4 pitchers Rangers should trade for after deGrom surgery, ranked worst to best
By Josh Wilson
Jacob deGrom is hitting the 60-day IL, and the Texas Rangers should at least consider making a trade to backfill his role in the starting rotation.
The Texas Rangers might need to look for even more starting pitching in the trade market this season. Though they have an impressive staff headlined by Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, and Jacob deGrom, the last of that trio has hit the 60-day injured list after only starting six games so far this season.
As a team, Texas has the third-best ERA and the fourth-best field-independent pitching. Looking at starting staffs specifically, the Rangers starters are second to just the Tampa Bay Rays and fourth in FIP.
On Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that deGrom will undergo Tommy John surgery, knocking him out of the 2023 season.
The Rangers have fortified their 2023 attack primarily with their pitching. deGrom is out for the foreseeable future, and though Texas ultimately has to hope they can get him back later in the season, they shouldn’t necessarily count on that. An added pitcher could help bring them through this period and also give another strong arm later in the season, whether deGrom makes it back in full health or not.
This year, especially, there are plenty of great pitchers who appear to be available in the trade market that Texas should consider trading for. Even better, several of them are on one-year deals which allows Texas to not necessarily commit to them for too long. deGrom, obviously, is here for the long haul, signing a five-year deal this past offseason.
The right move at the trade deadline could keep the Rangers on track and possibly make them stronger contenders for the postseason.
Let’s look at some of the best names they could consider trading for.