Rangers - Acquired Stairs, Wells

Texas Rangers - Acquired OF Matt Stairs from the Kansas City Royals for P Joselo Diaz; acquired P Kip Wells from the New York Mets for P Jesse Chavez.

Here we have a couple of spare part pickups on the cheap.  Stairs is the best player here, but he’s no longer the offensive player he once was and is best suited as a 4th outfielder/DH/1B, especially as the larger part of a platoon.  He won’t make much of a difference, but in a close race, every little bit counts.  Diaz was signed by the Rangers earlier this year as a minor league free agent and pretty much follows the Live Arm Minor League Reliever blueprint - lots of strikeouts, lots of walks, hopes to have a good week in spring training and get a job.

Wells-Chavez is maybe one step above a waiver-wire claim.  Good ERA in July aside, Wells still really isn’t pitching all that well and his impact on a pennant race is more likely to be negative than positive.  Chavez isn’t exactly a huge haul, of course - a scrawny organizational reliever who’s unlikely to get more than a cup of coffee in the majors.