Rangers hold tight with Minor, Pence at Deadline

ARLINGTON -- All-Star left-hander Mike Minor and designated hitter Hunter Pence are still with the Rangers.

The Rangers were still talking with clubs right up until the 3 p.m. CT Trade Deadline on Wednesday, and general manager Jon Daniels said some of the discussions came close to fruition.

But in the end, other clubs just weren’t eager to meet the asking price and the Rangers weren’t willing to lower their demands just to make a trade. The Yankees weren’t interested in parting with right-hander Deivi Garcia and the Braves felt the same about prized pitching prospects Kyle Wright, Ian Anderson and Bryse Wilson.

Without that level of talent being offered in return, the Rangers held on to Minor.

“We tried to be transparent with Mike and his agent through the process that we were going to have those conversations,” Daniels said. “We acknowledged it’s a possibility, but not something we were going to force. He is one of the best pitchers in the American League, he has had a great year and a half for us, we value him at a high level. For what we perceived was below that value, we were not going to do something that doesn’t make sense for us.”

The Rangers felt the same way about Pence. There was interest in him, and he can be a free agent after this season. But Daniels said the club wasn’t going to just take the best final offer. Daniels said the Rangers still place value on what Pence’s leadership and presence bring to a clubhouse even though his playing time will likely diminish as the season progresses.

“We did have interest in Hunter up to just a couple minutes before the Deadline,” Daniels said. “He really enjoys it here and I think he’s really important to what the staff and leadership on the team is emphasizing. I told clubs we had a bar we would not go below. Not a crazy bar ... but a bar. It’s not going to be best offer at the buzzer.”

Daniels said clubs just don’t have an “appetite” to trade top young prospects right now. That appears to be an industry-wide tendency, even among the top contenders.

“I’m not sure if that’s because of the value of the prospects or the postseason setup, any individual circumstances or teams or ownership,” Daniels said. “We could have forced it and made a deal that I would not have been proud to explain to our fans, or we could have held on to one of the better pitchers in the league and maintain the options that go with that.”

Minor is signed through next season at $9.5 million. The Rangers could still revisit his trade market this offseason, or they could explore the possibility of signing him to an extension.

“There are still a lot of options there, not the least of which Mike pitching for us,” Daniels said. “Whether that’s beyond next year, those things will play out. We’ll make those calls as we go. We just felt for where the market was at this time, in our opinion, it didn’t line up and wasn’t something we were interested in doing.”

In the end, the only player traded by the Rangers was reliever Chris Martin, who was sent to the Braves for Triple-A left-hander Kolby Allard on Tuesday. Allard has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville and he is expected to pitch for the Rangers at some point this season.

So Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus spoke aloud what is on everybody’s minds concerning the club in the wake of the Trade Deadline.

What’s next for the Rangers?

“You are either in or out,” Andrus said. “It’s good that we are going forward. I’m glad we are going to keep our team. Now, if we can add some more key players in the right spots, we are going to keep moving forward.”

The Rangers aren’t done with the rebuilding process, but keeping Minor puts them in better position to contend next season. They aren’t likely to be “all in” this offseason, but the club will be more aggressive in putting its roster together.

“It’s not a mandate so much as a desire on our part,” Daniels said. “We were very open-minded and remain open-minded as far as what adds value to the organization short and long term. Would we like to win next year? Absolutely. Will we do that at all costs? No. We are going to be smart about it, disciplined and continue to build. It’s all about the individual players and circumstances.”