A piece in the Chicago Sun-Times today, about the Cubs looking at acquiring Mark Kotsay from the A's.
The article says that Kotsay has a player option for 2006 for a little over $7 million, which may put Oakland in a situation where they are a little more motivated to trade him. I'm not sure if that player option -- which Kotsay would seem likely to exercise -- would make him more attractive or less attractive to the Rangers.
The article also mentions that the Cubs are trying to make a decision on Sergio Mitre, and whether to stick with him, or to move him in a deal to get a big bat. This highlights the need for the Rangers to decide whether they want to compete this year, or build for the future...if they want to build for the future, then Soriano would seem to be an attractive piece to offer the Cubs, in exchange for, perhaps, Mitre and Jerome Williams.
For that matter, you might be able to get Todd Walker from the Cubs as part of that deal, as well. If you could pry Williams, Mitre and Walker from the Cubs, you could plug the first two into the rotation, release the Ho, and play Walker at second base. You then have a very young rotation after Rogers, with Young, RicRod, Mitre, and Williams, plus additional pitching depth to use if you wanted to make a move down the line.
Just some food for thought...