5:06pm: The Marlins are not close to sending Cantu to the Rangers, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). The Rockies have stepped up their bid for Cantu and the Giants are still involved.
4:21pm: The Rangers are interested in Cantu, but are "evaluating a number of bats," a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
3:55pm: The Rangers are "closing in" on a deal for Cantu, a source tells Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.
3:30pm: The Rangers have asked about Cantu more than other clubs have, but they don't necessarily have an edge over the Giants or Rockies, according to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (via Twitter).
7:44am: The Rangers are known to be seeking a right-handed hitting first baseman, perhaps a platoon partner for Chris Davis. USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweets that they are "in deep conversations" with the Marlins for Jorge Cantu, and "taking a close look" at the Cubs' Derrek Lee. They'd also like to add another starting pitcher and a lefty reliever.
Lee is the new name in the mix for the Rangers, though he and Cantu are used to being regulars. Neither player has hit like a regular first baseman this year – Cantu is at .260/.309/.412, and Lee stands at .251/.338/.391. Their contracts are significant – Cantu has $2.28MM remaining and Lee has $4.95MM. The Rangers have also been linked to players such as Ty Wigginton, Mike Lowell, and Wes Helms.
Nightengale's contention that the Rangers would like to add another starter is surprising. Four days ago, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggested on Twitter that a pitching surplus could make Rich Harden or Scott Feldman trade bait.
well they need to get somebody else….davis is horrid you can not go into the playoffs with chris davis as your 1B. I also doubt it would be much of a platoon at all. Chris Davis is a HR hitter who doesn’t hit home runs.
Rangers got Cantu!!!! Hip hip Jorge!!!!!!
Texas seems to be getting alot of press lately, and did make some big-time noise in landing Lee.
But I’m skeptical how much flexibility they actually have to make deals. These may be more like a wish-list than an actual shopping list.
This is a lot of crap in my opinion. The Rangers have Harden and Holland on the mend in addition to some depth in the minors as far as starting pitching goes. And seeing how their top 4 starters are pitching like studs r/n, they don’t need a great 5th starter. I think Holland can be more than adequate as the 5th starter when he returns (his second rehab start is Wednesday), and Feldman is passable if he’s not. Don’t judge Holland soley b/c of his numbers this year, as they’re slightly off b/c of an inning he struggled through in his last start while he was hurt. He eliminated his curveball in favor of the slider this year to simplify things, and he was nasty in the minors before he was promoted
Adding Derek Lee would be overkill. Not that I wouldn’t mind, but they already have one of the best offenses in baseball. Davis is a pretty solid defender, and despite his struggles the last few years is still only 24 years old. This team gave Nellie Cruz chance after chance and passed him through waivers at least once when he seemed like a AAAA player, and now he’s one of the best outfielders in baseball. They’ve also been slammed over the years for letting Travis Hafner go too early. There’s no reason why they should give up on Davis yet. A platoon player to hit lefties is all they need, and I have no idea why Ryan Garko isn’t getting another chance. He’s hitting .273/.365/.545 against lefties in the minors, so why not at least see what he can do until you can get a Cantu/Wiggy/Lowell?
The lefty reliever might be useful, but Harrison has looked pretty good at times out of the pen. They have several young lefty arms in the minors I’d rather see them give chances to, ie Clay Rapada/Zach Phillips or even Kasey Kiker (who projects as a future JP Howell anyway). Or they could just promote Tanner Scheppers and use Oliver strictly as a lefty specialist. Not like they don’t have depth in the setup role anyway
I was glad to see them get Lee b/c he’s one part this team clearly needed (and they kept him away from the Yankees), but I think the rest of this wish list is more want than need. I was slightly pissed they gave up Main for Molina rather than just give Salty another shot (his throwing has allegedly been fine for 5-6 weeks now). I’m glad they’re going for it this year, but they need to trust their farm system a little more than they have been…b/c it’s pretty good. I don’t want to see them keep over paying for a bunch of spare parts that aren’t huge needs
well written and good points, we need to stand pat Davis will be alright
With the offense this team runs out there everyday, they don’t need Davis to hit. As long as he keeps doing what hes doing defensively, they have it in the bag. Also Lee, Hunter and CJ Wilson are looking like a nasty 1-2-3 come playoff time. The only thing I found funny was “they need to trust their farm system more” most of the impact guys out there are homegrown talent.
If you go out and get Derrek Lee, you take the pressure off of him and play him against good matchups, which will hopefully boost his morale. Then you hand the job over to him when Lee walks.
do we really need a cleanup hitter in the 8 hole..I don’t think so. Davis has a lot of heart and that is what this team is about right now. Don’t go and mess this up now by throwing away our farm when we have a stout team as is. Davis getting 6 AB a week is not going to boost his moral anyway that’s a load of crap.
Boomshwa: Good post. You’re obviously well-tuned into this team like I am and I feel exactly the same about Davis as you do. Not enough fans subscribe to the Cruz comparison. I think the kid is pressing right now and when the light goes on and he relaxes, he’s going to be fine. And, of course, he’s one of the best in the AL defensively already.
I think the Rangers should go for Jose Bautista. Thats why he’s so good: he can play first well, an average third and above average right field. As a plus he’s also pretty good against lefties. Rangers trade in a guy like Holland (bad numbers so far in the Show, but i love his stuff) , or Kiker, or even Wilmer Font and the Jays pay all the salary and the Rangers get the draft picks from Downs ( best relief option of the market ) and have Bautista for another year where they can either trade him or get draft picks ‘if’ he repeats this year.
Personally I would hope for Holland, but i think the Jays have the parts the Rangers would like and if Downs gets traded I really hope its not to the Yankees – though they have great prospects too. My main point is that Jays fans should be more then happy if we spin the guys we have into quality guys and not to expect big packages of prospects. One of the B guys in the Rangers system would def be worth our best trade chips, its only too bad we didn’t trade Buck for Main.
If they were going to do something like that, they may as well stick Hamilton at first and play Murphy in LF
The Rangers have no intention of trading Derek Holland.
pffffffffffft
Bad defensive third baseman, solid defensive first baseman. Tons of raw power, lots of strikeouts, not as many walks as you’d like, not hitting this year.
Isn’t Cantu just an older, more expensive version of the guy they already have?
Cantu is actually a decent 1B, just not a ton of range at 3b and has been losing what range he had to start with as this year has gone by and for some reason, his hands have turned to stone at the position, but as a 1B, he has done a decent job for the most part. he’s not going to play that position for the Fish with Gabby Sanchez however.
If the rangers want a guy who can get hot for a 3-4 week period and carry a team? this may be the guy, problem is he can get ICE COLD for the next month. If that risk is better than what Davis is, then so be it.
Another thing Rangers fans may want to think about is Cantu reeked in his last season with the Rays in the AL and only found his (much productive bat once again in the NL. Suggest they think of that before considering anything over mediocre prospect wise.
You HAVE to upgrade for Davis, there is no reason to leave that black hole in the lineup. Too easy to get better there without giving up hardly anything at all.
There’s no reason to make any more moves. They didn’t need to overpay for Molina rather than go with Salty, and it isn’t essential to go after guys like Will Ohman, Derek Lee and another starting pitcher instead of promoting guys w/ good production in the minors. Cliff Lee is clearly the kind of addition that puts you over the top, all these other guys we’ve been tied to are not. It seems like they’ve been more reluctant to go to the farm system this year than in recent years, aside from the ongoing saga at first base
I’m probably in the minority, but I think Davis will be ok. He definitely needs to step it up, but he’s shown flashes of his potential before and he still has plenty of time to put it together. It’s not like he’s our cleanup hitter
I prefer to upgrade through the minor league system as far as pitching goes. The Rangers can stick Feldman in the bullpen or demote him for some tuneups in the minors and bring up Michael Kirkman to try out as a starter. I know JD is wanting this year to be the one and is willing to use prospects as money.
I know some people have had negative things to say about the Rangers being allowed to make any moves at all this year while in bankruptcy. I personally am pleased that MLB hasn’t hamstrung them as some of the other contending teams would have done to them to keep them from contending this year. It is a pretty pathetic argument that teams like the Red Sox or Dodgers aren’t being allowed a line of credit to upgrade by MLB. How many of those teams aren’t able to access their revenues because they are stuck in bankruptcy? Some of these teams already have a payroll far and above the Rangers’. It isn’t like the Rangers are taking on big contracts like Berkman’s or Oswalt’s.
I like this, it would have been a shame to see this team go to waste because the creditors can’t get their shit straight. Also, I’m not saying they are going to be perennial world series contenders, but Andrus, Young, Kinsler, Cruz and Feliz are all going to be around a very long time, Texas will be making some noise for awhile
You’re kidding right? Why the hell would a rival team voluntarily give money to help team with a better record and a team if we do make the playoffs will probably play in the first round??? That will NEVER happen
Who is giving anybody any money here outside of MLB? Did the Red Sox organization cut the Rangers a check? NO.
I think they should trade for D. Lee for the playoff push. Its not like they are perennial contenders. They should work out a trade of Lee+John Grabow+Sean Marshall+cash for Chris Davis+Tanner Scheppers+David Murphy. Im sure Ranger fans are going to say thats not enough but if you wanna fill holes you have to part with talent. This could be your only shot with some of these players to win so you need to do it.
Im not to sold on that to be perfectly honest with you. Lee and cash for Murphy and Davis I could live with but marshall is to good in the bullpen and if they really want another pitcher I say offer this up. Derrek Lee+the remainder of his contract paid+ Tom Gorzellanney+ Jeff Stevens to Texas for Tanner Scheppers+ Martin Perez
No way is TX giving up those two arms.
It was mostly because those two aren`t having good years and I put stevens where I should have said Jay Jackson.
LMAO! Crap for two of the Rangers best prospects. Totally ridiculous.
Relax its not like I said that for Feliz and Holland. Now that would be Totally ridiculous.
It hurts a lot to give up Sean. I’d definitely give Carlos Silva + his whole contract paid, or the same with K-Fuk.
Agreed but those last two starts just killed his trade value and I really wanted them to sell high on him
No
If Texas wouldn’t give up Scheppers for C. Lee, why would they give him up for D. Lee and a bunch of relievers he is probably already better than?
Because he isn’t MLB proven and the Rangers should be in Win Now mode. They have enough young starting pitching that they could afford to lose him since they have Cliff Lee to bolster the rotation the rest of this year. Play for the playoffs not for the future. They have a good team now. The Rangers should pounce on it.
I still don’t see how the Rangers would give away a B+ prospect for a washed up, way overpaid, platoon first baseman and a couple of mediocre relievers. Scheppers will be in the bullpen when the rosters expand. Do you remember the last time an unproven 100 mph thrower came up to the Rangers last year (hint: first name Neftali). I say if Lee is traded, the Cubs won’t touch any of the big names in the Ranger’s system.
Oh and the Rangers are absolutely playing for the future. Andrus 21 yo, Davis 23 yo, Kinsler 28 yo, Hamilton 29 yo, Holland 23 yo, Hunter 23 yo, CJ Wilson 29 yo, Borbon 24 yo, Feliz 22 yo, etc. Almost their entire roster (Vlad obviously not included) is not even 30 yet. And we will have cash once the Rangers are sold in two weeks (to Mark Cuban. Greenberg, etc.)
Get it done already!
I have a feeling it’s going to be Wilmer Font.
Idk too much about him, but he is a pitcher, right?
A very good one at that. Some other names that could be in play, Matt
Harrison, Jurrickson Profar, Doug Mathis, probably not Derek Holland.
Chris Davis is Kevin Maas, not Travis Hafner (unless you mean Travis Hafner right now).
The Rangers could use a right-handed bat off the bench. I’d prefer a more versatile guy like Wigginton, but any of those guys would be better than Arias.
In case you didn’t notice, the Rangers scored 12 runs in 4 games against the Halos. That’s not great offense. Luckily, their pitching (?!) saved them.
For the love of God please Rangers.. even though Derek Lee will make your line up weaker.. take im for anything..
Rangers got Cantu … why the hell would they want an average player like him.. he’s only going to make them worst.. Rangers fans need to be worried about this move.. very risky for a team up 7 games in the AL West..
Hopefully Cliff Lee and the Rangers get a deal done… I highly doubt he wants to be on the same team with A-Rod who will probably try to get Lee to use steroids.. 3yrs 55mil plus an mutal option for the 4th yrs.. its very possible to get it done.. and long term contracts never work for pitchers NEVER have never will.. So 7 yrs from NYY is appealing but it will haunt Lee more in the long run
Yeah, if you’re ashamed of the mark steroids have left on baseball, clearly Texas is where you want to be. And why in the world would he take a three year deal for roughly the same annual salary he’s going to get in a longer deal?
I haven’t read any of the other comments but I don’t think the Rangers should be allowed to add payroll. YOU ARE BANKRUPT.
They are a shining example of what is wrong with our country right now, you can’t pay? then you don’t play. (it doesn’t help my opinion on the matter any that I’m an A’s fan lol)