Revisiting the Merrill Kelly trade after re-signing with Arizona

Several days have passed since Merrill Kelly re-signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. $40 million will be heading Kelly's way over two years after a short stint with the Texas Rangers. Many were upset with Chris Young for not getting Kelly back on the 2026 roster, even if the signs were right in our face moments after the trade was made.

Both Kelly and Arizona general manager Mike Hazen made public comments about a possible reunion back around the deadline. Kelly confirmed the idea was present from the get-go after signing his new contract.

"I would like to think that they partly made that trade because they knew that they had a pretty good shot of bringing me back," Kelly said. "It's easier to say goodbye when you know that you're going to be saying hello again pretty shortly. I've got to hand it to those guys. I know there's a lot of Rangers fans that area lot less happy about that trade than the D-backs."

He is certainly right about a lot of Rangers fans being a lot less happy with the trade. Three arms went over to Arizona for about two months of Kelly. No playoff starts were made because there were no playoffs. So, in a sense, it feels as if Mitch Bratt, Kohl Drake, and David Hagaman were all sent to the Diamondbacks for nothing.

Kelly took the mound on 10 occasions for Texas, recording 55.1 innings, a 4.23 ERA, and saw nine home runs fly out of the park against him – only five less than in his 22 starts with the Diamondbacks. The numbers are not great, even if I play the 'Well, if you take out this start' game, which would probably be a 3.0 IP and six ER performance against the Houston Astros on Sept. 16.

Results are not what make the process from Young a good or bad one, though. As much attention as the need for offense was around the deadline, starting pitching was beginning to run thin. How excited were we for Kelly to join a rotation with Jacob DeGrom and Nathan Eovaldi? Emerging youngster Jack Leiter and innings eater Patrick Corbin (who really began to struggle post-deadline) on the back-end. And then behind them...?

Kumar Rocker was going through early-career lumps and wound up making his last start on July 31. Tyler Mahle was still on the IL, dealing with a shoulder issue. Mahle was incredible before the injury but relying on somebody with a bad shoulder in a playoff race is a poor idea. Jacob Latz is the only other guy who made legit starts throughout the season and while he impressed, his 2025 role was always going to be in the bullpen due to a previous injury.

Leaving a spot in the rotation to the then-current options would have been a disaster for Young, especially when somebody like Kelly is available on the trade market. Despite the team's 5-5 record when Kelly started, it's easy to see a few more losses in there if somebody else were the starter.

Once again, separating from results, it's easy to see what the vision was. The Rangers were certainly in the playoff race and if they could find a way in, who would want to face the rotation of DeGrom, Eovaldi, and Kelly?

The short and long answer is nobody. It would have been the American League's best rotation in a three, five, and seven-game series. And, again, otherwise, Leiter, Corbin, or a still-injured-at-the-time Mahle was making the third start.

Did the move end up working for the Rangers? No. Kelly's form dipped and, as mentioned, there was no postseason baseball in Texas. Meanwhile, Arizona feels as if it got three good pitchers for the farm and got to sign Kelly back to its roster a few months later. But the idea behind the trade was the right one from Young, even if what followed went against the Rangers.

If there's anything to complain about from the trade deadline, it's the inability to find someone to spark the lineup. Or maybe not getting the David Bednar trade over the line, as Jon Heyman reported. It's not trading for a rental starting pitcher who had been a consistent, quality performer before arriving.