The Rangers shored up their bullpen in a big way by trading for Royals reliever Aroldis Chapman on Friday evening.
In exchange for the flame-throwing left-hander, the Royals will receive former top Rangers pitching prospect Cole Ragans and minor league outfielder Roni Cabrera.
In 31 appearances for Kansas City this season, Chapman went 4-2 with a 2.45 ERA and two saves. He struck out 53 and walked 20 batters in 29 1/3 innings pitched. Opposing hitters are batting just .158 against him this season.
Chapman, who won a World Series championship with the Chicago Cubs in 2016, is a seven-time All-Star. He's one of four relief pitchers in MLB history to earn as many that many All-Star selections, joining Mariano Rivera (13), Craig Kimbrel (8), and Goose Gossage (8).
Chapman, 35, will be a key piece at the back end of a bullpen for a Rangers team that hopes to make a deep run in the postseason. He's 3-4 with 10 saves and a 2.40 ERA (11 ER/41.1 IP) in 35 career postseason appearances.
The 14-year veteran has 317 career saves to go along with a 2.47 ERA.
Ragans, 25, has gone 2-6 with a 5.32 ERA (38 ER/64.1 IP) in 26 games (9 starts) for Texas over the last two seasons. The Florida native was the Rangers' first-round selection (30th overall) in the 2016 MLB Draft out of North Florida Christian High School in Tallahassee, Fla.
Cabrera, 17, has batted .320 with one home run and 10 RBI in 15 games with the Dominican Summer League Rangers Red (Rk.) this season. The Dominican Republic native was originally signed by Texas as a non-drafted free agent on May 19, 2022.