The Texas Rangers made a big swing at the 2025 trade deadline, but the deal that was supposed to stabilize their rotation is starting to look like one they may pay for down the line.
Chris Young has built a track record of making deadline moves that helped Texas, including the trades that fed into the club’s 2023 World Series run. But not every deal ages cleanly, and this one may already be moving in the wrong direction.
Young sent three Top 15 prospects to Arizona for Merrill Kelly: left-hander Mitch Bratt, left-hander Kohl Drake and right-hander David Hagaman. The idea was straightforward enough.
Kelly, who had just pitched against the Rangers in the World Series, was brought in to give Texas a dependable starter behind Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. The problem is that the Rangers needed help in more than one spot, and the return on this particular investment never matched the cost.
Kelly finished 3-3 with a 4.23 ERA in 10 starts for Texas before heading back to Arizona in free agency after the season. He didn’t push the Rangers over the hump, and the organization now has to wonder what it gave up to get him.
That’s especially true because Young himself said after the season that the Rangers could have used more depth and competition on the major league roster. Bratt and Drake might have filled that role if they’d stayed in the system, and both reached the majors this year.
Drake went 0-1 with a 6.53 ERA in five starts, striking out 17 and walking seven in 20.2 innings. Bratt went 1-3 with a 4.70 ERA in 10 games, piling up 30 strikeouts and 27 walks over 44 innings. With Jack Leiter sidelined for three months after ankle surgery and Kumar Rocker struggling throughout the season, Texas could have used both arms to help ease the burden on the staff, whether that meant giving Rocker a breather or helping deGrom and Eovaldi skip a start.
The long-term piece matters just as much. Texas will have three free agent pitchers after 2027, and Drake and Bratt could have been the kind of rotation pieces the Rangers were leaning on in 2028.
Hagaman may fit that same discussion soon enough. He still hasn’t reached the majors, but in 2026 he went 7-6 with a 2.87 ERA at Double-A. Another strong minor league season could put him in position to debut in 2028.
The Rangers do have other pitching coming, including Winston Santos, Emiliano Teodo and Jose Corniell, though all three are still Top 30 prospects and haven’t had many chances to establish themselves. Corniell also missed most of the season with a flexor tendon injury.
In baseball, pitching is premium currency. The Rangers spent it on Kelly in 2025, and if Bratt and Drake keep moving the way they have, that trade could end up looking like one Texas will regret.
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