Texas Rangers rumors: Andrew Cashner drawing interest

Texas Rangers rumors: Andrew Cashner was signed by the Texas Rangers on a one year deal this past offseason, and with the Rangers on the fringes of the Wild Card race and looking like they will sell, the beat guys are saying Cashner is drawing interest from other teams.

Cashner seems less likely to get moved than Yu Darvish and Jonathan Lucroy, the other two players who have been the subject of much trade talk. Darvish, as a legitimate top of the rotation starter, will bring a significant return even as a rental, while Lucroy appears to have fallen behind Robinson Chirinos in the catching pecking order and is someone the Rangers seem ready to move on from, even though they won’t get much for him.

Cashner, on the other hand, is someone the Rangers have had interest in for a while, and likely would have interest in bringing back after 2017 on a short-term deal. His 3.48 ERA is impressive, but his FIP is 4.50, and he is striking out fewer than 5 batters per nine, so it is unlikely a team is going to give up a substantial return to acquire him. And the Rangers are still trying to win games, and are already short on starting pitchers (as can be seen by Austin Bibens-Dirkx getting a start yesterday).

If a team wants to overpay for Cashner, I suspect the Rangers would be willing to deal him. But Texas doesn’t appear to be in a position where they are going to be having a fire sale, punting on 2017, and getting rid of every pending free agent. If Cashner would only bring back a Frandy de la Rosa or a Mark Hamburger type fringe prospect, I suspect the Rangers would rather have him in Texas the final two months helping them finish the season strong, while evaluating him for a possible extension.