Texas Rangers Notes: A Look at Who Could Be Dealt at the Deadline

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Imagine an office somewhere within Ranger's Ballpark. Inside sits general manager Jon Daniels, CEO Nolan Ryan, and the rest of the Texas Rangers' management staff.

They stare at a white board with several names on it. The silence in the room is deafening, each one with a different expression on their face and each trying to come up with a way to acquire one or more of these names.

You can just see the "war room" playing out just like that.



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 There are plenty of names the Rangers will look at in order to better their situation because they know they can't stand on what they have right now. They just aren't strong enough to sustain the stretch run to the playoffs.

The offense, at least at this point, is fine the way it is. You have speed on the base paths and power in the middle of the lineup. Your run production isn't lacking, at least not every night, so there's no reason to change that dynamic.

Where the problems lie for this team is in their pitching. From the rotation to the bullpen, Daniels knows there are changes that need to be made. More so in the bullpen than in the rotation.

“I think the bullpen will definitely be a focus, first focus,” Daniels told Jim Bowden and Casey Stern on MLB Network Radio. “You’re always open to anything. But that’s probably where we’ve spent the most of our time.”

The Rangers have plenty of trade chips to deal away, guys who aren't going to make a huge impact to the team down the stretch and guys they can afford to deal.

We've talked about the names I've wanted to bring in to help the Rangers' bullpen, but how about the guys they could deal away for those players? Who could the Rangers give up and not miss (a la Justin Smoak)?


C Taylor Teagarden - .190 (4/21) 7 K's

Taylor Teagarden hasn't been quite the player the Rangers had hoped he might become. After hitting .319 (15/47) in his first season with the Rangers back in 2008, Teagarden has struggled in each of his last three seasons with the team, hitting no better than .217 which came back in 2009.

But while he struggles in the big leagues, he has torched Triple-A pitching. Through 24 games (86 AB's) with Round Rock, Teagarden is hitting .326 with 9 HR and 18 RBI.

The San Francisco Giants are looking for catching especially after the season ending injury sustained by Buster Posey. They've tried the duo of Chris Stewart and Eli Whiteside but neither are cutting it, no pun intended, at the plate.

Teagarden is a name that has come up but I don't know that the Giants would give up anymore more than a mid-level prospect at this point. Teagarden's value just isn't high at all right now.


OF David Murphy - .233 (47/202) 4 HR 15 RBI 32 K's

David Murphy has, at times, come in to the Rangers lineup and given the offense the boost it's needed. He's come up with a big hit here or there. Unfortunately, it's not going to keep him out of the trade discussions at the deadline.

Murphy is a guy who is going to get interest from teams looking for an experienced veteran in their lineup and a guy who could play the outfield on an every day basis. Something he's not going to get with the Rangers. Especially with Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Mitch Moreland, Endy Chavez, and Craig Gentry all able to play the same positions.

MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan wrote back in late May how Murphy could be used by other teams in need of an outfielder.


OF Craig Gentry - .270 (17/63) 0 HR 6 RBI 9/9 SB

Craig Gentry has burst on to the scene with the Rangers in 2011 showing off his tremendous speed not only on the base paths but also in the outfield as well.

While he's not a guy who's going to hit 20-25 home runs every season, he is a guy who can get on base and make things happen. He's shown that in Texas this season going 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.

He's not a guy the Rangers are going to want to deal in any trade scenario because of the potential he's shown. But there are teams who are going to ask for the soon-to-be 28-year old outfielder.


1B/3B/OF Chris Davis - .269 (14/52) 3 HR 4 RBI 18 K's

Chris Davis is a guy who's getting a lot of talk as the trade deadline gets closer, especially from Ranger fans who fully expect him to be dealt.

The way he's playing at Triple-A Round Rock right now, he's doing everything to help his value as well as help out the Rangers play him up to teams in need of a power hitter who can play the corner infield spots as well as the outfield.

Davis has 19 home runs and 52 RBI this season for the Express. Unfortunately, that same production hasn't come out when he's been called up to the big leagues. But his minor league numbers have never translated to the big leagues. He doesn't face the kind of pitching in the AL West that he kills in the minor leagues.

But despite all that, he is going to get a lot of interest from teams who are looking for an every day player who can play both the infield and outfield.

The Rangers may use him in their biggest deal at the deadline.


SS Jurickson Profar - .269 (60/223) 7 HR 31 RBI

Jurickson Profar is a young prospect currently with the Hickory Crawdads, the Rangers Single-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League.

He is one of the top prospects in the Rangers' farm system and a guy who is going to get a lot of interest, especially from a team on the west coast. The San Diego Padres.

Padres' closer Heath Bell is getting a lot of interest from around baseball and especially from the Texas Rangers. Profar is going to be a guy the Padres are going to ask about and may even go as far as to require having him in the deal from Texas.

While I'm not one for "giving away the farm" for one player, the problem with Profar is being blocked by the position players in the big leagues right now.

Elvis Andrus currently occupies the short stop position and will probably be in a Rangers' uniform for at least the next four to five years if not longer. Ian Kinsler is at second base but there's a lot less guarantee with his future than Andrus' so the question becomes, can Profar make the transition from short to second if he makes it to the big leagues in two to three years?

He is going to be an interesting name to watch over the next few weeks.

Texas Rangers Notes: C.J. Wilson, Mitch Moreland, Mike Napoli

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Not a lot to talk about today by way of trade rumors but I will give you one interesting nugget I was able to scrounge up. The rest is just little odds and ends from the Rangers' walk off win over the Astros on Tuesday night.

C.J. Wilson Struggles With Command


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For a guy who took over the role of the 'ace' in the starting rotation, C.J. Wilson has handled the duties better than most expected he would.

Once in awhile, he can get away with struggling once in awhile, so long as the Rangers come out with a win. Such was the case on Tuesday night against the Houston Astros. Wilson gave up four runs and 11 hits through six and two-third innings.

Luckily, his offense picked him up thanks to a game-tying home run from Josh Hamilton and a game winning walk-off blast from Mitch Moreland. His second home run in as many nights.



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Mitch Moreland Swingin' a Sweet Bat

After Monday night's 455-foot bomb, Moreland admitted he did watch it just a little bit. On Tuesday night, there was no doubt he admired his work on another bomb to right field, this one of the walk-off variety in the 11th inning.

The very first pitch Moreland saw he sent deep into the Texas night and about 15 rows back in the second deck. Sending his teammates jumping dugout railing and over to home plate to await the impending celebration.

It was Moreland's second blast in as many nights. If his bat stays hot, the Rangers could get on a much needed winning streak as they head towards the All-Star break.

Mike Napoli on the Trading Block?


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Last week, CBS Sports' Danny Knobler had a blog talking about the San Francisco Giants' interest in Rangers' catcher, Taylor Teagarden.

A week later, Knobler seems to think the Rangers will deal Mike Napoli to the Giants once he's ready to be activated from the disabled list.

I can see the Rangers dealing Teagarden especially seeing the kind of struggles he's had with the big club. I don't see them dealing Napoli at all and there's no reason to do so.

He's a better hitter than Teagarden and Napoli can not only back up starter Yorvit Torrealba behind the plate but also give manager Ron Washington a decent defensive option at first base.

The Giants need catching especially after the season ending injury to Buster Posey. But don't expect the Rangers to engage them where Napoli is concerned. Unless there's a solid No. 2 or No. 3 starter coming back in the deal.

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.

San Francisco Giants, New York Mets Talking About Jose Reyes?

Typically, this is not the time of year you'll see a lot of trades go down in Major League Baseball. It's not out of the realm of possibility, but it's certainly out of the norm.

But don't tell that to the San Francisco Giants who, according to CSNBayArea.com, are talking to the New York Mets about possibly making a deal that would send shortstop Jose Reyes to the bay area.

Giants' third baseman Pablo Sandoval is out for more than two months after undergoing surgery on his hand and Miguel Tejada is struggling at the plate. If they don't want to fall too far out of the NL West race this might be a great move for them.

Reyes is expected to become a free agent after the 2011 season and with the financial problems of the team, thanks to one Bernard Madoff, it might be unlikely they'll be able to sign the shortstop long term.

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