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Texas Rangers rumors: Jon Daniels says the Texas Rangers are still looking for rotation depth, even with Colby Lewis having agreed to a one year, $6 million deal earlier this week.
The Rangers are currently set up to start the season with Cole Hamels, Martin Perez, Derek Holland and Colby Lewis as their front four of the rotation, with Nick Martinez, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Anthony Ranaudo and Phil Klein battling for the fifth spot. JD confirmed earlier today that Yu Darvish is on track to return to the Ranger rotation in mid-May, at which point the Rangers would have one of the better 1 thru 5 rotations in the A.L.
Still, with Darvish coming back from Tommy John surgery, Derek Holland having dealt with shoulder issues last year, and Colby Lewis coming off yet another surgery, the Rangers would no doubt like some additional insurance, and Daniels says they are still looking:
#Rangers GM Jon Daniels: "If there’s the right deal, we’d still like to add to the rotation, more likely than not in the depth category."
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 20, 2015
The trade that brought Cole Hamels to Texas sent two major league ready starting pitchers, Alec Asher and Jared Eickhoff, to Philadelphia, as well as Jake Thompson, who could be ready for major league action in 2016. That deal stripped away a good portion of the Rangers' starting pitching depth in the upper minors, which helps explains why the Rangers are looking for more depth right now.
Texas has reportedly inquired about Rays starter Jake Odorizzi, but it is unlikely that the Rays asking price would be something the Rangers would be comfortable with. There's been talk that the Rangers and D-Backs talked about a reliever for starter swap, with the Rangers reportedly being interested in Archie Bradley in a deal that would potentially send Shawn Tolleson or Keone Kela to Arizona. That sort of move would make more sense than an Odorizzi deal, I think, as the Rangers would be dealing from a position of depth and strength to bring in a well-regarded young arm to compete for a rotation spot this spring, and be able to step into the rotation later in the season, should someone go down.