Rangers Can Lean into Phil Maton's Vast Experience After Trade

The Texas Rangers were tied with the Seattle Mariners for the final American League Wild Card spot going into Thursday's MLB trade deadline.

Seattle had a huge deadline, acquiring the best bat on the market in Eugenio Suarez, a week after acquiring one of the best first base bats on the market in Josh Naylor.

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To counter, the Rangers went all in on pitching. They acquired starter Merrill Kelly from the Arizona Diamondbacks to make a good rotation even better. Texas also added to its left-handed options out of the bullpen by sending a prospect to the Minnesota Twins for reliever Danny Coulombe.

The last deal was with the St. Louis Cardinals, as the Rangers shipped a pair of Top 30 prospect and bonus slot money for right-handed reliever Phil Maton.

Maton is a nine-year veteran and the Rangers will be his seventh team. Maton is already having the best year of career through July.

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In 40 appearances, Maton has thrown 38.1 innings, posting a 2.35 ERA with 48 strikeouts, an 11.3 K/9. His 1.2 bWAR is already a career high, beating his 2023 mark of 1.1. Maton has a career 4.01 ERA, but since being traded to the New York Mets in 2024, he has been nails.

In his last 71 appearances, the 32-year-old has a 2.45 ERA. It's by far the best stretch of his career.

Maton brings the Rangers help for the bullpen and experience with winning teams. He pitched for the Houston Astros in 2022 and won a World Series ring, even though he was unable to pitch in the postseason due to injury.

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Maton should boost a Rangers bullpen is one of the best in baseball, among the Top 5 in ERA. Robert Garcia, Hoby Milner and Shawn Armstrong have all been nails, with an ERA below 3.00. But, each has more than 40 appearances.

Depth is an issue too. Jacob Webb is out with an injury, as is Chris Martin and Josh Sborz.

In return, the Rangers traded two of their top 30 prospects in Mason Molina and Skylar Hales, as well as $250,000 in international slot money. It's a pretty steep price to pay.

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Molina is a 22-year-old left hander who throws four pitches, with his best being a plus changeup, according to MLB Pipeline. In 2025, the lefty has thrown 74 innings, posting a 3.41 ERA with 92 strikeouts. He was ranked as the 27th prospect in the system, per Pipeline.

Hales ranks just behind Molina at No. 28. The 23-year-old right hander was a fourth round pick in 2023 and features a plus fastball in his three pitch mix. Hales reached Triple-A this year, and has a 7.64 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 33 innings.

Molina is the headliner of the return, but even for a rental in Maton, the Rangers should have made this move. The two pitchers won't contribute for the Rangers this season, and Maton could get some massive outs in in October.

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