Texas Rangers trade for Scherzer, Montgomery

The Texas Rangers continue to bolster their pitching staff.

One day after acquiring three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer from the New York Mets, the Rangers traded for St. Louis Cardinals starter Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton.

The Rangers also put starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day Injured List, retroactive to July 27, with a right forearm strain.

What a whirlwind 24 hours for general manager Chris Young.

The trade for Scherzer needed him to waive his no-trade clause according on Saturday. He did.

The Rangers gave up minor league prospect Luisangel Acuna, 21, a middle infielder for Scherzer.

On Sunday, the Rangers gave up prospects left-handed pitcher John King, infielder Tommy Saggese, and right-handed pitcher T.K. Roby.

Acuna was hitting .315 with seven home runs, 51 RBIs and 42 stolen bases for Double-A Frisco.

Montgomery is 6-9 with a 3.42 ERA in 21 starts for the Cardinals, allowing 35 walks while striking out 108.

Stratton, 32, has gone 1-1 with a 4.36 ERA and one save over 42 relief appearances this season for the Cardinals.

King has split time with the Rangers and with Triple-A Round Rock this season. He was 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 15 games with the Rangers and 2-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 12 games with Round Rock.

Saggese had spent the season at Double-A Frisco where he has batted .313 with 15 home runs and 78 RBI over 93 games; Roby had a 2-3 record with a 5.05 ERA over 10 games/starts for Frisco this season, allowing 12 walks with 50 strikeouts.

The Rangers will need to make some adjustments to their roster this week to make room for the additions.

Following today’s transactions, the Rangers remain at the 40-man limit on the club’s Major League roster, along with three players (Jacob deGrom, Brett Martin, and Jake Odorizzi) on the 60-day Injured List.

Scherzer had a player option for $43,333,333 million at the end of this season.

The deal guarantees that Scherzer will not opt out of his contract after the 2023 season and pitch for the Rangers in 2024. ESPN reports that the Mets will cover $35 million of Scherzer’s remaining contact, while the Rangers will pay $22.5 million.

Earlier Saturday, it was falsely reported that the Rangers were including starting catcher Jonah Heim, who is currently on the disabled list, and also pitching prospect Jack Leiter. Neither were included in the final trade.

Scherzer has been one of the best MLB pitchers over the last decade earning eight MLB all-star selections, two All-MLB first-team selections and won the 2019 World Series with the Washington Nationals.

The Rangers had been looking for starting pitcher help and had been linked to several pitchers. The Rangers have until the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline to make any other trades during this season.

The Rangers earlier acquired pitcher Aroldis Chapman from the Kansas City Royals..

The Rangers are on pace to stop their six-year streak of losing seasons.