The Cubs are in the market for help on the mound, and the Rangers are hunting in the same lane. That overlap is exactly why Texas has been watching Chicago, even if a deal between the two clubs still looks like a stretch.
According to a new report, Rangers scouts have recently been checking out the Cubs at both the big-league and minor-league levels. Texas has also had eyes on the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Braves. With president of baseball operations Chris Young working under major payroll restrictions, the Rangers’ interest in other clubs starts to make a little more sense.
The financial picture in Texas is part of the story here. The Rangers have plenty of expensive commitments, and the two biggest belong to starting pitchers Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi.
deGrom’s deal is the real monster. The 38-year-old right-hander is making $38 million this season and is set to make $37 million in 2027.
He has made 20 starts this year and owns a 3.26 FIP while striking out more than 10 batters per nine. He’s not the overpowering ace he once was, but if Texas were willing to absorb some of that salary, there’s at least a path to opening payroll space and bringing back a young player.
Even then, that’s a hard scenario to picture coming together.
Eovaldi is the cleaner trade candidate, though still not an easy one to move. He’s a veteran starter on an expiring contract, and dealing him could help Young land bullpen help or a young arm for the future while also creating some financial room for another move.
Still, the fit between these two teams remains murky. The Cubs have been tied to a long list of pitchers ahead of next week’s Aug. 3 trade deadline, and they have more obvious routes to fill their rotation and bullpen needs. There are simply a lot of arms available this summer.
For the Rangers, though, the challenge is obvious: adding pitching without adding payroll. Their two biggest contracts are tied to important starters, and moving either one would carry the kind of one step forward, one step back feel that makes a Cubs-Rangers trade tough to see.
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