Lawyers in the game say the Rangers don’t have a good chance of completing their ownership transfer by the July 31st trade deadline, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. That means Roy Oswalt won’t likely play for the Rangers this year. But GM Jon Daniels, who would like to add a veteran starter, could acquire Cliff Lee if he gets creative. Taking on salary would be a challenge, since the Rangers have borrowed $20MM or more from MLB to operate. Here are the rest of Olney’s rumors:
- The A’s can afford to cover some of the $5.5MM remaining on Ben Sheets’ contract in a trade if it means they acquire better prospects. Since few teams want to take on payroll, the A’s, who paid part of Matt Holliday’s salary after trading him to the Cardinals last year, could improve the return they get for Sheets by absorbing money again.
- Olney says recently-fired manager Fredi Gonzalez has been “a dead man walking” since the end of the 2009 season.
- The Orioles aren’t in a rush to trade their veterans, partly because the team is struggling so much.
The A’s paid part of Matt Holliday’s salary to make their trade with the Cardinals work, then the Cardinals outbid the rest of baseball for him by a good $20 million when he hit free agency. Gotta love baseball management.
The way Olney blabs everything he hears, makes you wonder how he still has any “inside sources”
Buster Olney is full of crap and doesn’t do any independent research.
I could be a ESPeon reporter. “Well…in my expert opinion…either the Rangers will pull off a trade…or they won’t. Back to you, Swami…”