Latest Texas Rangers MLB trade deadline news, rumblings

SOMEWHERE ABOVE THE WEST COAST – Welcome to Trade Deadline Day, 2025: The Hunt for a Closer.

With today’s MLB trade deadline passing at 5 p.m. CT, we will keep you posted on Rangers trades, trades that impact the Rangers, various opinions on trades and any other delirium that may pass through our barely functioning brain as the countdown ticks off.

If you are just joining, yes, the Rangers priority is a high-leverage reliever. That market started to move in earnest on Wednesday with Jhoan Duran going to Philadelphia and Ryan Helsley going to the New York Mets. But there are other Rangers trade targets out there.

Oh, yeah, while some of you were sleeping, the Seattle Mariners got Eugenio Suarez, who should be in uniform for the start of the Rangers big showdown this weekend, which begins with the teams in a dead heat in the AL Wild Card race.

We’ve outlined the Rangers’ issues, which come down to both financial flexibility (or the lack thereof) and trade capital (also, or the lack thereof). We’ve listed the most likely Rangers to headline a deal. And we’ve even thrown out an idea to move some money around to free it up elsewhere.

Now, just get your popcorn out, sit back and either enjoy the day or panic like every friendly sports reporter you know:

LATEST UPDATES

2:41 p.m., Thursday: The MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports that Baltimore’s “Ryan O’Hearn to Texas is one scenario still under discussion.” There are two issues here to making a deal, though: One, O’Hearn is a left-handed hitter and the Rangers don’y need any more lefty hitters at the moment. Two, he’s making $8 million this year, and unless the Orioles were willing to take back all of his salary, he’d push the Rangers into the CBT luxury tax department. Let’s just add this: Unless, the Rangers are just going to make a slew of last-minute deals and blow the tax out of the water, it’s hard to think of an approach that would be worse than waiting until the last minute and then tipping over the line. It would be too late to act to spend the dollars most wisely. _ Evan Grant

1:57 p.m., Thursday: Just because David Bednar is off the market doesn’t mean the Rangers and Pirates don’t have business to do. Pittsburgh will almost certainly move former Ranger Dennis Santana, who has a 1.36 ERA in 46 innings this season. Santana is due about $500,000 remaining of his $1.4 million contract, which, coincidentally is about how much money the Rangers were projected to save in the deal that sent Codi Heuer to Detroit. — Evan Grant

1:50 p.m., Thursday: One of the last available top-tier closers is reportedly off the market. The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded right-hander David Bednar to the New York Yankees, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. The Rangers were one of several teams that had inquired about Bednar’s availability earlier this week. He, right-hander Ryan Helsley (whom the New York Mets acquired) and right-hander Jhoan Duran (whom the Philadelphia Phillies acquired) were considered the top available closers. — Shawn McFarland.

1:23 p.m., Thursday: The Rangers have finally made a trade. The club shipped right-handed pitcher Codi Heuer to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for cash considerations. It’s a financial-minded deal that could save the Rangers a marginal amount of money for further trades. Heuer, 29, pitched in just one game for the Rangers this year and has spent the bulk of his season at Triple-A Round Rock. — Shawn McFarland

12:53 p.m. Thursday: According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, Pirates closer David Bednar, a potential target for the Rangers, has become the top available option on the bullpen market for the New York Yankees.

11:50 a.m. Thursday: According to a Ken Rosenthal report, the Tigers are acquiring Washington closer Kyle Finnegan, which would take another experienced ninth-inning arm out of the mix and someone I thought made sense for the Rangers. But there is close to $2 million left in Finnegan’s contract and the Rangers don’t have that kind of wiggle room without moving other salary. — Evan Grant

10:53 a.m. Thursday: The prospect premium required to land the top closers on the market is worth consideration from a Rangers perspective.

• The San Diego Padres traded the No. 3 prospect in baseball as part of a package to acquire Mason Miller from the Athletics.
• The Philadelphia Phillies traded the No. 56 prospect in baseball and a fringe top-100 prospect to acquire Jhoan Duran from the Minnesota Twins.
• The New York Mets dealt a trio of their three top 15 prospects in multiple deals to land St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley and San Francisco Giants reliever Tyler Rogers.

The Rangers — who have a significant gap between top prospect Sebastian Walcott and their next tier of youngsters — might not have had the assets (or, frankly, the desire to part ways with their top-ranked prospects for relievers) to factor into those discussions to begin with. Here’s what matters most: Those completed deals will only drive up the price of the top relievers still available (see: Bednar, David), too, as the deadline nears. — Shawn McFarland

10.07 a.m. Thursday: The Fightin’ A.J. Preller’s took a big swing when the San Diego Padres acquired Athletics right-handed closer Mason Miller and left-handed starter J.P. Sears, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The reported return (headlined by shortstop prospect Leo De Vries) is a decent comparison for what the Rangers would’ve had to give up. De Vries, 18, is the No. 3 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline; Rangers top prospect Sebastian Walcott, a 19-year-old shortstop, is ranked one spot behind him.

The silver lining here for Texas? Sears, who has had their number for three years, is now out of the division. He has a 3.42 ERA in nine starts vs. the Rangers since the start of the 2023 season and a 2.46 ERA in his last six games against them. — Shawn McFarland

9:20 a.m Thursday: To the list of relievers the Rangers are checking in on, I’d add Danny Coulombe of Minnesota. That is a list that includes previously mentioned Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey, Jake Bird. That’s kind of the group below the closers that are somewhat obtainable for a team with limited flexibility. — Evan Grant

8: 46 a.m. Thursday: As to Ken Rosenthal’s report on the Rangers’ pursuing Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey, I know the club has monitored both pitchers (among a number of relievers), but still think the priority targets are a tier higher. The problem remains money and moving some to add a leverage arm who comes with more remaining salary. To do that, would probably mean finding a taker for Jon Gray and the remainder of his contract.

And if the Rangers do end up with Maton, it might make for an awkward introductory handshake with potential new teammate Josh Jung. It was on a Maton fastball last April that Jung suffered a season-wrecking fractured wrist. But all’s well that ends in a playoff spot, I suppose? — Evan Grant

8:43 a.m. Thursday: According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, St. Louis Cardinals’ Phil Maton and Kansas City Royals’ Hunter Harvey are among the relievers the Rangers are pursuing ahead of Thursday’s deadline.

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11:19 p.m. Wednesday: Mariners acquire Eugenio Suárez from Arizona Diamondbacks

9:47 p.m. Wednesday: Could the Rangers move Jon Gray? Here’s what that could look like.

3:50 p.m. Wednesday: Five prospects who could be part of deals that acquire an arm.

1:06 p.m. Wednesday: A couple of relievers are reportedly off the market.

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Tuesday night: The Rangers are in the mix for a few Colorado Rockies relief arms, Evan Grant reports, as well as Tampa Bay closer. Read about it here.