Texas Rangers trade rumors: The Texas Rangers are listening to inquiries on their players, including Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore, and Jacob Latz, per reports, with Joel Sherman saying that the Rangers “are telling teams none of their players are off-limits.”
It is quite the shift from just a week ago, when the Rangers were in first place and solidifying themselves as buyers. Now, with the deadline this afternoon, the Rangers are apparently at least considering sending a bunch of guys out.
We can
argue about whether or not a sell-off is warranted, with the team still in striking distance in the division (2.5 games back) and in the Wild Card race (1.5 games back), and with a favorable schedule coming up. At the same time, the team is two games below .500, and in what is a seller’s market, management may feel like it makes sense to try to sell high on some guys — particularly if there’s pressure from ownership to reduce salary.
Joc Pederson is the one player who, if the Rangers were to commit to selling, would seem sure to go. He’s rebounded from a bad 2025 with a very good 2026 season, and moving him would save Ray Davis & Co. $6 million or so. Other than Pederson, there’s not much in the way of free-agents-to-be that the Rangers could get anything for, or that they’d save much money by moving.
I tend to think that moving Eovaldi, Gore or Latz is fairly unlikely, given that they are all under team control beyond this year, and only Eovaldi is making a significant sum (and he has a no-trade clause that would have to be navigated). That said, the Rangers are no doubt gauging the market and seeing who might be willing to overpay for pitching help that is controllable beyond this season. Latz, is particular, has seen his stock shoot up this year, and the Rangers might find the potential return for a guy who has established himself this year as an All Star Closer tempting enough to pull the trigger, given how inherently unpredictable relievers can be.
Sherman’s saying that the Rangers are telling teams no one is off-limits is a bit concerning. You’d think that, even if they are selling, Wyatt Langford, Kumar Rocker or Jack Leiter would be held onto. Langford, in particular, has been pointed to in media reports as the future face of the franchise in justifying efforts to trade Corey Seager. You wouldn’t think that the Rangers would be trading Langford, a legitimate star player with three years of team control beyond 2026. On the other hand, if the Rangers are doing a full on tear-down and rebuild, with an eye towards competing closer to 2030, then Langford is someone they’d get a huge return for now.
I don’t think that the Rangers are going into full-blown rebuild mode. I don’t think Langford, Evan Carter, Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter, or similar guys under team control for several years are going anywhere. My guess would be that the team either deals Pederson and maybe someone like Tyler Alexander or Jakob Junis, or else largely stands pay, maybe adding a controllable reliever for a nominal cost.
I’ve been wrong before, though.
