Rangers Acquire Aroldis Chapman from Royals

By Nate Miller

Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images

June 30, 2023

The Texas Rangers have acquired flamethrower Aroldis Chapman from the Kansas City Royals. The Royals will receive lefty Cole Ragans and minor-league outfielder Roni Cabrera in the exchange. Chapman, 35, has gone 4–2 with two saves and a 2.45 ERA in 31 relief appearances for the Royals this season. He has struck out 53 of 122 batters faced and ranks among AL relief leaders in 2023 in strikeouts. The left-hander’s 16.26 strikeouts per 9.0 innings figure this season is second-highest among relief qualifiers. With his best mark since 2020, he stands behind Félix Bautista of the Baltimore Orioles in that category.

Chris Young’s Comments

Rangers general manager Chris Young met with reporters prior to the Rangers’ series opener against the Houston Astros. The first question he fielded regarded the intent to immediately make Chapman the Rangers’ closer. He said, “I’ll let Boch (manager Bruce Bochy) talk more about that. Right now, we’re going to take things with a matchup mindset, and see how things evolve.” The main question that Young was faced with was how active the Rangers would remain prior to the trade deadline.

He replied with, “Yeah, I feel that we’ll be looking. No matter how good your team is, you always feel that there is room for improvement in some areas.” Young was also asked how soon Aroldis Chapman would be in uniform for the Rangers. He said, “I think he’ll be here on Saturday. We’re still waiting to get the final word, but he’ll be here soon.”

Going the Other Way

The Royals, meanwhile, will be getting pitcher Cole Ragans and outfield prospect Roni Cabrera in the deal. Ragans, 25, has gone 2–6 with a 5.32 ERA in 26 games/9 starts for the Rangers over the last two seasons. The Florida native was the Rangers’ first-round selection, going 30th overall, in the 2016 MLB Draft out of North Florida Christian High School in Tallahassee, Florida. 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 the Rangers as a non-drafted free agent on May 19, 2022.