Well, I have to say, that wasn't one of the more rewarding games I've attended.
And it was apparently John Rheinecker's last start for a while...
Ron Washington says Rheinecker is heading to the bullpen now.
I think Rheinecker has some value as a LOOGY, and if C.J. Wilson is going to be the closer, Rheinecker and A.J. Murray can fill the two lefty roles in the pen...
The Rangers website says Vicente Padilla will be starting on Wednesday, while Kam Loe will be back in the rotation on Saturday.
Also from the Rangers website are some quotes from Neil Ramirez, indicating that his advisors and the Rangers are "pretty close" to getting a deal done. There seems to be a cone of silence around the Julio Borbon situation...given that, given that his advisor is Scott Boras (who we'd expect normally to be doing some pretty public squawking if the Rangers weren't playing ball), and given that Borbon slipped from where he was expected to go (the late-teens to early-twenties), I'm guessing that this is one of those situations where a deal for above-slot money has been reached, but hasn't been made official or announced yet because of pressure from MLB and the desire to avoid losing leverage with other draftees.
Of the three remaining unsigned first rounders, Blake Beavan is really the only one who I think is a real risk to go back into the draft. Would it make sense for him to go to Navarro Junior College and re-enter the draft in 2008? Probably not...but if he's adamant he wants $1.7 million, and isn't going to budge, I could see it happening.
The deadline for signing draftees is Wednesday, August 15.