Being first place in the AL West, the Rangers went out in the deadline and grabbed one of the best postseason bats of all-time in order to better prepare themselves for the playoffs. Despite the Yankees giving up on all-star Beltran, they did receive a nice threesome of prospects in return to further build their farm system. However, considering their struggles over the past 10 years to get over the hump to capture a World Series title, this trade was a win now situation for the Rangers.
Batting .332 with 16 homers in 52 playoff games throughout his postseason career, Beltran will sure be of big help to the Rangers in October, borrowing that they don’t blow up the last two months of the 2016 campaign. With Fielder likely out for the season, and Sin-Shoo Choo on the DL, Carlos will most likely be the full time DH and occasionally a starting outfielder. Yes, Beltran is a free agent at season’s end, but other than giving up former 4th overall pick, Dillon Tate, the other two prospects were worth trading to the Yankees in order to obtain Beltran.
Dillon Tate was the #4 overall draft pick in last summer’s draft out of UC Santa Barbara. Despite him being ranked #11 in the Yankees farm system, many scouts have some doubts about Tate’s velocity and quality of pitches, as well as stating that he is a ways away from fully developing a third pitch. But, his athleticism, durability, and fastball/slider combination is what gives him a high ceiling. The other two pitching prospects that went to the Yankees are Erik Swanson and Nick Green. Swanson was a 8th round draft pick in 2014, and is one of the better pop-up pitching prospects in the minors. Green is rumored to have a great curveball with lots of spin, but is still in the developmental stage of controlling his pitches and learning to throw a changeup. With the upside, but uncertainty of all three prospects, this was a good move for Texas, depending on how much Beltran will be used, and a great trade for NY, as they actually received some value for Beltran in return to further bolster their prospect list.
