Anyone think Michael (aka Jason) Bourn would be a good trade target for the Rangers? For this year he intrigues me, but not sure it makes much sense seeing as we have Martin waiting in the wings and the likelihood that Bourn would require some good talent to get, talent which we should be using to acquire pitching.

In the end I agree with what seems to be the general sentiment of this site that unless there is a rare opportunity to get an impact outfielder without giving up any of your major chips (like we hoped was the case with Carlos Beltran, but appears to be less so now that the Mets are saying they want some premium talent since they are willing to eat all of Beltran's salary) we are better off saving our chips for pitching, preferably a legit starter.

I haven't seen much on what it would take to get Bourn, but since he's 28 and having a good year I would bet he ain't coming cheap in terms of prospects.

Anyone think he would be worth going after and if so what would you give to get him?

I just don't see a need for an upgrade in CF. Michael Bourn is a fine player, but Endy Chavez and Craig Gentry are getting the job done. Plus, we have Leonys Martin looming ever-close to a call-up. It'd be an addition of course, but a minor one at that. The back end of the bullpen is the more glaring issue at the moment.

I'm not sure he is enough of an upgrade to be worth what it would cost. Then again, it is Ed Wade, so maybe we can dangle Taylor Teagarden in front of him.or Arthur Rhodes.

anyone ever notice how much the stros manager looks like james carvill? the ragin cajun!

No offense, but when you guys propose possible trade targets, do you actually think it through? Michael Bourn, really?

Pass. If you're going to trade for a CF, you trade for Beltran.

I really like Bourn as a player. if you put him in front of MY, Hamilton, Beltre, and Cruz, he would score a bajillion runs plus he his a perennial gold glove CF. Unfortunately with Martin nearly ready there is almost no point in making a deal. Maybe if you get him for the rest of this season then flip him in the offseason for some prospects nearly equal to what you gave up to get him...but no, we need to use those prospects for pitching.

I defer to my forum post about not trading for offensive players. Bourn is an excellent player, probably one of the 3 best on the Astros (not that that carries a lot of weight...), but he probably wouldn't be a big upgrade. Also, I agree with the others that mention our current platoon in CF is plenty sufficient.

1. Bourn would be an upgrade over Chavez and Gentry. marginal players have a tendancy of reverting back to their mean as the year progresses so I don't think we can count on our platoon situation maintaining it's current level of production throughout the season much less the playoffs. What happens if we make it to the WS and have two automatic outs at the bottom of the lineup with the Chavez/Gentry and the pitcher. Martin is probably the future but again I don't think we can EXPECT him to make a significant difference to the club with less than a year of pro ball under his belt.

2. Saving your chips only for a TORP is like a poker player who waits for the perfect hand to place a bet. There aren't any TORP's available this year save Ubaldo who Colorado is reluctant to deal unless they are blown away, which isn't worth the trouble in my opinion based on what they are asking. If the FO can improve the club with solid frontline starters through an equitable deal then they should definately put the chips in the pot. Houston will want good players but no doubt but Bourn isn't the type of player they could demand frontline prospects for if you can send them a large package of B level talent of which the rangers have a plethora.

I would think Borbon, Hunter, Weiland and Pimentel would get it done.

@Ashton. Didn't mean to offend you by pondering on Bourn. You might want to take a 2nd look though. .289BA would be 4th best on the Rangers (3rd best if you take out Chavez and his much smaller sample size), .350OBP (would be 5th best on the Rangers (3rd best if you take out Chavez and Napoli and their much smaller sample sizes) and 35 steals would lead the Rangers. Maybe he's not the right guy to go get since pitching is what we need, but based on these numbers and some of the other posts I don't think it is pointless to consider it. The guy is what we always hoped Borbon could be at his best, but now it's painfully obvious that Borbon will never be this. If Bourn could be had for a package like arp suggests I think the Rangers should give it serious consideration.