MLB Trade Rumors: The Texas Rangers are expected to be sellers, and Jake Diekman, Keone Kela, and Jose Leclerc have been the hot names out there, with Adrian Beltre, Mike Minor, Alex Claudio, Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Gallo also discussed as possible trade pieces. But with roughly 24 hours to go before the deadline, things have gone quiet on the rumor front with the Rangers. Diekman, who is a free agent after the season, is seen as almost certain to go, and it appears Kela is likely being dealt as well, given the strong demand for controllable relievers (Kela isn’t a free agent until after the 2020 season). Leclerc and Claudio have reportedly garnered interest, but neither seems likely to elicit the type of offer that would make the Rangers pull the trigger on a deal, while most of the other players in the mix appear to be the subject of tire-kicking. One development to keep an eye on is the Boston Red Sox placing third baseman Rafael Devers on the disabled list with a strained hamstring. The 22 year old Devers had a strong partial season in the majors last year, but has struggled in 2018, and is now on the shelf for an indefinite period of time. Beltre has 10/5 rights and can veto a trade, and the Rangers won’t trade him unless he wants to go...but with Boston potentially in need for a third baseman down the stretch, and Beltre having played in Boston before, its not outside the realm of possibility that a deal involving Beltre and Kela (the Red Sox are also reportedly looking for relievers) could happen. There’s going to be a lot of action this evening and tomorrow, and with almost every contender looking for bullpen help, the Rangers should find trade partners for at least a couple of their arms. The question is just who, and how much.<doc-sep>MLB Trade Rumors: The Texas Rangers are scouting Luiz Gohara, a 21 year old lefthanded pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, according to Joel Sherman, who says Keone Kela and Jake Diekman are being pursued by the Braves. David O’Brien says there’s a “good chance” a Gohara/Kela deal gets done if he shows he’s healthy, though Ken Rosenthal says that the Braves aren’t moving Gohara, or any other starting pitching prospect, unless they can get starting pitching help, rather than bullpen help, and specifically says the Braves aren’t interested in a Gohara for Kela/Diekman deal. So there’s a lot going on here. Sherman says there are three scouts at Scranton, where the Braves’ AAA affiliate plays today, though there are a number of players the Rangers could be scouting, and it isn’t necessarily just to see Gohara (O’Brien says Gohara, who wasn’t originally slated to start today, isn’t being started today just to showcase him to Texas). The Braves supposedly had interest in Cole Hamels, and have been linked to Adrian Beltre, though there are differing reports on how much the Braves are interested in Beltre, versus Kela, Diekman, or Jose Leclerc. Gohara would be something of a buy-low guy...he came into the season #23 on the Baseball America top 100 prospect list, in the top 50 on the MLB Pipeline list and in the 60s on the Baseball Prospectus list, but he’s not had a good 2018 campaign, putting up a 5.67 ERA in 9 starts in AAA and a 5.95 ERA in the majors, mostly working out of the pen. He was acquired from the Seattle Mariners in a deal that sent Mallex Smith to the M’s in January, 2017, and is huge, throws hard, and has enough control questions that its an open question whether he can stick in the rotation. He’s dropped to #71 on the BA mid-season list, and to #63 on the MLB Pipeline mid-season list. I made a run at Gohara, amusingly enough, in the SBN offseason sim this past winter, trying to get him for Jurickson Profar or one of the young corner bats, but the Atlanta g.m. wasn’t having it. Gohara would probably immediately be the best pitching prospect in the Rangers system, if they found a way to land him, and you have to figure they’d give him a long leash in the rotation if he came to Texas, but while there’s upside there, his control problems would likely be a source of frustration for fans, and there’s a significant chance he ends up as, well, another Keone Kela — a hard-throwing late inning reliever.<doc-sep>Good morning. The Rangers continue to break up the band and there might not be many members left in a few hours. In an effort to not bury the lede, T.R. Sullivan writes that the Rangers traded closer Keone Kela to the Pittsburgh Pirates last night for a minor league left-handed pitching prospect and a PTBNL. Jeff Wilson writes that the named youngster in the deal for Kela is Pirates’ No. 7 prospect Taylor Hearn, who is from Royse City (which is apparently about 45 minutes out of Arlington? *shrug*). Evan Grant writes that trading Kela signaled a realization from the Rangers that even their developmental success stories must now become fuel for the future. The Associated Press has quotes from Jon Daniels on the trade where he calls dealing Kela difficult but believes it was the right time to start acquiring fresh talent. Wilson reacts to the trade of Kela where he believes the Rangers just couldn’t make a case to keep a closer when they’re trying to retool or reload or whatever it was JD called it instead of using that dang dirty word rebuild . Sullivan offers an update on Adrian Beltre where it appears that my favorite baseball player will not be traded unless something drastically changes between now and this afternoon. Grant has more on the Rangers and Beltre with the clock ticking where he writes that the situation is, well... it’s complicated. Oh yeah, if you’re curious about the actual baseball game, as T.R. Sullivan recaps, the Rangers won last night’s game 9-5 over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a fun display of offensive fireworks. Grant writes that Rangers officials are taking some time in the scorching climate of Arizona to examine the conditions of the playing surface at Chase Field as they continue to consider making even more money off their publicly funded boondoggle by installing fake grass. WFAA’s top Rangers prospects list has Anderson Tejeda landing at No. 10 despite the young shortstop perpetually flying under the radar even with a ton of loud tools. And, lastly, in other trade news, all-time great Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler is joining Mitch Moreland in Boston. Have a nice day!<doc-sep>ARLINGTON, TX - JULY 21: Adrian Beltre #29 of the Texas Rangers hits a two run home run home run in the seventh inning against the Cleveland Indians at Globe Life Park in Arlington on July 21, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Rick Yeatts/Getty Images) Less than a day before the trade deadline, Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre remains on the Boston Red Sox radar. A Beltre-Boston partnership makes sense. With the MLB trade deadline a day away, the Texas Rangers remain a team of great intrigue. They’ve completed a few deals already; yet, it feels that is not enough. Adrian Beltre, Keone Kela, and Jake Diekman remain on the rumor mill. Other Rangers players (or organizational players) could certainly get involved; however, those three are the primary candidates at this time. Today’s news focused heavily on a possible Rangers, Red Sox deal. Even Drellich of NBC Sports reported ongoing negotiations between the Rangers and Red Sox regarding Adrian Beltre. A deal sending Beltre to Boston definitely makes sense. The Red Sox are a very impressive 41 games over .500 and therefore have the power to nitpick the trade market. They have good starting pitching, an outstanding lineup and a solid bullpen. Their rather particular needs include an established third baseman, a second baseman to heal the wound of a missing Dustin Pedroia and a left-handed reliever to balance out the bullpen. Look no further than the Texas Rangers. Beltre is a great fit for Boston. He played there for a season back in 2010, he’s the ultimate clubhouse guy, he can still hit and he can still play an above average third base. Beltre compares favorably to current Sox third baseman, 20-year-old Rafael Devers. Devers’ talent is without question, though, he is far from refined at the current stage of his young career. He is not a good glove at 3B and everything that was working for him early in the season has ceased in the month of July. In July, Devers has slashed .214/.302/.304 and has hit just one home run in 56 at-bats. A .304 slugging percentage and a .605 OPS in the month are way off par from American League third baseman expectations. Adrian Beltre is not the power threat that he once was; however, he brings enough to the table to make up for it. Surely, the Boston Red Sox would feel more comfortable with him manning third and batting seventh in a playoff game than Rafeal Devers. Beltre is an all-time third baseman that would give any contender everything he has to win his first ever World Series. Beltre does have a full no-trade clause, meaning he will have the final say in any proposition. Again, he’s played for Boston before. Plus, the Red Sox are as confident of a contender as there is in MLB. If there is a team Beltre would agree on a trade it would very likely be the Boston Red Sox. Beltre to Boston makes sense, right? He’ll be a free agent at the end of the season so Boston can re-apply Devers at third base and Texas will likely welcome him back with open arms if he wants to retire there. The Rangers can get something in return for Beltre while giving a few of their younger players more playing time for the remainder of the season. Now, what if the Texas Rangers could sweeten the offer by adding left-handed reliever Jake Diekman to the deal? Diekman will also be a free agent at the end of the year. The Rangers are entering a rebuild so there wouldn’t be any reason to pay to re-sign Diekman this offseason. Thus, they need to trade him before 3 PM CST tomorrow. Brian Johnson, the sole left-handed pitcher listed in the Red Sox bullpen, has been starting games this month. When used in relief, he generally works the middle innings. Diekman has been a late-inning reliever throughout his time in Texas and he can certainly take on a late-inning role in Boston. It would be very odd for the Red Sox to enter the postseason with one lefty reliever. The Rangers can assure that does not happen. We’ll find out soon enough whether or not a deal gets done. Neither team is in a make-or-break situation regarding the rumored Adrian Beltre. Boston will carry on their winning ways even without him and Texas would be satisfied with keeping their leader around. With that said, I believe Beltre will be a member of the Boston Red Sox by tomorrow afternoon. Diekman…not so sure.<doc-sep>
MLB Trade Rumors: Keone Kela, Jose Leclerc and Jake Diekman are among the Texas Rangers relief pitchers thought to be available with the trade deadline just three days away, per reports. The Boston Red Sox are said to be among the teams interest in Kela, currently the Rangers closer, according to a report out of Boston, which highlights Kela’s dominance against righthanded hitters as a selling point for a Red Sox team that will be looking to hold off a righty-heavy New York Yankees lineup. The Red Sox don’t have a real strong farm system at this point, but are in win-now mode, and acquiring Kela, under team control through 2020, would also help as a hedge against the possible departure of Craig Kimbrel, who is a free agent after the season. The Pittsburgh Pirates have also been linked to Kela, and Ken Rosenthal tweeted earlier this week about the Rangers doing background work on a variety of Pirates prospects, none of whom are all that underwhelming. However, Rosenthal also mentions Jose Leclerc as someone who is thought to be available, and adding Leclerc to Kela would give an acquiring team a pair of really good, controllable relievers, and would allow the Rangers to command a much more significant return. There would be a fair amount of angst among Rangers fans if Leclerc were to be dealt — he’s still young, under team control through 2022, and appears to be coming into his own as a dominant reliever. Those are the reasons, however, that the Rangers would be willing to part with Leclerc. Ken Giles, at a similar point in his career, brought the Phillies a package of five players headlined by Vince Velasquez, and if the Rangers could get something similar for Leclerc, one would think they would be likely to move on such a deal. When you have Brad Hand and Adam Cimber bringing back Francisco Mejia from the Cleveland Indians — a player who some have as a top 5 prospect, some have as a top 25 prospect, but who either way is considered a legitimate blue chip prospect and one of the best prospects in the game — it sets a marker for what one might be able to look for in a Kela/Leclerc package. If you could get something close to what the Hand/Cimber package fetched, you probably have to pull the trigger — particularly given the inherent unpredictability of reliever performance, and the Rangers’ ability to find or develop useful relief pitchers of late. Leclerc seems unlikely to be dealt, but its not out of the question. With Kela, I’d be surprised, but not shocked, if he’s here on August 1 — with teams aggressively pursuing relievers at the deadline, Kela’s ability to hit the market after 2020, and his injury history, I suspect the Rangers will see this as the right time to look to move him. Jake Diekman, the third Ranger reliever listed by Rosenthal in the tweet linked above, will almost certainly be gone — I would be shocked if he’s not moved. Diekman is not going to command a tremendous return — he’s a very good but not great lefty reliever who is a free agent after the season. But with the Rangers out of it, there’s no reason to hang on to him, and a contender is going to give up something of value for a lefty with playoff race experience who throws hard and has a track record of success.