Today is the first day for the Rangers A.T., and it is a much different landscape. And with 5 1/2 hours to go until the trade deadline this afternoon, there could be some more significant changes coming. Things are sort of in flux right now, I think...
Jim Reeves carps about Tom Hicks not paying the money to keep Mark Teixeira, and seems bent out of shape that there isn't more uproar about Hicks not opening his wallet to keep Teixeira, with the merits of the trade being secondary in his discussion.
His lamenting that the Rangers let every good homegrown player walk, though, seems to ignore the Michael Young extension. I've got issues with Tom Hicks' payroll, but to rip him for trading Teixeira instead of trying to re-sign him ignores the realities of what Teixeira wants, what he's expecting to get in free agency, and what he's likely to produce for that money.
Anthony Andro says that Eric Gagne is still a hot commodity, but there's no interest in Sammy Sosa, while the interest that was out there in Brad Wilkerson has faded.
Bill Stoneman says the price for Teixeira was just too high, which is why the Angels ended up missing out on Teixeira.
The Boston Herald says that the BoSox have made a "substantial offer" to the Rangers for Eric Gagne, although Gagne can block a deal to the Red Sox. There's also a question of what a "substantial offer" really is...while I'd consider Jon Lester and Brandon Moss substantial, the Herald might consider Wily Mo Pena and Devern Hansack substantial.
There are a bunch of other stories out there on Gagne, but they boil down to there being four finalists -- the Mets, the Yankees, the BoSox, and the Brewers -- and it isn't real clear what team, if any, really has the edge or is willing to pay the price Daniels wants to part with Gagne.