The Rangers are receiving multiple calls on reliever Keone Kela. According to Jeff Wilson (Fort Worth Star Telegram) the Ranger have scouts from Boston, Cleveland, Arizona, Pittsburgh and the SF Giants. They all appear to be interested in some way in Keone Kela.
Kela has had a very good season for the Rangers, especially against right handed hitters. They are batting just .128 against Kela. He has also saved 23 out of 24 games he has come in. Not bad. Keone Kela would bring back a bigger return than Cole Hamels did. Kela is controllable until 2020, which means he is much more than a rental player. Teams really value that kind of control.
The Rangers really have no need for a premier closer at this point in time. They will probably not be relevant until after the 2021 season at the earliest. They will only be relevant then if they trade players like Keone Kela now and get high end prospects in return. The farm system is not what it once was, and it desperately needs to be rebuilt.
My opinion? The Rangers would be wise to move Kela, since I believe they can get a nice haul for him. They need pitching, and Kela can bring that. Rangers fans want to think that they can win with the team they are fielding now, but that is just not going to happen. 2019 will bring us one returning starter, if the Rangers keep him during the off-season.
No one ever wants to have to rebuild, but the Texas Rangers are there. They won’t publicly say it, but they know that is the case. Trading Keone Kela right now makes all the sense in the world. I believe he will wind up in either Arizona or Pittsburgh. Fans will know in the next seventy-two hours or so where Kela will wind up.
