A new report from Jon Morosi indicates that the Texas Rangers are now among the top suitors for Pittsburgh Pirates star Bryan Reynolds.
We always knew the price for Reynolds was going to be steep. The Rangers’ spending, however, has increased dramatically over the past two years as they now have dedicated $108 million between four players next season. Landing Reynolds via trade might be the icing to get Texas back to the postseason.
With the additions of Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, the Rangers are already a dark horse team for the postseason in 2023. They currently possess solid bats in Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe, and Adolis Garcia. Adding Reynolds provides some of the depth needed to have one of the better lineups in the AL West.
The cost of acquiring Bryan Reynolds is steep but affordable for the Texas Rangers
As Morosi states, the Rangers have three top-100 prospect pitchers, according to MLB Pipeline. Let’s glance at some quick stats to break down the three in question.
Jack Leiter struggled in Double-A this past season, recording a 5.52 ERA in 92.2 frames. Though the top prospect is highly touted, he still has some tweaks to fix whatever went wrong in 2022. Though his potential is sky-high, the Pirates will still want to see it in action instead of assuming he will figure it out.
Texas selected Brock Porter in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. He has yet to play a game of pro ball. Per MLB Pipeline:
MLB Pipeline’s top-rated pitching prospect in the 2022 Draft, he won three Michigan state titles in three seasons at St. Mary’s Prep (Orchard Lake), including a Division 1 championship at part of a 44-0 team this spring. Gatorade’s state player of the year in 2021, he repeated this year and earned Gatorade’s national honor as well after going 9-0 with a 0.41 ERA, 115 strikeouts in 58 innings and three no-hitters.
Still, at age 19, the Pirates may look for someone a little closer to big-league-ready.
RHP Owen White fits that mold perfectly. At age 23, White just came off a stellar campaign in 2022 between A+ and Double-A. For the season, he recorded a 3.59 ERA with 104 punch-outs in 80.1 frames between both leagues, but the production in Double-A Frisco was more eye-opening.
Upon getting promoted, White notched a 2.49 ERA throughout four starts and 21.2 IP. He is currently listed with a big league ETA of 2023. How long the Pirates want to sit around before fielding a competitive team remains to be seen. They lost 100 games in 2022 and though trading Bryan Reynolds was not something they wanted to entertain, the damage will be done further once the transaction is completed.
The Pirates possess the first pick in the 2023 MLB draft. Trading for a top prospect like White while picking up a player like Dylan Crews from LSU can help accelerate their rebuild. It will be interesting to see where Reynolds lands and what the return will look like.