You gotta love the Byrdman...
And meanwhile, the electric stuff of Jamey Wright wasn't quite plugged in last night, which is a blow to the team's hopes that someone will give up something of value for Wright before the trade deadline.
Sammy Sosa's night was cut short yesterday with the ball to the helmet, although he didn't go to the hospital and reportedly seemed fine yesterday. Mike Heika reports that Sosa wants to finish his career as a Ranger. Feel free to insert your own snarky comment here.
I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing me talk about the Sosa situation, so instead, go read Jamey Newberg's take today, as he points out the foolishness of continuing to keep Sosa around.
Jennifer Floyd Engel takes a moment to inform us that, upon further review, maybe the Brandon McCarthy/John Danks trade didn't suck so bad, after all.
On the trade front...Colorado's Dan O'Dowd has reportedly inquired about Akinori Otsuka, although obviously Otsuka being on the d.l. puts things on hold. The Denver Post, in that article, says that the Rangers would prefer to deal Joaquin Benoit, who is under team control for less time than Otsuka is, but who is also healthy and pitching great right now...
The Philadelphia Inquirer says Pat Gillick was at the Ranger game on Thursday, and the Phillies are looking for relief help. Daniels and Gillick have done a few deals, and Benoit, Otsuka or Ron Mahay would seem to be of interest for the Phillies.
But while bullpen arms seem the most likely to be dealt, Mark Teixeira continues to generate the most talk.
Bill Madden has this on a possible Teixeira deal:
You've got to be kidding me. Cabrera, 26 years old, in his 4th full major league season, with a career 4.87 ERA, a 5.30 ERA this season, and never having an ERA+ of better than 96, would be "the key" to an Oriole trade? Maybe Daniels will accept the worthless Andy Phillips (a 30 year old minor league journeyman) and a couple of second-tier pitching prospects? How does either of those make sense?
And then people complain that Daniels is being unreasonable in what he wants in exchange for Teixeira...if Cabrera, or Phillips and a couple of the Yanks' 2nd-tier pitching prospects, it what is considered reasonable, then I'm glad Daniels is being unreasonable. I'd rather see Daniels keep Teixeira through the end of 2008 than take either of those deals.
The Hartford Courant says that Teixeira has generated "weeks of internal discussion" in the Yankee organization, but then also says that Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy aren't going anywhere, which tells me that Teixeira isn't going to the Yankees, since with those guys (and, presumably, Philip Hughes) off the table, there doesn't seem to be any way the Yankees can put together a package attractive enough for Texas to deal Teixeira.
Pessimism had surrounded trading the first baseman for weeks, with one competing GM saying it was more likely Teixeira would be dealt at next year's deadline than this year's. But the hunger for prime-aged power has helped Rangers GM Jon Daniels find a market for the switch-hitter to the point where Texas now believes it has a better chance of moving Teixeira than Eric Gagne, which was not the case even a week ago. The Yankees seem unwilling to part with the prospects necessary to make a deal. Keep an eye on the power-starved Angels, who can build a package around their first baseman Casey Kotchman.
ERIC GAGNE
Gagne's contract has millions of dollars in games-finished bonuses and a limited no-trade clause, so he would thwart just about any move where he would not close. The Indians are often associated with Gagne, but you can eliminate them. They are content with Joe Borowski and want to augment their set-up crew. The Tigers work well with Boras clients and need Gagne. Rival executives say Gagne's body has become so brittle that the Rangers should act quickly rather than risk getting nothing if the righty is hurt. The Rangers, for example, lost the chance to deal the coveted Akinori Otsuka because he is now on the DL (forearm).
Kotchman and, say, Nick Adenhardt would be a nice return for Teixeira, I think...
Boston has had special assignment scout Galen Carr watching Mark Teixeira, although the Boston Globe says the BoSox won't part with Jacoby Ellsbury or Clay Buchholz, which, again, would appear to make a trade for Teixeira unlikely, since after that, there aren't a ton of pieces that Boston could use to make a deal.
The San Jose Mercury News says that the Giants are willing to part with Noah Lowry if they could get Teixeira. Lowry is interesting, but his peripherals scare me, and while I'd like Lowry as part of a deal, I'd want some significant pieces to come with him for Teixeira...