Ken Rosenthal's latest notes column has some love for the Rangers' rotation -- which, as he points out, is currently 6th in the A.L. (pretty good for a team in the best hitter's park in the league) -- but of more interest is probably Rosenthal's suggestion that Dontrelle Willis could be on the move towards the trade deadline.
I've talked about this before, in comments on diaries and the like, but I don't think the Rangers landing Dontrelle Willis is reasonable. The cost is going to be prohibitive -- probably Ian Kinsler, plus a couple of DVD, and probably something else on top of that.
And that still might not be enough.
Rosenthal talks about the Reds getting involved for Willis, offering Edwin Encarnacion and Homer Bailey as a possible package. That would be the equivalent of the Rangers offering Kinsler and, say, John Danks -- and I still don't think that would be enough.
Rosenthal mentions the Brewers as a possibility, using Rickie Weeks as a centerpiece, or the D-Backs, with Carlos Quentin and Stephen Drew.
He also mentions the BoSox as having a strong farm system, but at this point, they don't have the type of positional players that Florida likely wants, and I can't see them being serious players.
The Angels seem like the most likely candidate, to me. The Angels could offer Howie Kendrick or Brandon Wood, plus Ervin Santana, and that would probably trump anything the Rangers would be able to package together. The Angels simply have more of the type of young, high-ceiling positional prospects the Marlins would want than the Rangers do.
If Willis is on the market, I think he's more likely to end up in Anaheim than anywhere else.