One Trade the Texas Rangers May Already Be Regretting

The Texas Rangers have traded players for various reasons during the tenure of president of baseball operations Chris Young. Mostly it's been to fortify the team that the trade deadline.

Young has made several trades that have worked over the years, especially the deals he made in 2023 as the Rangers won their first World Series championship. Some have not. And some won't age well.

In thinking about the trade that the Rangers may already be regretting, it’s not MacKenzie Gore — at least not yet. The Rangers still have Gore and most of the talent traded to acquire him is still in the Washington Nationals’ minor league system. It'll be hard to grade that trade on a scale of regret right now.

But there is one deadline deal that Young recently made that is aging poorly.

The Trade the Rangers May Already Regret

In 2025 Young traded for Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly. The trade deadline deal was designed to bolster the Rangers rotation, even though the bullpen and acquiring a bat was more important. Still, Kelly had pitched in that World Series against the Rangers and would give the Rangers a competent starter to work behind Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovalid.

But the price was steep. Young traded three Top 15 prospects — left-handers Mitch Bratt and Kohl Drake, along with right-hander David Hagaman. It was a steep price, and the Rangers may regret it.

Kelly didn’t put Texas over the top. He went 3-3 with a 4.23 ERA in 10 starts. After the season he re-signed with Arizona.

Young said after this season that the Rangers could have used a more depth and competition on the Major League roster. Drake and Bratt could have been that for Texas had they stayed. The Rangers certainly could have used them, and both players made their Major League debut this season.

Drake went 0-1 with a 6.53 ERA in five starts, with 17 strikeouts and seven walks in 20.2 innings. Bratt went 1-3 with a 4.70 ERA in 10 games, with 30 strikeouts and 27 walks in 44 innings. Jack Leiter missed three months with ankle surgery and Kumar rocker struggled all season. The Rangers could have used both pitchers to give Rocker a break or help aging starters like deGrom and Eovaldi skip a start.

Texas will also have three free agent pitchers after 2027. Drake and Bratt could have been rotation mainstays in 2028.

The same could be said for Hagaman. He hasn’t pitched in the Majors yet but in 2026 he went 7-6 with a 2.87 ERA as he reached Double-A. With one more good minor league season he could be positioned to be a rookie in 2028.

The Rangers do have pitching in the queue, but much of their prospect pitching that is close to the majors haven't had many opportunities. That includes Winston Santos, Emiliano Teodo and Jose Corniell, the last of which missed most of the season with a flexor tendon injury. All three have made their MLB debut and are still Top 30 prospects.

Pitching is currency and Major League Baseball, and you can never have enough of it. Young sacrificed his future for the present in 2025 and assuming Drake and Bratt continued to progress, it will become a trade the Rangers will live to regret.