Texas Rangers left-hander Mike Minor is already tired of being connected to possible trades.
Minor, an All-Star for the first time this season, saw his name bubble up again Wednesday, with MLB Network reporting that he is “an increasingly likely trade candidate.” It has the 31-year-old wondering why the Rangers gave him a three-year, $28 million contract in 2018.
“I feel like ever since I signed it’s been a topic,” Minor told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Wednesday. “It’s almost like I signed just so they could trade me.”
On Friday, general manger Jon Daniels would only go as far as to say the Rangers “probably” would not deal Minor before the July 31 deadline.
“I like our team a lot better with Mike on it, but we’re not going to rule anything out,” Daniels told reporters.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward also acknowledged the trade rumbling on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to accept that and embrace that and move on with our day,” he told MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.
But Minor is just over all the chatter.
“I don’t think that it helps when I go home and I have neighbors asking me about it, too,” he told the newspaper.
Minor, who is 8-4 with a 2.73 ERA in 122 innings over 19 starts, will earn $9.5 million in 2019 and 2020, making him more than just a playoff-run rental. He is set to make his next start for the Rangers on Friday against the Houston Astros.
The Rangers enter Thursday at 50-46, sitting five games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League.