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Rangers to trade Calhoun to Giants, receive Duggar in return

Rangers to trade Calhoun to Giants, receive Duggar in return
  • PublishedJune 23, 2022


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After years of trying, hoping and waiting, the Texas Rangers seem to have given up on the Willie Calhoun experiment. Once a highly rated prospect and the focal point of the Yu Darvish trade, it was announced via Twitter Thursday that Texas is sending the former top prospect to San Fransisco.

In return, the Rangers will be receiving Steven Duggar, a 28-year-old centerfielder, who has been injured for most of this season, but is coming off a strong 2021 campaign. The swap is hardly one that is going to make headlines across Major League Baseball, but it is one that could be mutually beneficial for both clubs.

What the Rangers are receiving 

Duggar, as mentioned above, just finished his rehab assignment, after suffering an oblique strain early in the season. Duggar played in just 12 games before going down with an injury and didn’t receive enough of a sample size to judge him based on this season.

Just a year ago, in 2021, Duggar had his breakout season. The left-handed-hitting and right-handed-throwing outfielder played in 107 games, racking up 297 plate appearances. With them, he was efficient, setting career-high’s in every category.

Duggar finished with an average of .257, as well as an OBP of .330 and a slugging of .437, giving him an OPS of .767. He hit eight home runs and stole seven bases, along with 14 doubles and 35 runs batted in. He also had five triples, meaning of his 69 hits, 27 of them were extra base hits. 

Duggar very well could see himself getting the opportunity to play a major role once again, now that he has returned from injury. With Eli White out for the foreseeable future, Duggar will have an opportunity to fill a void in the outfield.

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Leody Taveras is currently the primary centerfielder for the second-place Rangers. Though he is only 23 years old, Rangers fans have become inpatient with Taveras. As recently as 2020, Taveras was ranked as high as No. 4 in the Rangers farm system. Since then, he’s had 317 major league at-bats, to which he has hit .192 with just seven career homers.

Rookie Josh Smith has also seen some time in the outfield this season, though he is primarily a shortstop. Along with Brad Miller, who is also primarily an infielder, Texas lacks depth in the outfield, until White returns from injury anyway.

If Duggar can bounce back and hit the way he did in the 2021 season, he will have plenty of opportunities to find a role in Texas. Duggar hit .267 against right-handed starters in 2021, which will be something Texas hopes he can replicate.

What the Rangers are giving up

Willie Calhoun has had a weir career in Texas. Back in 2017, Calhoun was the headliner of the Yu Darvish trade, as he was currently the No. 4 ranked prospect in the Dodgers organization and the No. 69 ranked prospect in all of baseball. Even so, there were question marks on Calhoun from the get go.

Calhoun was a player who was coveted for his hitting, but he had below-average grades in every other aspect. While he had played most of his career at second base to that point, it wasn’t clear what position he would play at the major league level. 

With below-average grades in defense, speed and his arm, his success would depend entirely on his bat. That being said, if a player can hit, a team will find a way to get him in their lineup.

Calhoun made his big league debut later that season, playing in 13 games and giving fans something to look forward too. In those 13 games, he had 37 plate appearances and had a .265 average.

It wasn’t until the 2019 season in which Calhoun got to see regular time. At the age of 24, Calhoun played in 83 games and looked exactly like the player fans hoped he would be. In 337 plate appearance Calhoun hit .369, with 21 home runs and 48 RBI. He also had 14 doubles and one triple, giving him an OPS of .848.

Since then, things haven’t looked near the same. He’s played in 122 games since his breakout 2019 campaign and has hit to a tune of .223. With just eight home runs in that span, Calhoun has an OPS of .627 and still no clear role as a defensive player.


The trade could be exactly what Calhoun needs to get things going. As a Vallejo, Calif. native, Calhoun will get the opportunity to go back home. For many prospects who never quite reached their ceiling, sometimes a change of scenery is exactly what they need to piece it together.

In this trade, the Rangers will get a proven outfielder who, at his best, can consistently hit against right-handed pitching. In return, Calhoun will get the opportunity to succeed with a new ball club in a place he’s familiar with.

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Written By
Tyler Lennon

Tyler Lennon is the sports editor for Front Porch News and Chad’s Media. Previously with the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram, Lennon has now covered sports in Hopkins County for four years. He also covers the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers and has media credentials for both the Rangers and the Mavericks. On top of his writing, Lennon is also the lead play-by-play broadcaster for Chad’s Media. He has been the lead broadcaster for Sulphur Springs football, volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball and more. He is also the host of the sports talkshow Down & Out on Chad’s Media, along side Korey Hankins and Ryan Humphries. You can follow Down & Out on all social medias @Downandout903