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Good morning. The Rangers had a big day yesterday and they didn't even play a game. Yes, that's right, Mitch Moreland was awarded American League Player of the Week honors.
I guess some other stuff happened too as the Rangers acquired arguably the second best catcher in baseball, a top 30 reliever, and a potential future Hall of Famer currently sporting an .890 OPS. Also, since Cleveland lost last night, Texas once again has the best record in the American League.
Levi Weaver runs down all the haps from yesterday as the Rangers traded for everyone and gave up everyone else.
Evan Grant writes that indeed the Rangers acquired Jonathan Lucroy, Carlos Beltran, and Jeremy Jeffress yesterday for a bevy of prospects not named Joey Gallo, Jurickson Profar, or Nomar Mazara.
As Jeff Wilson explains, with the price for starting pitching sky high, Jon Daniels called an audible and decided to make the Rangers as October-ready as possible by addressing the lineup and bullpen. Now Colby Lewis needs to get back and take them there.
T.R. Sullivan writes that Jon Daniels isn't ready to call his moves from yesterday "going all in" but I will personally call it "Getting Beltre his ring."
Gil LeBreton writes that going "all in" would have meant giving up the entire future (Mazara, for example) for a starter so the Rangers improved where they could.
Ryan Posner writes that though Lucroy and Beltran are the headliners, reliever Jeremy Jeffress is no mere throw-in.
On the bummer side of things, the Rangers had to release Bobby Wilson and Bryan Holaday to make room for their new acquisitions. Wilson, in particular, seemed like a tangible part of the team and each had their big moments filling in for Robinson Chirinos.
And of course, we lost some of our precious babies to make these deals happen. Kate Morrison looks at the prospect price the Rangers paid to go shopping at the deadline.
With the additions, Tim Cowlishaw ponders if the Rangers are now the team to beat in the American League. I would say, if the back of the rotation holds on over the next two months, and the Rangers take the West, this looks like a team built to have some fun in the playoffs, mostly because rotation depth doesn't matter in October.
On the national side of things, David Schoenfield gives the Rangers the official ESPN Trade Deadline Winners stamp of approval.
Jeff Sullivan likes the Lucroy trade for both sides as he applauds the Rangers for trying and the Brewers for maximizing their rebuild effort.
Over at MLB.com, Richard Justice believes the Rangers had an "amazing" day and Jon Daniels is pretty cool.
Bob Nightengale calls the Rangers the big winners at the deadline and writes that Texas may have overtaken Cleveland as favorites in the American League. So, you know, Andrew Miller vs Jonathan Lucroy in October is going to happen.
Fangraph's Corinne Landrey likes the Beltran addition for the Rangers, calling it "a match made in heaven."
Jeff Passan writes that the Rangers did well by taking a shot at the wide-open American League.
Keith Law likes the Beltran deal for the Rangers as Beltran is an immense improvement over the production Texas has gotten at DH. Likewise, Law has a high opinion of Lucroy for the Rangers even as it came at a high price. Law does wonder if the Rangers should have addressed the rotation, however.
Ben Lindbergh writes that the Rangers have been lucky and now they are good...and hopefully also lucky and good going forward.
Finally, I've never bought the JD is a Ninja meme. JD is a Terminator. But, as Ken Rosenthal writes, JD was striking from the shadows yesterday.
Have a good day!
