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The Texas Rangers have held strong in the American League West. When the Houston Astros began to get some of their best players back from the injured list, many people around the MLB world expected Houston to surpass Texas in the division. Instead, the Rangers lead the division by 3.5 games as of this story's publication.
Still, Texas can't feel too comfortable. After all, the Astros feature a proven track record and have been one of MLB's best teams over the past few seasons. The Rangers would benefit from making a couple more roster moves as the MLB playoffs loom.
Without further ado, here are two roster moves the Rangers must make following the trade deadline.
Rangers must promote team's No. 8 overall prospect
With the trade deadline come and gone, teams obviously can't make impactful acquisitions via trade. The Rangers still feature talent in their farm system, however.
With only a month and a half remaining in the regular season, the Rangers will be careful about who they promote right now. In September, rosters will expand and Texas can call up more players. However, there is one pitcher who's already on the 40-man roster ready for a promotion.
Owen White, a Triple-A pitcher who is Texas' No. 8 overall prospect (per MLB.com), should get another chance at the MLB level. He's 24-years old and implements a quality four-pitch mix.
Fans will likely ask why the Rangers wouldn't promote pitchers such as Jack Leiter (Rangers' No. 5 prospect) and/or Brock Porter (Rangers' No. 4 prospect). In addition to being already on the 40-man roster, so the Rangers wouldn't need to make room for White in that sense, he's shown serious signs of promise over the past couple of seasons.
He's pitched to the tune of a 4.02 ERA in 2023 at Triple-A. That mark isn't tremendous by any means, but his improved control and all-around prowess on the mound makes him an intriguing prospect nonetheless.
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Adding Owen White to the MLB roster right now would be a low-risk move that could pay dividends for Texas if the young pitcher performs well.
Sign a stolen base threat
This is a random idea in a sense, but something the Rangers should consider.
Texas does almost everything well. They can obviously hit the ball well, and the pitching is respectable. Since teams can't make big trades following the deadline, the Rangers must scout the free agent market and sign a player who simply runs well and features stolen base prowess. Since the stolen base is back in today's game given the new rules, it's something that will be crucial in the playoffs.
The Rangers are currently tied with the Miami Marlins and Minnesota Twins for 24th overall in team stolen bases. Texas doesn't feature a lot of speed and stolen base ability on the roster at the moment.
Travis Jankowski already plays this role to an extent. He leads the Rangers in stolen bases and his primary contributions to the team are on the base paths and in the outfield. However, adding one more true stolen base threat still makes sense. There isn't any specific player that Texas must target, but signing a player who can provide speed will pay great dividends in the postseason.
In the end, this is an exciting Rangers team that will have a legitimate opportunity to make a deep run in 2023.
