Texas Rangers Ready to Showcase Chris Davis in the Outfield?

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The Texas Rangers could be ready to bring Chris Davis back to the big leagues but it's not to play first or even third base.

No according to reports, Davis is going to see playing time in the outfield at one of the corner spots and will move Josh Hamilton from a corner outfield position to center field. Something that could make just about every Ranger fan cringe after all the times Josh has run head long into the outfield walls.



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This is nothing more than the Rangers showcasing Chris Davis for a possible trade at or before the trade deadline at the end of July. Davis has seen time in the outfield with Triple-A Round Rock but if Major League teams are going to be interested in making a trade with Texas, they are going to watch him over the next few weeks to see how he handles the change in position.

The knock on Davis, however, isn't his defense but it's when he grabs a bat and steps to the plate. He has a ton of holes in his swing and hasn't had near the same success offensively that he's shown in the minor leagues.

That being said, Davis is still very much a hot trade commodity and the Rangers know it. If he wasn't they would have no reason to bring him up and stick him in the outfield. They know the problems he's had at the plate and they the risk they're taking in having him in the lineup on an every day basis.

But the Rangers need to show that Davis is a serviceable big league player because they themselves need to include him in a trade that would land them a big time reliever for the bullpen or starter for the rotation.

We have talked about a few names the Rangers could be looking at but what we don't know is which deal Davis would be included in.

The San Diego Padres aren't going to do a one-for-one deal with Heath Bell or Mike Adams. They may not even be interested in Davis seeing as they already have young infielders Anthony Rizzo, Jesus Guzman and Kyle Blanks able to man the first base position.

So if it's not Bell or Adams, where will Davis end up and what will he bring in return.

One deal I've talked about before on my podcast involves the Baltimore Orioles and right hander, Jeremy Guthrie.

This is a guy who could use a fresh start especially since he's spent his entire career with an Orioles' team that has no chance in winning their division let alone getting deep into the playoffs.

They are in need of an infielder like Chris Davis and could do send Guthrie to Texas without the Rangers having to give up a second player in the deal.

Also, the Chicago Cubs are about ready to waive the white flag on their season and could be willing to part with reliever Kerry Wood, again. The Cubs aren't going to sell high on Wood and may send him to the American League on a one-for-one swap.


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But there's one name who the Rangers could, and should, look at and he's another pitcher with the Chicago Cubs. Matt Garza was a guy who was brought to the windy city thanks to the aforementioned Kerry Wood and it seems as if the Cubs could very well be open to dealing him in the right trade.

Garza is a guy who really became a young star with the Tampa Bay Rays and it was one of the biggest reasons the Cubs landed him in free agency after the 2010 season.

He won a combined 34 games over three seasons with the Rays and never finished with an ERA worse than 3.95 during his time there.

This season hasn't been nearly as good to him but he has experience in the American League and he's only 27-years old, soon to be 28 in November, so you're getting a young pitcher who still has a lot of good years ahead of him.

There are more than a few names the Rangers will look at over the next month but their ability to make a deal hinges on how Chris Davis performs over the next month. If he struggles and his batting average takes a tumble, so will his trade value.

The Rangers are taking a definite risk but one they could really cash in on if it pays off.

Texas Rangers Notes: Why Jeremy Guthrie Could Add Pop to the Rotation

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For the last few days a lot of the trade talk has centered around relievers like Heath Bell, Francisco Rodriguez, and a few others.

While the bullpen is definitely something general manager Jon Daniels and CEO Nolan Ryan will need to address, they also need to do something about the starting rotation. They need to bring in a starter, or two, who will allow them to move struggling Alexi Ogando back to the bullpen and possibly into the seventh or eighth inning role.


Photo courtesy: Associated Press



Jeremy Guthrie, a 32-year old right hander with the Baltimore Orioles, is a guy the Rangers could bring in and plug in as the number two starter behind ace, C.J. Wilson.

Guthrie is currently 3-9 with a 3.93 ERA but don't forget this is for an Orioles team that is hitting .260 as a team and really doesn't have much of a chance to win their own division. Especially when that division already boasts the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays.

In four of the last five seasons, Guthrie has finished with an ERA under 4.00 including a career low 3.63 back in 2008 and has posted three consecutive 10-win seasons.

He's a solid starter and all of his experience has been in the AL East, a division most would call the best in baseball.

His fastball velocity will range any where from the high 80's to mid 90's and he's able to paint the corners with it. His slider will stay around the mid 80's but he has been known to ramp it into the low 90's as well. Those are the two pitches he's thrown the most over his career but he will mix in a curve and changeup as well but, according to fangraphs.com, he won't use those two pitches near as often.

Over his career, Guthrie has thrown his fastball and slider 83.6% of the time with the other 16.4% centered around the curve and changeup.

Guthrie has always gotten off to fast starts to every season. He has a career 3.29 ERA in the month of May but for the rest of the season he'll hover around the 4.30 to 4.70 mark.

He's a guy who won't cost the Rangers their top prospects but the Orioles will look to acquire the likes of Craig Gentry and possibly a few other minor leaguers maybe of the mid-level variety.

Bringing in Guthrie allows the team to make some changes to their rotation in order to strengthen their bullpen. They can roll with Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and possibly Colby Lewis at the back end of the rotation, at least for now.

But with Wilson and Guthrie leading the staff, this team and it's rotation, automatically becomes the best in the AL West and allows them a little breathing room between themselves and the rest of the division.

Texas Rangers Notes: Holland, Lowe, Teagarden, Guthrie

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The Texas Rangers continue to struggle in New York. After another 12-4 loss on Wednesday night, they have now dropped six of their eight games against the Yankees this season.

After Alexi Ogando gave up six runs through 1 2/3 innings on Tuesday, Derek Holland wasn't much better. The young right hander gave up six runs on seven hits, walked five and gave up two home runs through five innings of work.

Holland struggled right off the bat (no pun intended) and was unable to gain any control of his pitches.

After Holland departed, reliever Mark Lowe would take over and would have just about as much success as Holland had. Lowe gave up three runs through just an inning of work, both coming on home runs including a two-run shot from Mark Teixeira, his second of two home runs on the day.

Combined between Ogando and Holland, Ranger starters have given up 12 runs through just 6 2/3 innings of work over the last two nights.



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 Taylor Teagarden, who was called up from Triple-A Round Rock after Mike Napoli went on the disabled list, is apparently being looked at by the San Francisco Giants according to Danny Knobler of CBS.com.

Since the Giants lost Buster Posey for the season, Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart have combined for a .180 batting average with no home runs and just two runs batted in through 19 games.

Knobler told me he wasn't sure if the two teams had engaged in talks but did confirm the Giants' interest.

Another trade partner, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, could be the Baltimore Orioles. Sullivan, in his mailbag column, talked about Chris Davis being someone Baltimore would look at with their need at first base. Two names Sullivan mentioned coming back to Texas were relievers Jim Johnson or Koji Uehara.

However, if I'm Texas, there's only one guy I'm looking at it's 32-year old right hander Jeremy Guthrie. Don't be fooled by his record this season (2-8) but focus more on the 3.77 ERA. He plays for a bad Orioles team and coming to Texas could provide the spark he and this pitching staff needs.

Sullivan also mentioned the Rangers being willing to trade anyone if the right deal were to come along. He said the Rangers would put Nelson Cruz on the first plane to Seattle if it meant Felix Hernandez was coming back in the deal.

That kind of deal isn't going to happen but you get the point he's making.