Trade focus is on pitching, not Soto
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Rangers have spent the last 10 days getting a close-up look at the future of baseball. Seattle’s 21year-old Julio Rodriguez, who torched them with a game-changing homer Wednesday, gives off all the vibes of being a franchise-changing “generational hitter.”
There is a lot of that going around the AL West these days. The Angels have two: Shohei Ohtani, who might be more like a once-a-century player, and Mike Trout. The Astros have a very bad man in Yordan Álvarez. Divisional lineups are going to present the Rangers with all kinds of headache-inducing issues for a long time.
And speaking of generational hitters, it brings us to this question: Do the Rangers need to add one of them?
Perhaps a better question: Should they?
Yes. Yes, of course, they have checked in with Washington about Juan Soto, the shiniest metal object to hit the trade deadline market in maybe forever. Three club officials with knowledge of the team’s personnel discussions acknowledged as much Thursday.
They continue to monitor his trade market. That’s not really news. Honchos Jon Daniels and Chris Young telegraphed as much a month ago when they said the Rangers would look into every avenue to improve the team. The entire front office inner circle has migrated to Anaheim for the weekend to hunker down for Tuesday’s deadline; over the weekend they might even run into Angels seasonticket holder Scott Boras, who happens to rep Soto. You never know whom you will bump into in one of Arte Moreno’s stadium clubs.
Soto, 23 and owner of a career OPS+ of 159, is one of the best players in the game. And he’s under a club’s control through 2024, which the Rangers feel is very much in the heart of their window of contention. There are no doubts he makes any lineup better.
The organization? Now,
that might be a different story.
The reported asking price for Soto is an organization’s top four or five prospects to start. In the case of the Rangers that would be Josh Jung (who DH’D in an Arizona Complex League game for the first time this season Thursday after a shoulder injury), Jack Leiter (who is sporting a 6.24 ERA in AA), Justin Foscue (who is
limited to second base) and probably pitcher Owen White (currently taking a week to 10 days off for arm fatigue).
Save for White, who has been terrific, the top-tier prospects haven’t had great years, and that’s liable to impact their value. With access to the likes of Leody Taveras, Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith, all at the major league level right now, the Rangers,
however, could probably cobble together a very competitive offer.
That’s where it gets more complicated.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward lavished praise on Seattle’s Rodriguez and Washington’s Soto on Thursday. He acknowledged the impact they have on a lineup. But even he seemed to indicate the team had other needs at the moment. Perhaps
you’ve heard this before: They could use some pitching.
“We have some pressing needs now,” Woodward said. “Juan Soto is one of the best hitters in the game; he fits anybody’s lineup. But pitching, there’s obviously some needs...”
He trailed off for a moment into thoughts as he tried to dance around Soto.
“We have a lot of needs that can get us over the hump,” is the way he circled back.
In other words: Pitching.
As it stands now, if the Rangers intend to compete for a playoff spot next year, they could use two starting pitchers (three if Martín Pérez doesn’t receive an extension) and a closer. They remain active in pitching conversations ahead of the deadline but will probably still need to add in the offseason. At retail prices.
Acquiring Soto means taking an all-in approach to the immediate future, which would seem to run counter to Young’s publicly stated aim for sustainability. Soto has turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer from Washington, which, to be honest, is probably below market value.
It means tying up over $100 million per year. In four players. And that’s before you address pitching. It might mean flirting with a payroll of more than $200 million to get to contention.
So, the reality is more like: You have Soto for 2023 and 2024, you still have to find pitching for those seasons and your player development system better be ready to pump out a steady stream of productive players. It’s a lot to ask of any team.