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Lacking A Lackey

John Lackey might have pitched last game in an Angels uniform. With Los Angeles’ once-potent lineup plating just four runs in 22 innings against the Yankees, the Angels find themselves down two games to none in the ALCS and in need of a major turnaround to keep their World Series hopes alive. Lackey is scheduled to start game five, if the Angels can make it until then.

But no matter how long Los Angeles lasts, Lackey’s career in L.A. seems to be dwindling down to its final weeks. His contract expires at season’s end, and with the Angels facing the impending free agency of Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu, and Vlad Guerrero as well, there may not be room to bring back the former 19-game winner.

According to SI’s Jon Heyman, Lackey rejected the Angels’ offer of 3 years and roughly $40 million prior to the start of the season, and when Lackey started having elbow problems, talks broke off entirely. L.A. then acquired lefty Scott Kazmir after the trade deadline, a move that not only seems to soften the blow of losing Lackey, but also provides another multi-million dollar hit to the payroll that further handcuffs the team financially. Supposedly, Lackey wants “A.J. Burnett money,” referring to the 5 year, $82.5 million deal that Burnett got from the Yankees last winter. And when you consider that Lackey’s number compare favorably almost across the board to Burnett’s, he can probably get it.

Enter the Texas Rangers.

Lackey, who was born and raised in Abilene, is a proud Texan and the closest thing to an ace that will hit the free agent market this offseason. The Rangers play in Texas and are in desperate need of said ace. So what’s not to like? Well, the price tag, for one. And there’s the question of whether Lackey’s a bona fide ace, or just a top-of-the-rotation kind of pitcher. And then there’s his age. And his health. And whether or not he’d wither in the Texas heat like so many before him.

The Rangers would be remiss if they didn’t at least explore all avenues in regards to Lackey. But even if the Rangers can afford to pay him the $16.5 million-per-year he’s hoping to emulate from Burnett, and even if they’re willing to commit their entire offseason to one player, one big question still looms.

Should they?

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Rangers Considering Trade Options at Third Base

ARLINGTON - With Michael Young out for at least two weeks, manager Ron Washington said he plans to alternate INFs Omar Vizquel and Esteban German at third base.

But there is another option to fill the hole created by Young’s hamstring injury: A trade.

Though any player acquired would not be eligible for the playoffs, if the Rangers qualify, the club can still make a deal to help it get to the playoffs. The Rangers are weighing the pros and cons of making a September trade. The biggest decision is whether getting a player who may only play regularly for two or three weeks is worth the price in whatever prospect or prospects the Rangers would have to surrender. The Rangers expect Young to be back before the playoffs begin. Young said he’s hoping to return for a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angeles that begins on Sept. 18.

In the meantime, there are three potentially attractive options out there for the Rangers to ponder. None would cost the Rangers more than $1.5 million in salary for the rest of the year and none have long-term contracts that would require commitments for 2010. A look at those options listed in alphabetical order.

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Passed Deadline: Rangers Move Forward After Potential Roy Halladay Trade Falls Apart

ARLINGTON – At the very outset of the Roy Halladay affair, there appeared to be three significant hurdles to clear for the Rangers to strike a deal. In descending order, they were:

• Halladay’s blanket no-trade clause.

• The Rangers shaky finances.

• The Rangers desire to hold on to the franchise’s superstar prospects.

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Are Angels Landing Roy Halladay?

The Angels made some strange roster moves earlier in the day and now comes the OC Register blog item, citing ESPN’s Jayson Stark, that the Angels were very close at the deadline to pulling off a Roy Halladay deal. I had heard the possibility existed of Los Angeles dealing Joe Saunders and set of young players for Halladay or possibly expanding the trade to include some other Toronto parts earlier this week.

UPDATE, 3:27: Many commentors saying ESPN now reporting that Halladay to Angels DID NOT HAPPEN. Reporting that there were some last-minute talks, but no action. That is also what is indicated on the OC Register site.

No Word From Rangers As Clock Strikes Three

ARLINGTON - Still no word from Rangers personnel on whether they are awaiting a deal to be approved by MLB or if they have simply let the deadline pass. Don’t exhale just yet.

Trade Deadline Countdown Under 30 Minutes

DISCLAIMER: Just because the deadline may pass at 3 p.m. without an actual announcement from the Rangers does not mean that a deal for somebody hasn’t been struck. The club didn’t actually announce the Mark Teixeira trade until after the deadline had passed. That said, if GM Jon Daniels says the club has ended its trade talks with all teams, that would be something else.

On that front, there has been no response to an email sent several hours ago asking if the club was still in discussions with Toronto or any other team regarding a trade.

Rangers Dilemma: Will Dealing Derek Holland To Toronto Get Them A Happy, Healthy Halladay?

If Thursday's start was Derek Holland's last as a Ranger, the standing ovation the crowd gave him was a fond farewell. (Photo: R.P. Washburne)

ARLINGTON - If the trade deadline is one big hand of poker game, we’re now at the river.

On the turn, the advantage went to the Rangers.

With the Rangers balking at including Holland in the deal for ace Roy Halladay and Toronto wanting to see him pitch before moving ahead on conversations over ace Roy Halladay, the 22-year-old rookie went out and gave the Rangers the dominant ace-like kind of performance this team has been lacking for ages. In a 7-1 win over Toronto, he went to the ninth with a one-hit shutout that included 10 strikeouts and no walks. He retired the first 14 batters he faced. He was invincible.

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T-Minus 24: Countdown To The Trade Deadline

The non-waivers trade deadline expires at 3 p.m. CDT on Friday, a recent change in timing that means, thankfully, you won’t have to stay up until midnight to know if the Rangers did anything or not. With the window now officially down to a crack, that’s usually when all the hot air stops escaping and deals start getting done in earnest. So will the Rangers do anything? Even harder to say than usual, given the team’s financial constraints. Here some thoughts, some more educated on others, about the club’s approach to the deadline:

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Deal Or No Deal? (7/30)

Just emptying out my trade deadline brain of some of the thoughts that have been going through my mind this week. We’ll get to the Roy Halladay stuff after the jump.

Former Rangers great Justin Duchscherer appears to be a week or two away from being ready to return to action after a scintillating rehab appearance for Sacramento on Sunday where Rangers scouts were on hand. He is scheduled to pitch another rehab on Friday. Of course, players on the DL can’t be traded, but it might possible that Oakland could activate him for a day and then immediately trade him. This is Duke’s walk year and his salary the rest of the way (less than $2 million) is something the Rangers might be able to take on. Just file that away.

Another former Rangers great, Doug Davis, is just sitting there. He’s owed about $2.75 million the rest of the way and is a free agent this winter, so adding him is probably not precluded for financial reasons. Davis has a big fan in Mike Maddux who resurrected his career in Milwaukee. In two of his past three seasons, Davis has done his best pitching in September. There’s no reason for Arizona to hold on to him.

The Diamondbacks would also make Jon Garland available, but he’s like, you know, really bad and RBiA has been very unkind to him.

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Playing The What-If Game (Ranger Version) On Philadelphia’s Acquisition Of Cliff Lee

Action: The Phillies acquire LHP Cliff Lee from Cleveland on Wednesday.

My reaction: To wonder what the Rangers would have had to offer to obtain the 2008 Cy Young Award winner.

I’m no minor league expert, so trying to match up the Rangers talent for the talent Philadelphia gave up for Lee and OF Ben Francisco is something of a shot in the dark. But here’s my best guess with the former Phillies prospect and then the closest I can come to a Rangers comp in parentheses.

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Linkin’ Park: Lurking Around The Web For You

Six weeks ago, a 3-0 2nd inning deficit with a spot starter on the mound likely would’ve been game over for the Texas Rangers. Asking that Ranger offense to score more than three runs against a pitcher with a 2.22 ERA was like asking a chicken to fly: it seems to have the parts, but they don’t quite work right. Yet after struggling through June with a record of 11-15, the Rangers stand at 15-7 for July with three days left in the month. About the only bad thing to come out of last night’s game was a hamstring injury to Ian Kinsler that could keep him out a few days. But the win allowed Texas to keep pace with the streaking Angels and pushed record to 8-1 in their last nine games. Their overall record of 56-42 ties their best start through 98 games since 2004, and if they can complete the sweep of Detroit tonight, they’d surpass their ’04 mark through 99 games.

If you can find a down side to the Rangers’ recent run, it might be the pressure it puts on the front office. With the trade deadline looming a little more than two days away, Jon Daniels has been searching every avenue to find ways to bolster an ailing rotation and an atypically anemic offense. The Rangers front office has the unenviable task of trying to make an impact trade without straying from the plan of a promising future, but if they fail to make a move they could be accused of sitting on their hands while the Rangers put together one of their best seasons since the nineties. But their job might be made a bit easier, or incalculably harder, by one simple fact: they’re broke.

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Rangers Trade Market Update

ARLINGTON – The Rangers remain aggressive pursuors in the pitching trade market, but to get a deal done for a big-name pitcher their trade partner would have to assume most, if not all, of the salary, GM Jon Daniels acknowledged Tuesday.

“The [financial situation] is an element,” Daniels said. “It’s a different environment thatn we have dealt with in the past. I think it’s unlikely you will see us add significant dollars to the payroll. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get a deal done.”

It simply means you must get creative.

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Rangers Were Close On Ryan Garko

This comes from the New York Post’s Joel Sherman:

New York Rangers “In the late afternoon on Monday, the Rangers were convinced they were the front-runners to get Ryan Garko from the Indians. They were surprised when he ended up going to the Giants New York instead. Texas is still trying to find a righty-hitting first baseman.”

Rangers officials have since confirmed for me that they were heavily involved in the talks for Garko. But early on in last night’s game, they were informed of the deal with the Giants. The Giants dealt 21-year-old LHP Scott Barnes, who had been 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA at Class A San Jose, to Cleveland in the deal. Barnes was ranked as the Giants’ ninth-best prospect entering the season by Baseball America and their third-best pitching prospect. About the closest comp I could possibly find for Barnes in the Rangers’ system is either LHP Kasey Kiker, who is also 21, and who is 7-5 with a 2.74 ERA at Double-A Frisco. Barnes has a more traditional pitcher’s body than Kiker; he’s taller and has a collegiate background (St. John’s). I suppose you could also say that LHP Martin Perez is something of a comp, but he’s younger and with a higher ceiling and he is one of the top three prospects in the farm system of what is considered the best farm system in baseball. No way the Rangers would have offered Perez.

Garko, 28, would have fit all the Rangers criteria. He’s a right-handed batter, cheap in terms of salary and controllable for multiple years. He will be eligible for arbitration for the first time next year and should jump from $446,000 to probably close to $2 million.

Alas, the Indians liked the Giants offer more. By the way, I’ve been told the Rangers were not surprised that Cleveland opted for the San Francisco offer. They knew there were two deals on the table and that Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro was deciding between the two.