Baseball resumes today, with the Rangers starting an 11 game road trip that can end up making or breaking the season, followed by three games at home against the Yankees. Anything worse than 7-7 on this road trip is going to be a problem, at least in terms of the Rangers staying in the playoff hunt.
Tim Cowlishaw says the Rangers need to make a move, and Daniels should trade any prospect other than John Danks to upgrade the team to get them into the playoffs this year. One of the names he throws out is one I've been harping on, as well...Bobby Abreu. The thing about an Abreu trade, though, is that he has a full no-trade clause, and supposedly will likely ask that he have his 2008 option picked up in exchange for waiving the no-trade. I'm not sure how willing the Rangers are going to be to make that sort of expensive commitment to Abreu, even if he were willing to waive his no-trade clause to come to Texas.
Evan Grant talks about the Rangers gearing up for the stretch run, and says that the Rangers believe that their pitching is deep enough and resilient enough to get them into the playoffs. Grant also reiterates a common theme that we've been hearing lately, that when Kam Loe returns, it will likely be as a setup man, rather than as a starter.
That is why the Rangers appear to still be shopping for a starting pitcher...even with Adam Eaton returning, if the Rangers put Loe back in the bullpen, that leaves John Rheinecker and John Koronka as the #4 and #5 starters, backed up by Robinson Tejeda, Edinson Volquez, and maybe Josh Rupe or John Danks. I have to think that the Rangers would rather have another guy to slot in the #4 spot, so they don't go down the stretch with both Koronka and Rheinecker in the rotation.
And over in the S-T, Kat O'Brien takes a look at what the Rangers need to do to win the A.L. West.