Both Kelly and Arizona general manager Mike Hazen made public comments about a possible reunion around the deadline. Kelly confirmed the idea was there from the start after signing his new contract.
“I’d like to think they made that trade partly because they knew they had a good chance of bringing me back,” Kelly said. said. “It’s easier to say goodbye when you know you’ll be saying hello again soon. I have to hand it to those guys. I know there are a lot of Rangers fans who are a lot less happy about that trade than the D-backs.”
He is certainly right when he says that many Rangers fans are a lot less happy with the trade. Three Arms went to Arizona for Kelly for about two months. No play-off starts were made because there were no play-offs. So in a way, it feels like Mitch Bratt, Kohl Drake, and David Hagaman were all sent to the Diamondbacks for nothing.
Kelly took the mound 10 times for Texas, posting 55.1 innings pitched, a 4.23 ERA, and seeing nine home runs fly out of the park against him – just five fewer than in his 22 starts with the Diamondbacks. The numbers aren’t great, even if I play the “Well, if you take this start out,” which would probably be a 3.0 IP and six ER performance against the Houston Astros on September 16th.
However, results are not what makes Young’s process good or bad. As much focus as there was on the need for offense around the deadline, the starting pitching started to feel thin. How excited were we to have Kelly join a rotation with Jacob DeGrom and Nathan Eovaldi? Rising youngster Jack Leiter and innings-eater Patrick Corbin (who really started to struggle after the deadline) at the back. And then behind them…?
Kumar Rocker struggled with issues early in his career and ultimately made his final start on July 31. Tyler Mahle was still on the IL and dealing with a shoulder issue. Mahle was incredible before the injury, but relying on someone with a bad shoulder in a play-off race is a bad idea. Jacob Latz is the only other guy to make a legitimate start all season and while he impressed, his role in 2025 was always going to be in the bullpen due to a previous injury.
Leaving a spot in the rotation up to the options available at the time would have been a disaster for Young, especially if someone like Kelly is available on the trade market. Despite the team’s 5-5 record when Kelly started, it’s easy to see a few more losses if someone else was the starter.
Again, regardless of the results, it’s easy to see what the vision was. The Rangers were certainly in the playoff race and if they could find a way in, who would want to face the rotation of DeGrom, Eovaldi and Kelly?
The short and long answer is no one. It would have been the American League’s best rotation in a three-, five- and seven-game series. And again, otherwise Leiter, Corbin or a then-injured Mahle would make the third start.
Did the move ultimately work for the Rangers? No. Kelly’s form dipped and, as mentioned, there was no postseason baseball in Texas. Meanwhile, Arizona feels like it got three good pitchers for the farm and was able to sign Kelly back to the roster a few months later. But the idea behind the trade was Young’s right, even if what followed went against the Rangers.
If there’s anything to complain about coming into the trade deadline, it’s the inability to find someone to spark the lineup. Or maybe you can’t get the David Bednar deal over the line, as Jon Heyman reported. It’s not a trade for a rental starting pitcher who was a consistent, quality performer before he arrived.
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