December has been a very interesting month for the Texas Rangers, as they have executed multiple trades and signings.
Each move has had a purpose behind it, with the motive to become younger but to continue to bring talent to this team for the future.
Photo: —On Friday, the Rangers signed former All-Star Colorado Rockies outfielder, David Dahl, to a 1-year deal worth about $3 million. Sure, there’s a ton of outfield depth for the Rangers already, but Dahl is too good of a player to let slip by at this price. In 2019, he hit .302 with 15 home runs and 61 RBI, earning his first career all-star appearance. 2020 wasn’t his best year, as he only hit .183 over 24 games, but at just 26 years old, Dahl’s career is still very young, meaning the best is yet to come which is exactly what the Rangers are hoping happens. He’ll likely become a starter for the team in 2021 if he has a good spring training.
This could be looked at as another splash move after the Rangers also made the trade for first basemen Nate Lowe and Jake Guenther as talked about by John Moore of Dallas Sports Nation. Lowe is a strong candidate to begin the 2021 season as the starting first baseman, giving Ronald Guzman more competition at the position.
Before the Nate Lowe trade, the Lance Lynn trade brought in Dane Dunning and Avery Weems, two pitchers highly touted in the Chicago White Sox organization.
Adding young talent to this team has been the biggest goal of the offseason for Jon Daniels and new GM Chris Young, and so far they are succeeding.
“First base was an area where we were very poor offensively last year. It was an obvious area to address,” Daniels said during a Zoom conference. “We could have gone to a more stop-gap type upgrade, but that’s not our preference right now. We’re looking for guys who can fit not just now, but longer term.”
In the Rule 5 Draft, the Rangers selected pitcher Brett de Geus from the LA Dodgers’ Triple-A roster in the Major League phase of the draft. de Geus is a 23-year-old right-handed pitcher that was rated among the Dodgers’ top prospects by MLB.com. He didn’t pitch in 2020 other than 7 appearances in spring training, nor did he pitch in the fall instructional league.
Come 2021, de Geus could be a welcome bright spot in the bullpen that had its ups and downs.
The Rangers also selected these players in the Rule 5 Draft this week:
- RHP Matthew Wivinis
- RHP Justin Marsden
- C Yohel Pozo
Now to recap the past week and a half of activities, the Rangers have acquired a total of 10 players via trade or free-agent signing.
The team has made some noise over the past few weeks, but it doesn’t sound like they’re done either.
The team is filling up fast with great talent, but can the Rangers find a way to pull in a big name star? Only time will tell, Ranger Nation.
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