SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Rangers manager Chris Woodward, after returning from the Winter Meetings in December, was up late on Saturday night with his wife, Erin, when he got the text message from GM Jon Daniels.

“I just handed the phone to my wife and gave her a smirk,” Woodward said. “She looked at me and said, ‘Is that for real?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think so.’”

Yes, it was. The Rangers were about to announce the next day (Dec. 15) that they had acquired two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber from the Indians.

“We opened up a nice bottle of wine,” Woodward said.

The trade was the headline move for both teams this offseason. In reviewing how it came down, the trade began with the Rangers' quest for starting pitching and the Indians dealing with budgetary considerations.

Both clubs seemed on the verge of something bigger at the Winter Meetings. The Rangers were going after free agent third baseman Anthony Rendon and the Indians appeared deep in conversations with the Mets about All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor.

But Kluber was never far from the Rangers' minds and Daniels made it clear there was interest regardless of what happened with Rendon.

“We did talk about Kluber at our strategy meetings in October as a potential option,” Daniels said. “But he wasn’t a guy we knew would be traded.”

The Rangers knew Kluber had made just seven starts in 2019 before suffering a fractured right arm. He was also 2-3 with a 5.80 ERA in those seven starts, and his velocity was down.

“We needed to do more work on him,” Daniels said.

The Indians took the first step on Nov. 1 when they exercised Kluber’s $17.5 million option. But a trade was still a possibility because of the Indians' deep starting pitching.

“We were prepared to keep Corey if we didn’t get the right return,” Indians president of baseball operation Chris Antonetti said. “It was extremely tough. Corey is not only a great pitcher who has competed at an elite level, but he is a great leader in the clubhouse and a leader in the community.”

Antonetti had already been a part of a big trade involving Kluber. He was the Indians' assistant GM when Kluber was acquired from the Padres in a three-team trade that included the Cardinals on July 31, 2010. At the time, Kluber was pitching in Double-A and was considered to have “fifth-starter” potential.

“That didn’t come from us,” Antonetti said. “There were elements of Corey we liked at the time. He was a big, physical athlete. He had swing and miss stuff. He had yet to put together dominance but there were some ingredients we liked. But I would be the first one to tell you none of us sat there and said this is going to be a multi-Cy Young Award winner.”

The Rangers checked on every starter possibility this offseason and assistant general manager Shiraz Rehman stayed in touch with Indians GM Mike Chernoff through the Winter Meetings. By that time, the Rangers had dug deep into all the reports about Kluber and were convinced he was worth the risk.

Then Daniels and Antonetti ran into each other on their way to a committee meeting and had a productive conversation in the hallway.

“We got a little better sense of how likely they would move him and clarity in what they were looking for,” Daniels said “It accelerated at that point.”

The Rangers left the Winter Meetings on Thursday, Dec. 12 without achieving their No. 1 objective. They lost out on Rendon, who signed with the Angels. The next day the front office regrouped and reviewed their options. Club officials split up the other 29 teams and started calling around to see what was still possible. Rehman got back in touch with Chernoff.

Woodward went home to Arizona

“There was always chatter about it, but there was chatter about a lot of things,” Woodward said. “There were probably a thousand things I’d heard up to that point, Kluber’s name being one of them. There wasn’t any real conviction behind us getting it done.”

As for the center of attention, Kluber was on vacation with his family in Southern California and not paying attention to social media.

“More often than not it ends up being a distraction, taking your focus away from what’s important,” Kluber said. “With all the outlets these days, it’s pretty easy to get wrapped up in that stuff if you go down that rabbit hole.”

Antonetti said “a lot of clubs” were interested in Kluber. Some were offering just prospects, but the Indians -- three division titles in the past four years -- weren’t rebuilding. The Rangers were high on their list because they offered players who could help right away.

The Indians, with needs in the outfield and bullpen, identified center fielder Delino DeShields and hard-throwing right-hander Emmanuel Clase. The Indians liked DeShields' speed and defense, and saw Clase as a power arm for the back end of their bullpen.

The Rangers' package was still viewed as light for a two-time Cy Young Award winner.

“If Clase ends up a dominant closer for 10 years it might not end up being viewed that way,” Daniels said.

Daniels termed it a “buyer beware” and knows there is some risk because of what happened to Kluber last year, but Antonetti is aware that the guy he traded was once one of the best pitchers in the game not too long ago.

“There is risk with any player, but I would bet on Corey,” Antonetti said. “He is not only a great competitor, but he prepares as much as anybody I have ever been around. I fully expect him to come back and pitch really well.”