The thing that jumps out at you from the Buster Olney chat session today is how he says that he's hearing that Jon Daniels' asking price for Teixeira is dropping, and that the Rangers are motivated to just make a deal and get the best they can for Teixeira now and move on. Olney also brings up, twice, the Padres decision to deal Gary Sheffield in 1993.
Now, I don't think Olney is just making this stuff up. Someone, some front office type, is telling him this, I believe. And likely, some front office type is comparing the situation with Teixeira to the Sheffield situation, where the Padres decided to just cut their losses and deal him for less than what they believed he was really worth (although they did end up getting Trevor Hoffman in the deal). Someone is specifically analogizing, in their discussions with Olney, Teixeira and the Rangers to Sheffield and the Padres...I don't think that's something that Olney would just come up with on his own.
So I'm wondering...who could it be that has been complaining to Olney about Daniels' asking price, who now is telling him the Rangers just want to unload him and move on? And moreover, why?
The "why" part seems to be pretty easy, and would seem to help identify the "who". A g.m. would want to get word out that Daniels is weakening, is just going to give in to the best deal on the table (even a weak deal) at the deadline, because it would presumably soften demand. If you are after Teixeira, and you don't want to get into a bidding war, you create the illusion that there's no need for anyone to get into a bidding war...that the asking price is coming down, and so your competitors don't need to offer up their prime trading chips to land Teixeira. That makes it a lot more likely that your B- offer will be good enough to get him, and if it isn't, at least one of those teams you are competing with for Teixeira's services (and a playoff slot) isn't likely to come in with a strong enough offer to land him.
Now...who is out there that wants Teixeira, and who also has complained about Daniels' trade demands in the past? The Detroit Tigers, as recently as 4 months ago, spring to mind:
One of their scouts was stunned when he heard the White Sox had been able to get him for McCarthy.
And the Tigers, of course, have supposedly been talking to Daniels about Teixeira (and Ranger relievers) for a while.
But what really jumps out at me is the Tigers connection with the Gary Sheffield trade.
The Tigers g.m., of course, is former Marlin g.m. Dave Dombrowski.
The guy who was the Marlins g.m. in 1993, when the Gary Sheffield trade that Olney keeps talking about went down. The guy who acquired Sheffield from the Padres in that trade.
Which makes me think...doesn't it seem likely that it is Dombrowski, or one of his minions, who is whispering in Buster Olney's ear about Daniels and the "Rangers are going to dump Teixeira" meme?