As the unofficial second half of the MLB season gets underway this weekend, the trade rumors are going to ramp up as well.
There are plenty of teams in the mix that are going to want to improve their club before the August 1st trade deadline.
One of those teams is the Texas Rangers, who already got ahead of the game with a trade for fireballer Aroldis Chapman two weeks ago.
Rangers All-Stars Nathan Eovaldi and Marcus Semien talked about what message that Chapman trade sent to the clubhouse on the Audacy Original Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” this week.
“You always want to feel like you’re the team that’s going to strike first, and we went out there, we picked up Aroldis,” Eovaldi said (17:35 in player above). “The bullpen was one of our needs at the beginning of the season. He’s going to impact any team that he joins.”
Eovaldi was a trade-deadline addition himself, helping the Boston Red Sox win the World Series in 2018 after being acquired from the Rays. He knows what it’s like to come in and help a team win.
Chapman has had a major impact on every team he’s been on and brings an intimidation factor to the Rangers bullpen. Adding an arm before July sent a message to the clubhouse.
“For us to go out there and strike first and get him, it shows us that the front office believes in us and believes in the talent that we have in the clubhouse, and they’re trying to make the team better.”
Marcus Semien hasn’t been a part of any in-season trades, but he was dealt in the offseason from the White Sox to the Athletics early in his career. Semien broke out with his new team and knows how important it is to feel comfortable in a new environment.
“You just want to make sure those players that come in, they’re comfortable right away,” he said. “I think that’s a tough thing to switch teams mid-year. It’s tough to be a new guy in the beginning of the year, too, so I can’t even imagine… For us, we’ve already made Aroldis feel comfortable and we hope to have him at the backend winning games.”
Chapman has pitched in three games for the Rangers since being acquired on June 30th. He’s allowed just one hit while striking out four of the 10 batters faced.
The Rangers are in first place in the AL West with a two-game lead on the Houston Astros at the All-Star break. Texas is looking for its first playoff appearance since being swept by the Blue Jays in the 2016 ALDS.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram