The Pittsburgh Pirates may have a new trade partner on the radar, and it comes with a team that’s not exactly acting like a seller has all the answers.
According to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, the Texas Rangers have been telling interested clubs that no player is “off-limits” after getting swept by the Houston Astros in three games. That skid left Texas at 55-57, even though the Rangers are still only 2 1/2 games out of first place in the AL West.
That record puts them in a strange spot, but the message appears clear enough: they’re open to listening. For Pittsburgh, which sits at 56-57, that at least creates the possibility of a deal.
The Pirates aren’t going to be in the mix for Texas’s major contracts, including Jacob deGrom, Corey Seager or Nathan Eovaldi. Sherman noted that Eovaldi is drawing interest, but he’s making $25 million this year and $20 million next year, and he also has a full no-trade clause. That makes him a tough fit, if not an unrealistic one.
The same goes for Texas veterans like Joc Pederson and Jake Burger. Those names don’t really line up with what Pittsburgh is trying to do.
The area that does make sense is the Rangers’ bullpen, where the Pirates are still looking for help.
All-Star closer Jacob Latz would come at a steep price. He has a 1.80 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 50 innings and is under club control through 2030, so Texas would not be moving him cheaply.
If Latz is out of reach, Pittsburgh could look at a couple of lower-cost arms: right-hander Peyton Gray and left-hander Tyler Alexander.
Gray, 31, is in his first big-league season after originally entering pro ball as an undrafted free agent with the Colorado Rockies in 2018. In 35 appearances and 42 1/3 innings for Texas, he has put up a 3.40 ERA with 45 strikeouts and a 3.26 FIP. His fastball averages 92.9 mph, but he has paired that with a 6.6 percent walk rate and an elite 31.7 percent hard-hit rate against.
Alexander, 32, is in his eighth major league season and his first with the Rangers. He has worked 48 1/3 innings with a 3.35 ERA and 2.87 FIP, and he’s been especially effective at getting ground balls, doing so at a 54.4 percent clip. He also brings a 6.3 percent walk rate and a profile built on limiting hard contact.
Gray would cost more to acquire than Alexander because he just started accruing service time this year and is still pre-arbitration, while Alexander is a rental set to hit free agency after this season.
Either way, both pitchers would give the Pirates’ bullpen a needed lift, and both are names worth watching as the next couple of hours unfold.
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