Texas Rangers, Tim Lincecum deal won’t be announced today

The Texas Rangers and Tim Lincecum have an agreement on a contract and Lincecum has taken a physical, but no announcement is coming today, according to Jon Daniels. Per the beat guys, Daniels says they are close, with “[o]ne final little hurdle” (per Levi Weaver) to clear.

The hurdle could be having the team medical staff review the results of the physical. Alternatively, since Lincecum is getting a major league deal, the issue could be how the team is going to clear a 40 man roster spot. Obviously, they could designate a player for assignment — Juan Centeno, Brett Nicholas, and Connor Sadzeck would seem to be the guys on the bubble, in that instance — but if the team thinks it is close to making a deal to trade a player, it would make sense to hold off on making the deal official until that is consummated.

Daniels says the team plans on using Lincecum as a reliever, but isn’t ruling out him starting, and that it remains to be seen whether he will be ready to go on Opening Day, given that that’s just over three weeks away.