Torii Hunter has been put on the disabled list with a stress fracture in his foot, and Shannon Stewart has also been put on the d.l.
This could impact the Rangers in a couple of ways...one, this makes the Twins less likely to hang in the A.L. Central race, and thus possibly makes one more potential seller and one less potential buyer at the trade deadline.
And if the Rangers end up going into the tank in the next two weeks, it means that the list of healthy free-agent-to-be centerfielders on the market would be down to just GMJ and Juan Pierre.
According to Buster Olney, Pat Gillick has let teams know that, if the Phillies fall out of the race, there are certain players who would be available via trade.
Supposedly, Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, Jon Lieber, and Cory Lidle are all on the "available" list, but Tom Gordon is not.
I'd be interested in seeing if the Rangers could get an Abreu/Lieber package from the Phils, maybe in a deal involving Kevin Mench. I'd be willing to talk about Pat Burrell instead of Abreu, although the Phils would probably have to take a chunk of his contract.
But Olney quotes a "talent evaluator" as saying that the Phils' goal will be to move payroll. Given the money falling off the books for the Rangers this offseason, and the lack of quality free agents out there, I'd like to see the Rangers work on a deal with Philly that involves getting talent via taking on salary, as compared to giving up a boatload of prospects.
And Stephen Drew is a major leaguer, getting called up this weekend by the D-Backs, although he's 0 for 7 so far in his major league career.