Watch the Rangers and A's in Free MLB Game of the Day
For about 30 seconds on Saturday, before the wild news broke about Chris Sale throwing a fit and cutting up his throwback jersey, some baseball fans thought he had been traded to the Texas Rangers.
Imagine that rotation: Sale, Yu Darvish, Cole Hamels. Wowzer.
The trade was fake, of course, another product of a fake Twitter account in the rush of trade-deadline week. But this isn’t fake: The Rangers will be an intriguing team to watch as baseball teams try to upgrade their rosters this week for possible postseason berths.
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That fact got even more true on Monday, as it was announced that slugger Prince Fielder, who has slumped most of the season, would have season-ending neck surgery to fix an injury similar to the one that sidelined him for all of 2014.
As it stands, the Rangers are a good team, owning a 57-42 record and looking, at times in the first half, like one of the best clubs in the American League. But the Houston Astros are coming, they’ve knocked the Rangers’ AL West lead down to 2.5 games and that means the Rangers can’t just rest until October.
While we wait to see just what the Rangers do, you can watch them play the Oakland Athletics for free today on Yahoo Sports, where they’re the MLB Free Game of the Day. You can stream the game at Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index, video home, the Yahoo Sports app and this very post. First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. ET. Local blackouts apply per MLB rules.
With the Cubs trading for Aroldis Chapman on Monday, the message around baseball is clear: Even the best teams need to make upgrades. And the Rangers are casting a wide net, according to various reports.
They’ve been scouting arms of all sorts, including Edinson Volquez, Anthony DeSclafani, Andrew Cashner, Matt Moore and Jake Odorizzi. That seems to be the most likely move for the Rangers, along with loading up their bullpen, since their team ERA of 4.43 is 21st in MLB.
The Rangers also been linked to Reds outfielder Jay Bruce and Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, both of whom would add some spark to their lineup. But the Rangers will also use Fielder’s injury to get more playing time for Jurickson Profar, the former No. 1 overall prospect, who is finally healthy and productive. The Rangers have been playing Profar all over the place and that should be even more important now.
This much is certain: The Rangers can’t afford to do nothing this week.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
