The Texas Rangers have acquired LHP Matt Moore and international signing bonus pool money from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for RHPs Sam Wolff and Israel Cruz.
After trading Yu Darvish, the Rangers have been looking for rotation help to support Cole Hamels. They\’ve targeted Darvish and the other big starter, Jake Arrieta, plus signed Doug Fister and Mike Minor, who could transition to a starting role. Add Martin Perez in there, and that puts less pressure on either Minor or Matt Bush to go from the pen to the rotation.
Moore, 28, had a 5.52 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 148 strikeouts in 174.1 innings for the Giants in 2017. In his MLB career for the Giants and Tampa Bay Rays, Moore has a 4.27 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, plus 711 strikeouts in 782.2 innings.
After Moore\’s departure, expect the Giants to go after a 4/5 starter in the rotation. Moore\’s rough 2017 made him expendable, and they dealt him for two prospects, which makes the chances they get a major leaguer higher.
Wolff, 26, has a 3.25 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 223 strikeouts in 243.2 innings in his minor league career.
Cruz, 20, has a 4.02 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 127 strikeouts in 150 innings in his minor league career.
Nobody wins this trade. Wolff has some potential to become a reliever in the MLB, and Cruz is too far away to tell. Moore needs to rebound to make this trade go Texas\’ way.
CarterHud 