So, Willie Eyre being on the 40 man roster?  We may have an explanation:

The Rangers may get creative with their 40-man roster before Friday's 11 p.m. CT non-tender deadline.

The Rangers aren't planning to let anybody get away by not tendering them a contract. But club officials said they might non-tender a player and then re-sign him to a Minor League contract. The Rangers did that five years ago with outfielder Jason Tyner.

The move would free up a spot for the Rangers on their 40-man roster. Right now, the roster is full. Two possible candidates are pitchers Willie Eyre and Doug Mathis, who are both coming off arm injuries.

The Rangers also did this with Jovanny Cedeno a while back.

Eyre would be the obvious candidate for this move, since you have to have the player's cooperation to do this.  The Rangers signed Eyre to a minor league deal for 2008 despite the fact he was going to miss the entire year, which suggests there is some quid pro quo possibly happening.

And by adding Eyre to the 40 man roster, they ensure that no other team snags him in the Rule 5 draft.  Then, after he's non-tendered, they sign him to a new minor league deal.

Which explains why the mysterious decision to add him in the first place...protect him from the Rule 5 draft, then drop him and give him a new minor league deal, which would open up a 40 man roster spot.