The Texas Rangers proceed to bolster their pitching ranks, finishing a commerce with the St. Louis Cardinals that may ship Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton to Arlington, in addition to a global bonus pool slot. To create roster area, Texas designated right-hander Joe Barlow for task.The Cardinals will obtain left-hander John King, in addition to infield prospect Thomas Saggese and right-handed pitching prospect Tekoah Roby.
With the Playing cards in vendor mode, Montgomery and Stratton had been seen as two of the likeliest gamers to be moved previous to the deadline, as each pitchers are free brokers after the season. Between this swap with the Rangers and the Cardinals’ transfer to ship Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier Sunday afternoon, it’s truthful to guess that Jack Flaherty (one other pending free agent) may also quickly be headed elsewhere. St. Louis may additionally look to some surplus place gamers with extra staff management because the Playing cards look to reload for 2024.
As for the Rangers, buying Max Scherzer on Saturday and now Montgomery Sunday totally reinforces the staff’s rotation. Regardless of season-ending accidents to Jacob deGrom and Jake Odorizzi, Texas had gotten strong outcomes from its starters for a lot of the yr, however some cracks have begun to indicate. Most prominently, Nathan Eovaldi hasn’t pitched since July 18 and was positioned on the 15-day injured record at present as a result of a forearm pressure.
It’s an ominous analysis for a pitcher who already has two Tommy John surgical procedures on his well being historical past and the Rangers clearly aren’t taking any possibilities with Eovaldi’s restoration or their pitching employees’s potential to thrive with out Eovaldi in motion. Supervisor Bruce Bochy informed reporters (together with MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry) Sunday that the staff is “fairly assured” Eovaldi will have the ability to return after simply the minimal 15 days, although Eovaldi will go to with a health care provider for precautionary functions.
Scherzer and Montgomery now be a part of a rotation that additionally contains Martin Perez, Jon Grey, Andrew Heaney and Dane Dunning, although it stays to be seen if Texas will stick to a six-man employees. Preserving an additional starter is likely to be helpful to assist hold everybody recent for the pennant race (and, the Rangers hope, by means of October), but transferring Dunning again to a reduction function may also be an choice. However, Dunning has pitched fairly effectively since his return to beginning work, whereas Perez and Heaney have been rather more inconsistent and Grey has been struggling during the last month.
Montgomery was already a part of a notable deadline commerce final yr, when the New York Yankees despatched the left-hander to the Cardinals in a one-for-one commerce for Harrison Bader. In his first full yr with the Cardinals, Montgomery has a 3.42 ERA over 121 innings, although his SIERA is a less-impressive 4.30. The southpaw has accomplished his common above-average job of avoiding free passes (6.9 p.c stroll price) and limiting exhausting contact, although Montgomery now has a second straight season of a below-average strikeout price (21.2 p.c). Whereas Montgomery has by no means been an enormous strikeout pitcher, his whiff price has additionally taken a tumble to 24.1 p.c in 2023 after years of rather more strong outcomes.
If Scherzer is anticipated to be extra of a front-of-the-rotation arm, then Montgomery represents a mid-rotation starter who might be relied on to take the ball each fifth (or sixth) day and ship respectable outcomes. Likewise, Stratton received’t be displacing Will Smith because the Rangers’ nearer and even taking up a high set-up function, however he offers Texas one other good arm for higher-leverage conditions late in video games.
Montgomery and Stratton will every be reuniting with Mike Maddux, who was the Cardinals’ pitching coach from 2018-22 earlier than transferring on to affix the Rangers’ teaching employees this yr. Stratton can be a identified amount to skipper Bruce Bochy, as Stratton broke into the majors within the Giants group again when Bochy was managing the staff in 2016.
Stratton can be on the transfer for the second straight yr on the deadline, because the Pittsburgh Pirates despatched Jose Quintana and Stratton to the Cardinals final August. Stratton’s 2022 numbers picked up significantly after that deal and he has considerably continued that kind this season, even when his bottom-line outcomes haven’t been reflective. Stratton has a 4.36 ERA in 53 2/3 innings, although a 3.48 SIERA and three.06 FIP point out some unhealthy luck on Stratton’s half, maybe as a result of an unusually low 61.6 p.c strand price.
The suitable-hander doesn’t have the high-velocity arsenal related to most relievers, nor are his hard-contact or stroll charges something particular. Nonetheless, Stratton does deliver sturdiness in his potential to pitch a number of innings and he has among the most elite fastball and curveball spin charges of any pitcher in baseball.
With none studies of cash altering palms between the 2 groups, it appears to be like just like the Rangers shall be absorbing the rest of the 2023 salaries for Montgomery (roughly $3.5M) and Stratton (round $1M). It’s not a giant monetary dedication to a staff that has already been splurging on big-name expertise during the last two seasons and Roster Resource initiatives that Texas continues to be simply barely below the $233M luxurious tax threshold. The Rangers reportedly don’t have any concern crossing the tax threshold, so if one other improve presents itself earlier than Tuesday’s commerce deadline, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the entrance workplace make one other deal or two.
Among the many gamers going again to the Cardinals, King is the best-known title to followers, because the lefty has a 4.27 ERA over 126 1/3 innings out of the Texas bullpen since he made his large league debut in 2020. A grounder specialist who has a really spectacular 61.7 p.c profession groundball price, King is of course extra prone than most to batted-ball luck, so his big .379 BABIP over 18 2/3 innings has been the principle consider his 5.79 ERA.
The Rangers have despatched King back-and-forth from Triple-A on a few events this season and he’s below staff management by means of the 2026 marketing campaign. The Cardinals could have the remainder of the yr to try King and see if he is likely to be an choice for his or her bullpen going ahead. In a extra quick sense, King will add some left-handed depth to the St. Louis reduction corps.
That stated, Roby and Saggese are the larger elements of this commerce from the Playing cards’ perspective, as they be a part of the three children obtained within the Scherzer and Hicks offers as a part of the sudden reload of the St. Louis farm system. MLB Pipeline ranked Roby because the Rangers’ Eleventh-best prospect and Saggese 14th, whereas Baseball America had an analogous tack in putting Roby thirteenth and Saggese fifteenth.
Roby was a third-round choose for Texas within the 2020 draft, and he has a 5.05 ERA over 46 1/3 innings and 10 begins at Double-A Frisco this season. Whereas he has in the reduction of on his walks and residential runs allowed, Roby’s strikeout price has additionally tumbled throughout his three professional seasons, although his 25.6 p.c mark this yr continues to be respectable. The scouting studies from each Pipeline and BA pinpoint Roby’s command as his greatest concern, as his general arsenal is strong. Pipeline offers a 55 grade (on the 20-80 scale) to all 4 of Roby’s pitches, although their report notes that the 21-year-old “might not have a real plus pitch” as a go-to providing.
Including Roby will assist St. Louis restock the minor-league pitching ranks, whereas Saggese appears to suit the Cardinals’ most well-liked profile of a multi-positional infielder. Saggese has principally performed second and third base over his three professional seasons, whereas additionally getting a very good chunk of motion as a shortstop. He isn’t essentially a standout defender at any place, however Pipeline favored his potential to stay at second base and Saggese’s versatility is definitely an asset as he climbs the ladder in direction of the large leagues.
The 21-year-old was additionally a 2020 draft choose (taken within the fifth spherical), and Saggese has accomplished nothing however hit within the minors, together with posting a .314/.380/.514 slash line and 15 homers over 417 plate appearances at Double-A in 2023. The pundits word that Saggese’s aggression on the plate can generally backfire, but he has proven a bit extra endurance this season with an 8.2 p.c stroll price.
