Will Rangers Be Buyers or Sellers at MLB Trade Deadline Next Month?

The Texas Rangers are having a hard time getting out of their own way this season.

With a pitching staff that's been so much better than anyone expected it to be and an offense that has been perhaps the exact opposite, it's been difficult to establish any sort of real momentum.

Even the last week has encapsulated that perfectly as the Rangers have alternated wins and losses in the last seven coming off a six-game losing streak.

This is a team that won six in a row just three weeks ago along with a five-game winning streak early in the year contrasted by a four-game losing streak and two three-game losing streaks.

The only consistent thing about the Rangers this season has been inconsistency, but yet they still sit just 3.5 games out of a playoff spot and four games in the division.

It does not feel like a team that is so majorly far off, but yet it does not look like a contender right now either.

Texas is going to have some real decisions to make ahead of the July 31 deadline as to what their strategy is going to be.

Argument Can Be Made For Rangers Both Selling and Buying

Jacob deGrom looks like the Cy Young version of himself, Jack Leiter has taken the next step, Kumar Rocker is set to rejoin the rotation, Patrick Corbin has turned back the clock a half decade or more, and reinforcements are still set to arrive from the injured list.

This is a special pitching staff that absolutely has World Series potential.

At the same time, Texas has just two top-100 prospects -- one of them being Rocker -- and the chances of catching lightning in a bottle again two years after their first title is slim.

An argument can be made to unload pieces and rebuild the farm system to chase a title a couple years down the line.

The Rangers have been seen as a fit for someone like Cedric Mullins of the Baltimore Orioles, who will be likely the most sought after deadline target across baseball at the team's biggest position of need.

Does someone like Mullins -- and presumably a couple other pieces -- actually push Texas over the edge into true contender category?

Maybe, but these are the questions the Rangers must ask themselves.

With still nearly two months to go, Texas will be evaluating themselves every day, and president of baseball operations Chris Young is going to have some very tough calls to make.

In all likelihood, a decision has not been made at this point, but the deadline will arrive before they know it, and the Rangers must be prepared for either direction.

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