The Evan Carter trade rumors are proof that MLB teams see a bright future in the Rangers’ little savior

Baseball’s winter meetings have come and gone. Most of the headlines about the Texas Rangers this week revolved around the Corey Seager trade. For what it’s worth, I believe Chris Young when he says they aren’t interested in trading Seager.

When Seager is healthy, he is as good as anyone in baseball at any position. Health is the key. That also applies to the Rangers who are in the hunt for the playoffs. If the Rangers are out of the playoff hunt this upcoming season and the trade deadline comes, Chris Young should seriously consider moving Seager.

Corey turns 32 in April. In the past five seasons, he has played more than 130 games once. With his injury history, his value will decrease with each passing season. Other teams still value him at the moment. That won’t last forever. The Rangers still owe Corey Seager 30 million a year for the next six years.

Another headline during the winter meetings was teams checking Evan Carter’s trade availability. Evan was limited to 63 games last season. He started the season at Round Rock before returning to the Rangers. Then in August against Kansas City, he suffered a season-ending wrist fracture after being hit by a pitch.

In 2025, he sometimes looked like the Evan Carter everyone expected. The reality is that he struggles against left-handed pitchers. He also has to face left-handed pitchers to hit left-handed pitchers. He had 23 plate appearances versus left-handed pitching in 2025.

Evan Carter has all-star potential. There is simply no excuse for a player with his potential to have so few at-bats against left-handed pitching. Player development doesn’t stop in the minors. Maybe it was Bochy’s decision, maybe it was the analytics department that made these decisions. Either way, it doesn’t matter, that’s a bad development for the Rangers.

The Rangers hired Skip Schumaker with player development in mind. Skip has said Carter will get at-bats against lefties. He also said he will have to earn those at-bats as well. That’s fair, but you also owe it to the child to give him a fair chance. Hopefully the Rangers do the same. If not, other teams would be happy to do so.

Other teams see Carter’s potential and would love nothing more than to steal Evan from the Rangers. Health is a factor for Carter, as is Seager. Right now, Evan is cheap and controllable. At worst, he’s a platoon player who can hit quite well against right-handed pitching.

At best, he could be healthy Kyle Tucker at the plate. Kyle Tucker is listed at 6’4, 212 pounds, Carter is 6’3 and 190 pounds. Both left-handed outfielders. They have similar numbers in their first three seasons, although Carter has played 23 more games than Tucker in his first three seasons.

Carter over 3 seasons: 131 games, 15 HRS, 19 doubles and 52 RBIs.

Kyle Tucker through three seasons: 108 games 13 HRs, 18 doubles, 57 RBIs.

Tucker didn’t have as much trouble throwing left-handed as Carter did in those first three seasons. He also had about 1,000 more plate appearances in the minors than Carter.

Tucker, of course, is a big free agent this season. Someone is going to give him big name money despite missing 110 games over the past two seasons.

If the Rangers or another team can get a full season out of Evan Carter, they might get a Kyle Tucker-like hitter at the plate for a huge discount. And that’s exactly what teams are looking for in these times of cost savings.

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