Thursday, July 30, 2015

Cole Hamels to the Rangers: *Shrugs*?

Should Texas Rangers fans be rejoicing in the streets after last night’s blockbuster deal? Eh. I am not as sold as many people are about the recent trade that has Rangers fans jumping for joy.

Basics:
Ok, so here is how the trade works. The Texas Rangers will receive ace left-hander Cole Hamels as well as left-handed reliever Jake Diekman. Both players are under Ranger control until 2018. Cash was also sent to Texas. On the other side of the trade, the Philadelphia Phillies received veteran pitcher Matt Harrison and prospects Nick Williams, Jake Thompson, Jorge Alfaro, Alec Asher and Jerad Eickhoff.

At a glance, it seems that both teams got a fair shake out of the deal. The Rangers get an ace that you can control for another three years and you add a reliever to a shaky bullpen. The Phillies get to work with Matt Harrison now and look forward to five top-prospects. Was it worth it though?

This year is a waste of a season. The team isn’t good and they have squandered any ground in the race for the playoffs. So this move was made for the future? On paper it looks good, especially for the starting rotation. Imagine, Hamels, Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, Chi Chi Gonzalez and Martin Perez as your starting rotation. Yet, the team is still a few moves away from being a contender.

Look at your lineup, it is full of left-handed batters and you might only have one or two righties on the team. You are going to need to go and spend in free-agency for a power right-handed bat. Also, some of the members of your team are under-performing in a big way. Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre, and Shin-Soo Choo are just some of the underwhelming players on the roster. Oh by the way, your bullpen is terrible. Sure, they got a nice kid in the trade to help out, but you are going to need to do an overhaul there. With the way this ownership lately has been with pinching pennies, there is no guarantee that all of this can get fixed so soon.

While I am happy the Rangers got an ace, there is so much still left for this team to do before I start planning any trips to the World Series. Let us tap the brakes people.  


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