a 38-year-old dealing with a glute issue (deGrom)<\/a>, a guy with approximately $155 million left on his contract and a back issue (Seager) or a rental (Pederson)? Would whatever value they get be more important to the retooling process or to Ray Davis\u2019 bottom line? Would it bring enough value for the near-term future to punt on the declining, but still real, chance at making the playoffs with 50 games to go?\u00a0<\/p>\nThat\u2019s the backdrop for Monday. And it\u2019s why the Rangers should approach the final hours leading up to the 5 p.m. CT deadline like an ideal spouse. They should be attentive listeners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Houston]()
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Houston Astros’ Taylor Trammell, right, scores as Texas Rangers catcher Austin Wynns handles the throw during the seventh inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n
David J. Phillip\/AP Photo\/David J. Phillip<\/p>\n
Teams are \u2014 and will \u2014 call about the trio of veterans. As teams start making more moves, others react. GMs will always say they don\u2019t react to other teams\u2019 moves, but invariably they do. The Rays acquired Freddy Peralta for their rotation from the New York Mets on Sunday. Think the Yankees and Red Sox are just gonna sit around? The Dodgers \u2014 shockingly, shockingly, we say in full sarcasm \u2014 acquired\u00a0Skubal. The Braves and Brewers won\u2019t respond? \u00a0<\/p>\n
Most of those teams could use a shortstop. Some of them could use a starter. Anybody could use a bat like Pederson\u2019s to bludgeon right-handed pitching. Arizona, where Pederson played in 2024, could use a DH. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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There will be more calls. Keep those phones charged, fellas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They should be willing to move any or all of the three veterans mentioned, but they\u2019ve got to have a definitive plan with clear boundaries. Which also means dropping the notion of making deals that allow them to compete this year while building toward next year. That\u2019s more fantasy than reality. Ahab had a better shot against Moby Dick. The best chance this team has of winning this year is to keep it together and get healthy. End of story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the Rangers get offers of real value for deGrom, Seager or Pederson, they are worth acting upon, but only if the Rangers don\u2019t have to bend to accommodate a deal. That\u2019s not deal-making, that\u2019s salary-dumping.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The alternative is to wait until winter. Maybe deGrom\u2019s value would stabilize, even if he\u2019d only be under guaranteed control for a year. While he has full no-trade protection, the assumption is a chance to pitch for Tampa Bay or Atlanta, much closer to his Florida home, might sway him to waive it. Seager gets full no-trade protection after the year and would likely take some convincing to accept a deal, adding some risk to the proposition. As for Pederson, who becomes a free agent, there would be nothing in return if the Rangers wait. The return would need to be either an advanced prospect who could slide into the Rangers\u2019 top 12 or a controllable, viable major leaguer. Otherwise, he has more value to a Rangers team still in a playoff race.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s not an ideal situation. It\u2019s where the Rangers are, though, due to multiple mistakes at every level since the World Series win. But trading guys to dump salary and raising a white flag doesn\u2019t read much like a plan about improving. It reads like one to save money. The plan is to retool and remain competitive.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, it\u2019s not the deals that define the trade deadline, but the vision. The Rangers should have clear eyes. The vision is that whether on Monday or in the winter, the ship needs to turn. Now, they just need to make sure they\u2019ve got the discipline not to deviate from it. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON, TX – AUGUST 02: Texas Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson (3) tries to get on first base…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":977587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[347,4345,358,392367,347914,392369,392368,392370,3187],"class_list":["post-977586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-article","tag-houston","tag-texas","tag-tp-chris-young","tag-tp-corey-seager","tag-tp-jacob-degrom","tag-tp-joc-pederson","tag-tp-ray-davis","tag-tx"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117030973036494839","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=977586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/977587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=977586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=977586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=977586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}