After winning nine of their first 12 games after the All-Star break, the Texas Rangers improved their record to 57-52 overall, a mark good enough in a weak American League to be trade deadline buyers. After being mostly inactive around deadline day, the Rangers finally broke through with a move, acquiring Danny Coulombe in a deal with the Minnesota Twins, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
The Texas Rangers are acquiring left-hander Danny Coulombe from the Minnesota Twins, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2025
Is this as splashy as the deals that involved relievers like Mason Miller, Jhoan Duran or David Bednar? Of course not. It does, however, plug a major hole, and make a darkhorse World Series contender better. Texas needed a reliever, and Coulombe is just that, and a really good one at that.
The return took a while to circulate, but even with Coulombe in the midst of an awesome season, the fact that he's a 35-year-old on an expiring contract always limited Minnesota's potential here to an extent.
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Rangers acquire bullpen arm they desperately needed with Danny Coulombe addition
Coulombe has been a reliable left-handed reliever for the better part of his 11-year career, and this season has arguably been his best. In 40 appearances, Coulombe has posted a 1.16 ERA in 31 innings of work. He's allowed a total of four runs on 21 hits and has struck out 31 batters.
He doesn't throw particularly hard, but who cares? All this man does is get outs, and he does so against both lefties and righties. Both lefties and righties have a sub-.500 OPS against Coulombe this season, and, oh yeah, he has not given up a single home run all year. That'll play!
The Rangers desperately needed an arm like this, and can now plug Coulombe into the late-innings alongside Robert Garcia, Shawn Armstrong and Chris Martin (when healthy). This, combined with
Rangers trade grade: A
Twins received LHP Garrett Horn from the Rangers in the Danny Coulombe trade. He was rated as the #25 prospect in Texas’ farm system by Baseball America.
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) July 31, 2025
After a bit of a wait, the return has come about, and, well, it's not great. Garrett Horn is not among the top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline's top 30 list for Texas, and he's No. 25 on Baseball America's list. Again, it was never reasonable to expect much, but this return feels awfully light.
To be fair, Horn, a sixth-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, has had a solid season, posting a sub-3.00 ERA in nine starts, six of which have come at the Single-A level after beginning the year in Rookie Ball. He's coming off Tommy John Surgery, so it's encouraging to see him get off to a good start to his professional career, but it's fair to wonder when he'll be able to contribute at the MLB level for the Twins.
When comparing this return to the one that an inferior left-handed reliever, Gregory Soto, netted the Baltimore Orioles, it just doesn't feel that great. Horn has the ability to prove everyone wrong, and hopefully, he does just that.
Twins trade grade: C
This story will be updated.