PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have traded veteran starting pitcher and longtime rotation mainstay Merrill Kelly to the Texas Rangers, Arizona Sports‘ John Gambadoro reported ahead of the trade deadline on Thursday.
The D-backs received three pitching prospects in return: left-hander Kohl Drake, right-hander David Hagaman and left-hander Mitch Bratt. Drake is Texas’ No. 5 prospect on MLB Pipeline, Bratt is No. 9 and Hagaman is No. 13. None of the three will join the big league club at this time, per Gambadoro.
Arizona (51-58) started its sell-off last week, dealing first baseman Josh Naylor to the Seattle Mariners for a pair of pitching prospects, Brandyn Garcia and Ashton Izzi. It then traded outfielder Randal Grichuk to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday. The D-backs continued to sell by trading star third baseman Eugenio Suarez to the Mariners on Wednesday night for three prospects.
The Diamondbacks and Rangers still have a pair of three-game series against each other this season.
Kelly is having another solid season as a front-end starter, pitching to a 3.22 ERA in 128.2 innings. He threw 6.2 innings with one earned run in his final start with the club on Saturday in Pittsburgh. His 13 quality starts were among the top 10 in MLB, as of Sunday.
The veteran enters free agency at 37 years old next offseason, and he’s been vocal about wanting to reach 10 years of MLB service time. He is at six so far, and he’s said on the record he’d love to finish his career with the D-backs.
The Diamondbacks first signed Kelly ahead of the 2019 season as a free agent. The Desert Mountain High School and Arizona State alum pitched the previous three years for the SK Wyverns in Korea, and he finally made his MLB debut for Arizona at 30 years old.
He was a diamond in the rough addition for the Diamondbacks, one of the savviest moves made under general manager Mike Hazen. Kelly ranked 13th in Major League Baseball for innings pitched from 2019-23 with 750.2, pitching to a 3.80 ERA. He eclipsed 200 innings for the first time in 2022 and continued to get better in 2023 with a 3.29 ERA and career-high 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
He became one of the 2023 postseason heroes, starting four games with a 2.25 ERA. He delivered five innings with one earned run and eight strikeouts in Game 6 of the NLCS with the Diamondbacks against the wall, earning a win that forced a Game 7 in Philadelphia. In the World Series, Kelly tossed seven innings with one earned run in Game 2 against the Rangers in Arlington, Arizona’s lone win of the series.
A teres major strain cost him more than half of of the 2024 campaign, but he’s gotten back on track this season.
Kelly’s ability to manipulate the ball with a deep arsenal of pitches has earned him a lot of success. Opponents have struggled to hit his changeup for years, while his ability to command a four-seamer, cutter and two-seamer gives him options to attack hitters and draw weak contact.
Kelly and Zac Gallen have spearheaded the starting rotation over the past four-plus seasons, and Gallen is also becoming a free agent at the end of the year.
The Diamondbacks expected to compete for a postseason spot this season, but injuries and inconsistent play have made it difficult to remain above .500 for extended stretches.
The Rangers are tied with Seattle for the third AL Wild Card spot and five games back of Houston for the division.
Kelly joins a rotation with Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Patrick Corbin. The Boston Red Sox were reportedly in the mix for Kelly.
