Texas Rangers Trade Rumors: Is A Big Deal On The Horizon?
By Cody Smith
With the Texas Rangers making a big splash for Corey Kluber last week, the rumors have heated up around the Rangers potentially making another big move to fill their void at third base.
Over the last week the Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies have been reportedly discussing a possible deal that would lead the Rangers acquiring star third baseman Nolan Arenado. It seemed that after the Rangers acquired Kluber, the rumors of Colorado dealing Arenado increased on a daily basis throughout the week, and Texas may be the most likely place for him to land.
It is looking like Arenado would be the most likely option for the Texas Rangers to take over at third, as the Rangers seemed poised to make a run at Arenado if he were to hit free agency prior to signing his extension with the Rockies. It seems that the Rockies made a smart business decision by extending Arenado, as trading him will land them a lot more than they would have received in a compensation pick if he signed elsewhere.
Per Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report, he wrote that the Texas Rangers could offer a package for Arenado consisting of Sam Huff, Rougned Odor, and Brock Burke. I think that trade may be on the low-end, and if it is an actual possibility, the Rangers should jump all over that opportunity.
I would honestly be okay with the Texas Rangers adding additional prospects to the Rockies if they can ensure that Arenado would void his opt-out after the 2021 season. The trade that Rymer posted seems like a it would be an amazing deal for Texas, even if it meant that the chance of Arenado opting out after the 2021 season was still a possibility.
More from Texas Rangers
- Texas Rangers hitting the reset button with Jonathan Hernandez
- Texas Rangers lose Jacob deGrom to Tommy John: Next steps
- Grant Anderson gives the Texas Rangers their missing ingredient
- Texas Rangers: How Adolis Garcia started putting up MVP numbers
- Why Kumar Rocker is still a successful pick for the Texas Rangers
Another possibility that Arenado has reportedly been open to is that if the team that acquires him would be willing to add an extra year onto his contract for his age 36 season in 2027. It wouldn’t be horrible for that to happen, considering that if he opts out after the 2021, he would be heading into his age 31 season, so a five-year contract should not be a problem for him to get, as long as the Texas Rangers could just make the one year extension like $25 million, which would make him very reasonable for the course of his contract.
I still believe that Arenado is going to need quite a bit more in order for the Rangers to acquire him. The trio of Rangers may just be what the Rangers may have to offer to get the Rockies to start talking, as they would probably have to throw in another mid-level type prospect like a Bubba Thompson to push the Rangers over the hump.
If Arenado becomes a bidding war, the Rangers may have to go as far as to include another top prospect such as Cole Winn to make sure that the deal gets done.