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Rangers Are Likely To Seek Home Improvements Before Shopping Trade Market

PHOENIX – A couple of things about the Rangers and the trade market, which figures to start heating up in the next couple of week:

• The Rangers are already exploring the market, but GM Jon Daniels said upgrades are more likely to come from within than via a major trade.

• Though he’s been given no directive against adding payroll, Daniels doesn’t believe adding significant payroll to be a very likely option.

• If the Rangers are going to make a trade, a bullpen piece might be the most realistic target because those pieces are usually less expensive in terms of salary and the prospects required to obtain them.

“The bullpen has been very good since the first couple of weeks of the season, but if we can add to it, so it remains a strength, that is something we’d look at,” Daniels said. “It’s easy to look at the lineup and say that’s a need and it’s not something I’m brushing aside, but I think the bullpen is the most realistic area where we could add somebody. We’re going to look under every rock for ways we can help this team.”

The Rangers have already added Darren O’Day via a waiver claim and Jason Grilli by purchasing his contract from Colorado. They aren’t, however, interested in Luis Ayala, who was designated for assignment by Minnesota earlier this week. Though Daniels did not mention any particular players, a reliever like Baltimore RHP Danys Baez might make the most sense for the Rangers. Baez, who can be a free agent at the end of this season, has pitched in multiple roles during his career with five different teams. Baltimore, which is in last place in the AL East, has already indicated a willingness to talk about Baez with other clubs.

Baez is making $5.5 million this season, which would leave less than $2 million at the trade deadline. It’s conceivable that by paying a higher price in terms of a prospect, the Rangers might be able to get Baltimore to eat the remainder of the contract.

Daniels said that the value of the Rangers’ prospects and the amount of money remaining in any trade target’s contract would both be factors in making a decision.

Baez, who turns 32 on September 10, is 4-1 with a 3.22 ERA in 36.1 innings this season. He started 32 games for Cleveland in 2002, saved 41 games for Tampa Bay in 2005, and has pitched primarily as a setup reliever for the Orioles the last two seasons.

Also, on the farm, the Rangers have LHP A.J. Murray, who is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 24 games at Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma City.

To acquire an impact hitter or an upper-half-of-the-rotation starting pitcher, the Rangers would likely have to take on significantly more salary and also pay a higher price in prospects. Daniels has said the club won’t mortgage its future for a one-year window.