Texas Rangers Named 'Potential Landing Spot' For Six Starters at Trade Deadline

While Texas Rangers starting pitchers rank first overall in MLB with a 3.21 staff ERA through 89 games, it looks as though they will still need to add to the unit at the upcoming trade deadline.

Tyler Mahle's spot on the injured list makes the need even larger, but the Rangers could have used another arm to round out their rotation for the postseason if they plan to compete past the deadline.

R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports recently ranked the top 25 players expected to be moved at the trade deadline and listed Texas as a potential landing spot for six different starters.

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Miami Marlins RHP Sandy Alcantara

Alcantara certainly hasn't had the return year that anyone expected him to, but he could still be an intriguing piece for teams to monitor.

On the year, he has a 7.01 ERA through 17 starts with just 67 strikeouts in 86 innings. He had a nice stretch in June, though, when he maintained a 2.74 ERA over four starts.

The potential is still there for pitching staffs to help figure out with the ceiling being very high given his NL Cy Young win in 2022.

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Arizona Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen

Gallen is another player that hasn't had the year that anyone envisioned as he has a 5.45 ERA over his first 18 starts and it's been fairly consistently dissapointing for him.

The hope in trading for him would be that he can return to the consistent form he has shown over the last six years as he is a career 3.53 ERA guy with more strikeouts and less walks than he has had this year.

Baltimore Orioles RHP Tomoyuki Sugano

Sugano was one of the only things working for the Orioles for much of the year, but he was a major candidate for regression.

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That regression may have come has he has given up 19 hits and 13 runs in his last 9.2 innings on the mound. He's a soft thrower that doesn't strike many batters out and relies on forcing bad contact.

Cincinnati Reds RHP Nick Martinez

Martinez has had an interesting year. He started out slow, put together a solid couple of weeks and now has started to struggle again.

In June, he had the weirdest 5.52 ERA of the season. It was a month that included him giving up seven runs in 2.2 innings, making two hitless relief appearances and carried an eight-inning no-hit bid.

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Tampa Bay Rays RHP Zack Littell

Littell has probably had the best year of any pitcher on this list. Certainly the most sustained success after a slow start.

Over his last 15 starts this year, he has a 2.88 ERA. He might be getting a little lucky, though, as someone whose expected numbers are way higher than his actual numbers. He also doesn't strike many batters out and generates high exit velocities.

Pittsburgh Pirates LHP Andrew Heaney

It's hard to look past what a reunion with Heaney could do for the Rangers. He has already been a complimentary piece to a World Series rotation.

The 34-year-old has a 4.16 ERA through 17 starts this season, looking similar to how he has over the last few years.

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