Dave Sessions has some notes this morning about the Rangers being in danger of losing Don Wakamatsu and Rudy Jaramillo from their coaching staff. Jon Daniels says his preference would be to keep the coaching staff intact, for what it is worth.
Sessions also has some comments from Daniels about the approach to this offseason's free agent market:
"We're somewhat limited by the market," Daniels said. "We'll have to see what the trade market brings. We're not in a position where we feel one player is going to turn the tide here. We'll look to improve from within first."
T.R. Sullivan suggests Reds hitting coach Brook Jacoby could end up replacing Jaramillo, should Rudy leave. Sullivan also runs down the players that the Rangers drafted in 2000, before the Montreal Expos grabbed Grady Sizemore. It is an ugly list...although it is also worth noting that Sizemore slid because of concerns that he was going to go to college on a football scholarship...
Also, Frankie Francisco's contract for 2008 is for $775,000. The Rangers have 5 other arb-eligible guys on the roster right now...Gerald Laird, Joaquin Benoit, Marlon Byrd, Akinori Otsuka, and Ramon Vazquez. Vazquez and Otsuka are possible non-tenders, Vazquez because he's a utility guy that the Rangers might not want to have to keep on the roster all winter (or pay what he'd get in arbitration), Otsuka because he may potentially be out for all of 2008 if he has elbow surgery.