Per reports on Wednesday the Texas Rangers seem to be set to miss out on two of the better starting pitchers on the free agent market this offseason. Cole Hamels, a veteran lefty who spent half of 2015 through half of 2018 with Texas has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $18 million deal with the Atlanta Braves per Jeff Passan of ESPN. Just after Hamels signed, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted that the Rangers were one of the team pursuing the four time All-Star.
Joining the news that Hamels had signed and eliminated an option for the Texas Rangers was the report from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News that Texas was out of the bidding for RHP Zack Wheeler whose market has been heating up the past few days.