The 2016 MLB Trade Deadline is only three days away and it looks like the Texas Rangers have their eyes set on another Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher.
Earlier this week, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported that the Rangers were interested in Phillies’ starting pitcher Vincent Velasquez. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, then followed up that report earlier on Friday, adding that the Rangers have done work on all controllable starters. He also mentioned that the Rangers are “all over” Velasquez, but a deal seems unlikely.
With that in mind, it seems like where there is smoke, there is fire. Before Velasquez took the mound tonight against the Atlanta Braves, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki mentioned that there were Rangers scouts in attendance.
Fast forward to tonight, and according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com, both the Phils and Rangers are in “pretty deep” trade talks involving the 24 year-old pitcher. From his report, Salisbury also adds that the Rangers do have some interest in Jeremy Hellickson, but view him as a secondary target.
It is interesting to see that the Rangers are this hot on Velasquez but at the same time, they are in a win now mode. Currently, Texas is in first place in the AL West but adding a pitcher such as Velasquez to their starting rotation with Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels, would give them an extra boost.
Not to mention, they saw what Velasquez can do last season as he was with the Houston Astros, before being traded to the Phillies this past offseason.
On the other hand, if the Phillies do trade Velasquez, best believe they are going to want a lot in return for him as he’s shown a lot of promise this season. If you remember, these two teams made a trade last year involving Cole Hamels and in the process, the Phillies got great minor league prospects back that are chomping at the bit to be with the major league club.
This season, Velasquez is pitching to the tune of a 8-3 record with a 3.32 ERA. In Friday night’s game against the Braves, Velasquez was solid as he struck out five batters over six innings pitched, while giving up seven hits and two earned runs.
It will be interesting to see if these trade talks advance any further with the trade deadline only in a few days.
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