Coming into the trade deadline, the Texas Rangers pitching staff has reached heights never seen before in franchise history.

Naturally, what did the Texas front office do?

They went out and made the best staff in Rangers history even better.

The Rangers announced that they acquired relievers Danny Coulombe from the Minnesota Twins and Phil Maton from the St Louis Cardinals, as well as starter Merril Kelly from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Kelly winds up as the big prize from the deadline, having posted an ERA of just 3.22 in 128.2 innings with Arizona this season.

In 2023, Kelly threw seven innings on one run ball in Game 2 of the World Series in what would wind up as the D-Backs only win in the series that eventually crowned the Rangers as champions.

Having Kelly join Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi at the top of the rotation, the Rangers now feature a potential playoff rotation that can line up with anyone in baseball.

Helping that rotation nail down wins will be the bullpen, which, entering play on Friday, already had the 4th best ERA in MLB at just 3.39, but now features a pair of new weapons.

Coulombe, a crafty lefty and Texas Tech alumnus who makes his off-season home in the DFW area, features a microscopic ERA of 1.16 in 31 innings with the Twins this season.

From March 29-June 12, the left-hander did not permit a run in 21 consecutive appearances, signifying the longest season-opening streak in Twins history. His 0.68 ERA over 35 games before the All-Star break marked the lowest pre-break ERA in Twins history.

As for Maton, he has posted a 2.35 ERA in 40 appearances with St Louis this season, but comes in hot lately.

Since May 5th, Maton has been scoreless in 21 of his last 24 outings since May 5, registering a 1.48 ERA (4 ER/24.1 IP) in that stretch.

To make room for the new players on the 40-man roster, the Rangers traded Codi Heuer to the Detroit Tigers and designated both Blaine Crim and Dustin Harris for assignment.