Happy birthday to Rangers outfielder Craig Gentry, who celebrates his 29th birthday today. Gentry is a threat against left-handed pitching (an .859 OPS against southpaws in 2012) and has emerged as one of baseball's best defensive outfielders, posting a 27.5 UZR/150 over his four-year career. Here's the latest from Arlington…
- Not much has changed between the Rangers and Josh Hamilton, GM Jon Daniels told reporters (including MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan) during a conference call. Daniels says that he has stayed in touch with Michael Moye, Hamilton's agent, and they will talk again once Moye and Hamilton have fully tested the free agent market.
- If Hamilton left, finding a new outfielder is "not necessarily our first priority," Daniels said, noting that he is happy with Texas' internal outfield options.
- Daniels didn't comment on Zack Greinke, but noted that while he's happy with his rotation, "you're always looking out for starting pitching…always looking to upgrade Do we have to? Not necessarily. It's something we're looking at." We've heard that the Rangers, Angels, Dodgers and Nationals seem to be Greinke's most fervent suitors.
- Two rival executives tell CBS Sports' Scott Miller that they think Hamilton will re-sign with Texas. “As long as Hamilton is willing to take a shorter contract, and I think he’s going to be forced into that," said one NL executive. Miller also looks back at the original trade that brought Hamilton to the Rangers from the Reds, discussing the deal with then-Cincinnati GM Wayne Krivsky.
- The Rangers made Russell Martin a two-year contract offer, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Martin agreed to a two-year, $17MM deal with the Pirates earlier today.
