Trade One, Get Two: Chris Young's $20 Million Winter Puts Seager, deGrom and Eovaldi at the Center of the Rangers Plan

By Hank Dalton, RF Sports Radio MLB voice

Rangers fans, the quiet weekend in baseball is a good time to do the math Chris Young already did. The payroll is not going up, the needs list is long, and the cleanest way to fix it might involve trading someone you like.

The facts

Per MLB.com's Kennedi Landry, Young told reporters he expects the 2027 payroll to be "very similar" to 2026, when it sat around $193 million. After arbitration raises, that leaves the Rangers about $20 million to spend. Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi are each due between $20 million and $37 million in 2027, and all three have no-trade protection; deGrom invoked his at the trade deadline.

Young was careful: "I don't think we are in a spot where we have to move anybody." But he also said, "Oftentimes, [you] trade one player to make yourself stronger in two different spots, and that's what we're looking to do." His priorities have not changed: a rebuilt bullpen, catching depth, a younger and more athletic roster, and better defense. "We were not good enough defensively last year," he said.

Per SI's Inside the Rangers, Young also announced that center fielder Evan Carter will have hip labrum surgery and may not be ready for Opening Day. SI's Matt Postins floated Toronto outfielder Nathan Lukes, who hit .277 with 10 homers and a 2.2 WAR in 2026, as a low-cost trade idea; that is a suggestion, not a report. Meanwhile, MLB.com lists eight players who received $23.15 million qualifying offers, including catcher Ryan Jeffers, closer David Bednar and lefty setup man Adrian Morejon. They have until 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 17 to decide, and signing one who declines costs a draft pick.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: the qualifying-offer list is a trap for a team in this position. Jeffers, Bednar and Morejon fit the needs perfectly, but $20 million and a lost draft pick for one player is not how you rebuild a bullpen and a catching room at the same time. Texas should let other clubs pay that tax.

Young's trade-one-get-two line is the real headline. I would not move Seager; he is still the bat that makes the lineup "connected," to use Young's word. The conversation that makes sense is pitching. If an Eovaldi or deGrom deal returns a controllable reliever and a catcher or center fielder, that is the exact two-for-one Young described.

Carter's surgery raises the urgency. Center field defense was already on the list, and now the Opening Day option is uncertain. A Lukes-type trade is fine, but it is a patch, not a plan.

Opinion: this winter will be judged by trades, not signings. Get creative early, before the Dec. 1 labor deadline freezes the market.

What to watch next

Watch the Nov. 17 qualifying-offer deadline, the Silver Slugger announcement the same day for Ezequiel Duran, and any trade chatter around the Rangers' three big contracts. For Saturday's Shoki Oda column, read our Nov. 7 Shoki Oda column, and follow the winter on our MLB Playoffs page.

Radio question: should the Rangers trade one of Seager, deGrom or Eovaldi this winter if it fills two holes, or ride it out with a $20 million budget?

Sources: MLB.com - Young: Payroll won't be impediment to improving Rangers; SI Inside the Rangers - This minor trade could pay major dividends; MLB.com - Qualifying offer candidates and decisions 2026-27; MLB.com - 2026 Silver Slugger Award finalists.