher. He can teach other guys like Jordan Lyles and Kyle Cody. The latter of whom made his first Major League start against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Friday evening. It also doesn’t hurt that Lynn has been getting guys out left and right with hardly a blemish.
Manager Approval
The idea of a 60-game season is still foreign, and players are taking just as much time to get used to it as everyone else is. One of them is Rangers Outfielder Joey Gallo. Despite a .178 batting average, manager Chris Woodward is showing faith in Gallo, who also has seven home runs, 17 RBI, and 15 runs scored thus far. It is hard to ask a player, position or pitcher, to put up typical 162-game numbers during this time. That being said, having a manager in Woodward who understands this, and was once a player himself, is invaluable.
Good News at the Hot Corner
A very pleasant surprise has been Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Fans know and love Kiner-Falefa for what he can do behind the plate, so they were in for a real treat when he stepped in to play third base in recent weeks. He has been getting it done with his glove as well as putting up a solid average at the dish to go along with it. He is hitting .288 with two home runs, six RBI, and 17 runs scored.
The Rangers are doing what everyone else is doing. They are working with what they have and answering some of those questions along the way. Let’s see what’s in store for them the rest of the season.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
