Rangers trade Minor to Athletics

The Texas Rangers traded left-hander Mike Minor to the Oakland Athletics for two players to be named later and international bonus slot money, the A's announced Monday.

The players headed to Texas are outfielder Marcus Smith and corner infielder Dustin Harris, sources told Levi Weaver of The Athletic. Because neither prospect is in the Athletics' 60-man player pool, they're ineligible to be traded until the offseason and must be listed as PTBNLs for now.

Minor, an All-Star with Texas in 2019, is in the final year of his contract and will earn around $2 million in prorated salary over the rest of 2020. The Rangers are covering about half of what he's owed this year, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

He's struggled for much of this season, posting a 5.60 ERA and 1.36 WHIP through his first seven starts. However, his 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings are a slight uptick from one year ago, and he shut out the powerful Los Angeles Dodgers for six innings in his most recent start.

The 32-year-old will provide A's manager Bob Melvin with additional pitching depth for a staff that owns the third-lowest ERA (3.51) in the majors.

Minor could be used in a variety of roles. He's been a starter for most of his career but excelled as a reliever during his comeback season with the Kansas City Royals in 2017.

Smith, reportedly one of the two players to be named later, was the Athletics' third-round draft pick in 2019. The 19-year-old Kansas City native slashed .361/.466/.443 in his first professional season last summer with the Athletics Gold of the Arizona Rookie League.

Harris, 21, was picked by Oakland in the 11th round of last year's draft. The St. Petersburg College product hit a combined .325/.403/.407 over 238 plate appearances split between the Athletics' rookie and short-season A affiliates. Harris has played both first and third base in the minors.

The Toronto Blue Jays were also reportedly in talks with Texas about Minor.