Inside The Rangers

Texas Rangers Made Massive Mistake When Flame-Throwing Closer Was Traded

The Texas Rangers traded away a young closer a few years ago and that has proven to be their biggest mistake in years.
Dylan Sanders|
Sep 14, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase (43) comes on to pitch during the top of the eight inning against the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
Sep 14, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase (43) comes on to pitch during the top of the eight inning against the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Park in Arlington. | Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images

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Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers traded away a young closer a few years back and it has proven to be a massive mistake.

ESPN's David Schoenfield recently went through each team's moves since the 2020 season to find their biggest mistake in that time.

Schoenfield actually mentioned two moves, both having to do with relief pitching.

The first deal mentioned, and ultimately decided on to be the worst, was sending Emmanuel Clase to the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for Corey Kluber.

Back in December of 2019, Texas moved what they thought was going to be a solid bullpen arm for a Cy Young-level starting pitcher.

Clase has become a Cy Young-candidate at closer and is clearly one of the best players at his position in baseball.

The flame-throwing reliever got off to a hot start in his career back in 2019, where he posted a 2.31 ERA in 23.1 innings of work for the Rangers. They decided to capitalize on hype rather than see what he could become.

What he did grow into is a career 1.67 ERA reliever with a WHIP of 0.892.

He has an elite cutter that averages 99.5 MPH and a deadly slider to go with it. He is nearly impossible to hit and would be incredible to have in any bullpen in baseball.

Texas relievers had a combined 4.41 ERA last year, tied for No. 25 in the league. Having a solidified closer like Clase in the group would go a long way.

Instead, they brought in Kluber, who had a nightmare short stint with the Rangers. After pitching just one inning in Texas, he suffered a shoulder injury which caused him to miss all of 2020.

The next January, he signed a deal with the New York Yankees. That left the Rangers with nothing to show for getting rid of Clase.

The other bad deal mentioned was trading Cole Ragans and Roni Cabrera to the Kansas City Royals for Aroldis Chapman.

Chapman pitched 29 innings for Texas last year with a 3.72 ERA. He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the following free agency.

Ragans went from a wildly inconsistent arm for the Rangers, a 5.32 career ERA when they traded him, to an All-Star already in 2024.

The 27-year-old still has five more years of team control and is playing at a better level than Chapman ever was.

Both deals hurt badly, but the Clase trade does indeed look to be the bigger loss as of now. Ragans is young and could still develop, though.

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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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