FanPost

Could the Rangers Have Another Reunion With Napoli?

Recently it has been reported that the Rangers would be willing to part with their top prospect Joey Gallo and there has been significant interest in the left handed power prodigy. There has also been a significant downfall in both the Rangers starting pitching and bullpen. Perez has 5.36 ERA in his last 8 starts with a career worst K/BB ratio with 4.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. AJ Griffin, who appeared to be a bargain at the beginning of the season has struggled as of late, giving up 11 runs in his last 10 innings. Both Nick Martinez and Chi Chi Gonzalez have been hugely disappointing in their few appearances this year posting a combined 7.50 ERA in 7 starts while averaging less than 4 innings. Kyle Lohse and Michael Roth have almost been equally atrocious. Tolleson was looking better after taking a personal leave and allowing only 1 ER in 11 appearances with 11 K's. However, even he has fallen back to being unreliable after giving up 9 runs and 2 home runs in his last 4 outings. Even Keone Kela, who should hopefully provide useful reinforcements in the second half, got the loss after giving up 4 runs in a single inning against the Angels. Needless to say the Rangers are in obvious need of both starting and relief pitching, especially with Darvish likely leaving after the 2017 season and a barren free agent markets to come. With this in mind it may be wise to target an ace type pitcher to solidify the rotation and fill the void once Darvish is gone.

Now in order to make this happen the Rangers would likely have to give up 2-3 of Gallo, Profar, Brinson, Ortiz, or Tate. The two that make the most sense are Profar and Brinson since Profar is blocked by both Elvis and Odor and Brinson seems likely to be traded with the hopes of resigning Desmond. Gallo appears to be a lock for the starting 1B job after improving his approach in AA and Moreland becoming a free agent at the end of the season. However, if Gallo is the difference maker in acquiring a cheap, controllable pitcher like Archer or Sale, then it may be in their best interest to part ways with Gallo. There could even be interest in attempting to trade Gallo in order to dump a contract like Fielder, providing additional salary relief to help with free agent additions. Whatever the circumstances, this is where the beloved Mike Napoli comes in, and possibly one of the reasons why the Rangers could be more willing to part with Gallo.

Napoli has had a great year so far with 20 home runs, hitting a respectable .249 and hitting RHP better at a .246 clip, up from his .191 average last year. Having signed a 1 year $7million deal with the Indians and previously a 2 year $32million with a $13million 1 year extension, could mean Napoli would be willing to sign a short 2-3 year deal at a decent rate. If the Rangers are able to dump a contract like Choo or Fielder and choose the buy out on Holland's contract than this could provide the salary relief to get both Napoli and Desmond. This would also provide a bridge for the Rangers until emerging prospect Ronald Guzman is ready. Guzman is just 21 and playing his first full season in AA Frisco and has excelled with a .301/.366/.513 line. He has also managed 14 home runs and 15 doubles in 87 games while learning to be more patient at the plate. Regardless of what the Rangers plans are it appears the emergence of Ronald Guzman has made the Rangers more willing to put Gallo in the right deal. Unfortunately, we will likely have to wait until the deadline to discover Gallo's fate and potentially even longer to discover the future starting first baseman for our 2017 Texas Rangers.