The Texas Rangers had a plan going into the season: Stay afloat during the first half until internal reinforcements arrived in the form of injured players such as Max Scherzer, Josh Jung and eventually Jacob deGrom.
Entering the final week of July, the defending World Series champions felt like they were executing that plan even if their record didn't show it. The Rangers were starting to get healthy and were within striking distance of the division-leading Houston Astros in the AL West race. An opportunity to become MLB's first repeat champions since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998 to 2000 still seemed like a possibility and the front office decided to go for it again despite rumors it might subtract at the deadline.