The Rangers left the deadline with a little more bullpen help and some added catching depth, but not much else - and that’s why two cheap moves stand out as the ones Chris Young probably should have finished.
Texas did make two trades before the clock ran out. The first brought catcher Logan O'Hoppe and right-handed reliever Chase Silseth over from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for 19-year-old infield prospect Angel Arredondo.
The second sent utilityman Josh Smith and pitching prospect Josh Stephanto to the Toronto Blue Jays for left-handed reliever Adam Macko. So yes, the Rangers improved the relief corps a bit.
No, they didn’t make the kind of swing that changes the mood around a deadline.
One missed opportunity was Caleb Ferguson. The Reds sent Ferguson to the St.
Louis Cardinals on Monday for $250K in international bonus pool space, and that’s the kind of price Texas should have been ready to match. Because Cincinnati and St.
Louis are division rivals, the Rangers likely would have only needed to equal that offer to get it done.
Ferguson, 30, has a 3.76 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP and 23 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings over 27 appearances this season. He’s also not some one-year wonder; he’s got eight years of big league experience and a career 3.67 ERA across 353 1/3 innings.
Silseth may still look like the better bullpen addition, even with his own struggles, but Ferguson would have made sense as an extra arm on top of that. Macko has upside too, though he’s currently in Triple-A.
The other deal that feels reachable is Kirby Yates. Texas could have pushed a little harder in the O'Hoppe/Silseth trade and added another prospect to land the veteran right-hander from the Angels.
Instead, Los Angeles moved Yates to the Pittsburgh Pirates for right-handed pitching prospect Kyle Robinson, who isn’t even in the Angels’ top-30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. That’s the kind of return that makes you wonder if the Rangers could have gotten involved without paying much.
Yates, an All-Star for the Rangers in 2024, has posted a 3.81 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings in 2026. He also would have given Texas more late-inning experience and some closer background, which matters when the bullpen sits 21st in ERA at 4.31.
Even if his best days are behind him, he still looks like the sort of insurance piece a team can use, especially if Jacob Latz goes down. The Rangers passed anyway, and that’s what makes this deadline feel like a missed chance.
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For the Rangers, the restraint made sense in part because of where Rutschman stands physically right now. He is on the injured list with a wrist issue and is expected to start a rehab assignment soon, which complicates any conversation about giving up a premium return. Texas liked the player, but it also showed a willingness to let Boston carry the bigger risk in a deal that could look very different once Rutschman is back on the field. [Read more 🡒]