After pulling off a big trade earlier in the day to land Yankees slugger Carlos Beltran, Jon Daniels and the Rangers almost immediately made a much bigger trade just minutes before the 4pm EST trade deadline, acquiring catcher Jonathan Lucroy and closer Jeremy Jeffress from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for top-level minor league prospects CF Lewis Brinson, SP Luis Ortiz, and a player to be named later.
In Lucroy, the Rangers acquire what many consider to be the second-best catcher in all of baseball, behind Buster Posey. Lucroy is a 2-time All-Star, and finished 4th in NL MVP voting in 2014. He is a career .284 hitter, hitting .299 this year with 13 home runs and an .841 OPS. Not just an offensive threat, Lucroy is a premier game-caller, and his arm is also a plus, throwing out 40% of would-be base thieves this season.
Jeffress has a career ERA of 2.93 (FIP of 3.31), and 177 strikeouts in 193 innings. This year, he has 35 strikeouts and 11 walks in 44⅔ innings, mostly as the Brewers’ closer, locking down 27 saves in 28 opportunities.
With this trade (and the Beltran deal earlier) The Rangers have addressed three of the four question marks remaining on the team. After getting some #RangersCatchersMagic earlier in the year, had struggled offensively at the position in July. The bullpen, better of late, has still suffered from some disappointing performances, and overuse of the effective arms. Designated Hitter will also be taken care of, with the addition of Beltran, who is now officially the team leader in home runs and slugging. The only remaining question is the rotation, which has been supplemented with the addition of Lucas Harrell, and will be bolstered with the returns of Colby Lewis and Derek Holland in time for the September homestretch.
More remarkably, the Rangers acquired all three stars without trading even one of the Nomar Mazara / Joey Gallo / Jurickson Profar trio. That does not, however, mean that the price wasn’t steep:
Lewis Brinson, at 22 years old, was ranked the #16 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America and MLB.com and #15 by Baseball Prospectus. He was a first-round pick by the Rangers (#29 overall) in the 2012 draft, and despite an early slump and an injury this year, had returned to hitting well in Frisco this year. Many expected Brinson to take over center field in Arlington as early as next year, and for many years to come.
Luis “Lulu” Ortiz is 20 years old, and was the top pitching prospect in the Rangers’ organization. He was also a first-round pick (#30 overall) in the 2014 draft, taken with the pick the Rangers received when Nelson Cruz declined the Rangers’ qualifying offer and signed with the Baltimore Orioles in free agency. He was ranked the #64 prospect in baseball by Baseball America, #68 by Baseball Prospectus, and #73 by MLB.com. Oritz was promoted to AA Frisco this year, and was 3-2 with a 2.60 ERA for the Roughriders in 7 starts. Opponents were batting just .221 off the right-handed youngester.
The Rangers have only announced one roster move to make room for the new acquisitions: putting Prince Fielder on the 60-day DL to make room for Beltran. They will have to make two more 40-man roster moves and three 25-man roster moves to accommodate the trio of arrivals. The obvious targets are catchers Bryan Holaday and Bobby Wilson, neither of whom have options left (and would thus have to be DFAd), and perhaps a trip to Round Rock for another relief pitcher.
(UPDATE: Catchers Bobby Wilson and Bryan Holaday have been designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster)
