Rangers add Toronto swingman Adam Macko, send Josh Smith the other way

Texas made a quiet deadline move Monday, acquiring left-hander Adam Macko from the Blue Jays in exchange for utility infielder Josh Smith and prospect Josh Stephan. It is a modest transaction on paper, but the context around it is not modest at all.

The Rangers are 55-58, losers of six straight, and sitting one game out of the last wild card with 49 games left. Their rotation has been hollowed out by injuries — Jordan Montgomery, Cody Bradford, Jack Leiter, and Jose Corniell are all on the injured list — which makes adding any arm with flexibility a practical necessity rather than a luxury. Macko is described as a swingman, meaning Texas can deploy him as a length option or a bulk reliever depending on what a given week demands. That kind of versatility has real value when your depth chart is this thin.

Smith was a useful piece — he had logged time at second base, third base, and shortstop this season — but with Corey Seager and Ezequiel Duran handling the middle of the infield and Josh Jung expected back from the 10-day IL, the roster math made him movable. The Rangers also included prospect Josh Stephan in the deal, per the reporting.

Texas still has 49 games to work with and a one-game cushion on the wild card. The Macko trade does not change the trajectory of a team that has gone 3-7 over its last ten. It just keeps the rotation from getting any thinner while they try to stop the bleeding.