T.R. Sullivan's blog post this morning includes some trade talk:
Rangers officials are saying there appears to be more interest in Akinori Otsuka and a greater need for setup relief than there is for Eric Gagne or a closer. They'll also tell you that no club has really expressed an interest in Sammy Sosa and they have no intention of just letting him go.
I'm not sure if the more significant Otsuka interest stems from the notion that he'd be less expensive, because he's not a closer, or because he'd be under team control through 2009, meaning he isn't just a rental, like Gagne.
And no club is interested in Sammy? Gee, I wonder why that would be...
Sullivan and Durrett have now weighed in on the "he won't be released" side, with Grant on the "he will be released" side.
If he's not released, that's bad news for Jason Botts, unless the Rangers have already decided to keep him around all of 2008 as their DH.