Folks like Jamey Newberg are better at personalizing prospects than me. Still, you read him and others, you read my ongoing coverage, and perhaps over time you’ve built an affinity for some of them beyond the stats. And then, one day, they’re gone. That said, entering this year’s trade spree I was probably less emotional than ever. I decided I had no guys who were “mine.” The Rangers needed some upgrades, and they had the talent to acquire them. Go, front office. Do some deals. And they did, and now supposedly emotionless me is a little bummed because I’d planned to give an eyewitness account of Kohl Drake’s start in Round Rock tonight. Ah, well.
The farm was pretty flat heading into trade season. After Walcott, who was out of virtually any reasonable discussion, the Rangers had a bunch of prospects in a fairly narrow value range. They also had particular strength in potential starting pitchers. The farm alone was strong enough to acquire some substantial deadline pieces. The bad news is that particular strength is now considerably weaker.
LHP Danny Coulombe (MIN) for LHP Garrett Horn
I see Coulombe’s repertoire on the page, I watch video of the corresponding pitches, I scratch my head. His 90ish four-seamer essentially operates like a cutter, barely leaning glove-side at all, while his cutter hardly has any rise. He doesn’t throw hard at all, but everything has unconventional movement (see the profile here). Hitters scratch their heads, too.
Horn had returned from elbow surgery and made his belated pro debut less than two months ago. So far, results have been fabulous: 34 strikeouts versus only six walks (contra his poor college control) in 24.2 innings between the complex and Hickory. A sixth-round pick with little pro experience landed a quality MLB reliever all by himself. Great news, but also an indication of how well Horn was regarded.
RHP Phil Maton (STL) for RHP Skylar Hales and RHP Mason Molina (and international slot money)
Hales was 2023’s fourth-rounder and made an early splash with upper-90s velocity and deception. As I’ve written, his occasional bad days are outsized, sometimes undoing all the good, and his initial flashiness has dimmed. Still, he’s a legitimate relief prospect. Molina was acquired from the Brewers (2024, 7th round) for DFA’ed reliever Grant Anderson. I praised the pickup at the time (given the circumstances), and he’s performed well in high-A, but he’s not of the level of the other starting prospects traded and more likely to be organizational depth. (Incidentally, the formerly up-and-down Anderson has spent nearly the entire season with the Brewers and leads the club in relief innings.)
RHP Merrill Kelly (ARI) for LHP Kohl Drake, LHP Mitch Bratt and RHP David Hagaman
I make those first two deals without hesitation. You can’t play armchair GM if you’re worried about Skylar Hales pitching the 7th for the Cards in 2027. But if a trade is going to sting, this is most likely. The high guys on Drake have described him as “mid-rotation” rather than the “back-end” category I’ve lumped him in with others. I’m not quite there, but sure, it’s conceivable. One issue from his AAA debut was trouble putting away hitters once ahead, and that was to be my focus were I able to see him tonight. He was going to be added to the 40 in November and compete for a rotation spot next March. Not a shoo-in, certainly, but in a position to be atop the list as an in-season reinforcement. Bratt, the command/control wizard, likewise was a lock for the 40, and I was counting on seeing him in Round Rock before the season ended. Hagaman, like Horn, was returning from surgery, displaying much better control as a pro starter than as a college reliever.
Drake was an 11th-round pick, Bratt a fifth, and Hagaman a fourth. Yes, the trade required all three, but getting a mid-rotation starter without relinquishing a top-100 draft pick is nice work by everyone involved.
Kelly didn’t make his MLB debut until Age 30 but has 953 innings and 17 WAR. That’s fun. A 2010 8th-rounder, he was permitted four years later by Tampa Bay and the rest of the league to wander off to Korea, where he spent four seasons before returning stateside. Superficially, the trade makes no sense, as Texas wouldn’t wouldn’t be in a buying position if not for the existing rotation, but not a single member is free of concern due to age, injury history, quality and command of stuff, or combinations thereof. Exhibit A: Kumar Rocker’s start last night.
All told, a substantial collection of talent has departed. But, let’s remember some guys: Jorge Alfaro, Alec Asher, Jerad Eickhoff, Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Robbie Erlin, Joe Wieland, Mike Olt, CJ Edwards, Justin Grimm, Neil Ramirez, Christian Villanueva, Blake Beavan, Justin Smoak, Michael Main, Lewis Brinson, Luis Ortiz, Ryan Cordell. All traded at the deadline by the Rangers. Some were pretty good for a short while, but none played through their arbitration years and reached MLB free agency in a conventional fashion. Yes, I omitted Kyle Hendricks, and Tanner Roark, and Chris Davis, but for the most part, prospects just don’t work out, and capitalizing on their peak values is imperative. Jake Burger hasn’t performed well as a Ranger, but have you missed Echedry Vargas or Max Acosta or Brayan Mendoza? All are struggling with the Marlins, and there’s a good chance that their values crested in the days leading up to their trade.
Designated for assignment were 1B Blaine Crim and OF Dustin Harris. Both were likely non-tender candidates come the offseason, but the acquisitions hastened the process.
In Round Rock, Crim has looked as formidable as anyone I’ve seen over the years. I don’t mean he’s Yordan Alvarez (of the top of my head, the scariest minor league hitter I’ve seen in person), but he has a very steady, consistent approach and hits the ball hard. Unfortunately, his brief look in Arlington yielded no results, and he’s not getting another shot on a win-now club. Anyone who saw Harris’s early days in Frisco’s outfield has to be happy with his defensive progress. He’s also stolen 30 bases per 500 trips to the plate as a pro. He has the bat control to angle his contact well, but he simply doesn’t hit that hard, and his power has waned since slugging .471 in AA in 2023. Both Crim and Harris were drafted in 2019 and to my knowledge can become free agents at season’s end if they go unclaimed or are claimed and outrighted later on.
I was having a hard time seeing how Josh Sborz would fit in before these trades. He’s 20 days into a maximum of 30 on rehab and cannot be optioned. Last night, Sborz recorded three outs on only seven pitches but topped at 91.4.
Absent updates, I’m assuming that the Rangers have crossed the Competitive Balance Tax threshold for a third consecutive year. To the extent I worry about that, if ever, it won’t be today. The Rangers are going for it.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 6, El Paso (SDG) 4
Round Rock: 9 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 14-13, 6.5 GB, 48-54 overall
SP Ryan Garcia: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 58 P / 35 S, 7.99 ERA
RP Joe Barlow: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 4.75 ERA
RP Josh Sborz: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3.86 ERA
CF Alejandro Osuna: 1-3, BB, .243/.451/.405
Cody Freeman only had one hit. Maybe he has the flu. He and his teammates collected five of their ten hits in a five-run 8th.
AA: Frisco 12, San Antonio (SDG) 3
Frisco: 16 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 11-19, 8 GB, 49-49 overall
SP Leandro Lopez: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 72 P / 43 S, 0.90 ERA
RP Jackson Kelley: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.30 ERA
RP Larson Kindreich: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 3.74 ERA
CF Cam Cauley: 2-5, 2 2B, .259/.324/.420
DH Abi Ortiz: 3-5, 2B, HR (16), .250/.348/.454
LF Aaron Zavala: 2-4, 3B, .244/.372/.398
Missions starter Victor Lizarraga was pasted for ten runs in two-plus innings. Unfortunately, the only Rider not to reach was Sebastian Walcott (0-5).
Leandro Lopez pitched very well again. I haven’t had a chance to watch more than a moment of last night night’s start. In his AA debut, Eric Loomis reached counts of 1-2 and 0-2 on his first two batters and ended up with two walks and 14 pitches on his ledger. He couldn’t complete an inning and allowed two runs. He’s better than that.
Hi-A: Hub City 1, Asheville (HOU) 7
Hub City: 2 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 6 walks, 16 strikeouts
Record: 19-14, tied for 1st, 51-47 overall
SP Dalton Pence: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 62 P / 40 S, 1.25 ERA
RP Jesus Gamez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
Entering the bottom of the 6th, Hub City had no hits. Opposing Asheville had only one hit, a single. Somehow, Hub City trailed 3-1. Malcolm Moore broke up the no-hitter with a hard grounder down the left line. I noticed today that Moore had more balls hit the opposite way (45%) than pull-side (39%). Of 162 Sally batters with at least 100 plate appearances, Moore’s oppo rate is second highest. I don’t have results for contact to particular fields, but it’s certainly not what I had in mind.
Lo-A: Hickory 5, at Fayetteville (HOU) 10
Hickory: 11 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 20-13, 3.5 GB, 53-45 overall
SP Brooks Fowler: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 6 SO, 81 P / 51 S, 3.00 ERA
CF Hector Osorio: 2-4, BB, SB (7), .256/.395/.372
C Ben Hartl: 3-4, HBP, SB (5), .216/.352/.279
1B Marcos Torres: 2-3, BB, SB (14), .254/.333/.376
Two days ago, Enyel Lopez made his full-season debut. Last night, 20-year-old lefty Geury Rodriguez joined the party but is going to spend the rest of his season trying to bring his ERA out of the stratosphere, as he allowed six runs in an inning-plus. Rodriguez spent three seasons in the Dominican Republic before joining Arizona.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Currently listed but highly unlikely
AA: Davalillo
Hi-A: McCarty
Lo-A: See Drake, Kohl
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
I chose to write about the trades instead of the 2007 Bakersfield Blaze.
