According to Ken Rosenthal, the Rangers have made "low-level inquiries" on Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan. Joel Hanrahan is under team control through 2013 so trading for him would certainly cost a significant price in terms of prospects. In 122 2/3 innings for the Pirates, Hanrahan has a 2.79 ERA to go along with 13 saves in 13 opportunities in 2011. Also, Hanrahan's average fastball velocity for 2011 is 97.2 mph. Here's a look at Hanrahan's 2011 statistics so far:

21.2 IP, 13 SV, 1.66 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 9.1 H/9, 0.4 HR/9, 1.25 WHIP, .314 OBA

Certainly Hanrahan would be a MAJOR asset for the 8th inning if we were to acquire him. Not to mention possibly replacing Neftali Feliz as the Rangers' closer if Feliz is moved to the starting rotation in 2012.

But I wouldn't give up Profar + for him.

I'd be interested in seeing what it would take to get him, but I agree with snowcourt, you cant trade any top prospects like profar for an 8th inning guy.

Exactly, I read somewhere that the Pirates would probably want an MLB-ready young shortstop for Hanrahan which the Rangers do not have, and if I were the Rangers I'd definitely hold onto Jurickson Profar. With Leonys Martin in Double-A, it's not unlikely that the Rangers would be willing to add Engel Beltre in a package although his trade value has diminished.

He may have to close... Something is not right with Feliz. He got it done today but his stuff has not been great.

definitely worth a look, but i wouldnt want to give up any prospects for anything but a TORP right now, unless we find out feliz is hurt and possibly headed 60 day or something. definitely would be nice to have and 8th inning guy, but to tell you the truth Bush didnt look that bad in that roll. maybe if he just cost Davis, or TT, or Borbon i'd be willing to do it, maybe hurdle will give us a "sorry i left and your offense got totally f***ed up discount....

Hanrahan may not be a big name or anything but the guy has some nasty stuff and great stats for his career to back it up. I understand the price of prospects would be high (too high) but we're talking about possibly acquiring a legit reliever/closer for the next 2 and half years.

Hanrahan has been steadily getting better the past 3 years, and would probably be a worthwhile guy to pick up if they could get him at a reasonable price. I don't see how they can avoid acquiring a couple of bullpen upgrades this summer, if they are truly in a pennant race come July.

alot just depends of feliz. if we can find someone to fill the 8th right now, but would be a reliable closer guaranteeing feliz in the starting rotation, might be hard to pass up. i dont know much about the guy. i try to have bias just bc a team is bad... but sometimes you cant help it. but hey, i'd say mccutchen is one of the best OFs in the league and he plays for the pirates so who knows... Unfortunately i just dont want to give up too much since i feel unfortunately JD put us in a small bind prospect wise with his worthless cantu, guzman, and fancouer trades last year. i know we didnt lose any real "major prospects" but they were prospects nonetheless that couldve been used this year to make moves such as this.

speaking of which, honestly.... prospect wise who do we really have and how would they be rated

as far as i know we have:
Perez - fairly untouchable
Scheppers - used to be untouchable, lately seems like he might be tradeable
Beltre - trade value had declined
Olt - dont know much about the guy

seriously... someone fill me in on our prspect situation after last years trades....

perez has to be untouchable
Scheppers' value has dropped some due to his recent back issues, but may jump back once he starts showing he's healthy
Beltre still has some value, but not as much as scheppers
Olt has real nice trade value, but if we can somehow hold onto him for another season, I suspect that he will be one of our most sought after prospects come 2012, especially with Beltre at 3rd until 2016
Profar should be untouchable unless its for a TORP
Erlin is a nice piece but I don't think the front office will deal him except for a TORP
Ross, Ramirez, Kirkman are all guys that would probably be added to a deal to put it over the top and get a team to bite in a deal for a TORP or could be paired up with one of the others for a late i nning reliever like Hanrahan

Thanks ryan.

with all the deals last year i forgot all who was left. i definately dont want to see perez ,profar, or ramirez go. i'm iffy on scheppers cuz i've seen his stuff, and when he's on he's good, but late last year and ST he was more off than he was good. I just wish this team would get its Shit together so we can quit having these discussions altogether. hopefully getting hambone will fix that and all we'll need is something simple to shore up the bp that will only cost us CD, TT, or Borbon, and not much else.

I had the pleasure of hearing Nolan Ryan speak at a fundraising event on saturday night. First of all, it was awesome. He told stories from his playing days, and answered questions from the audience. According to him, JD is actively looking to upgrade the bullpen, but so far too many teams are still technically "in it", and not quite ready to make any moves that would appear to their respective fan bases that they are giving up on this year. Nolan said that in a month, teams will have a better idea of what they "are", and making a deal should be easier.

I just hope we don't overpay for a bullpen arm. If Webb, Hunter, Feldman ever get heatlhy let them try to bolster the bullpen before spending for a 70 innings a year arm.

Hey Coby,

So you were at the fundraiser at WT in Canyon? Do you live in the area?

The problem with the idea of moving Webb, Feldman, or Hunter into one of the setup spots, is you need guys in that role to be able to punch a guy out in a fix. The last thing you need are pitchers who put the ball in play and rely on defense - because chances are you are in a tight game with runners on base and only an inning or two to work with. And neither Hunter nor Webb nor Feldman are strikeout pitchers. Those guys would all be slotted as long relief if they weren't starting.

Last year Pitt supposedly asked for Feliz in return... So I think Joel won't be getting traded anytime soon.