How about Greinke, Darvish, Lohse, Harrison, X (whoever since we're likely trading Holland)

The Cards announced today they aren't pursuing Lohse or Berkman in the offseason, Wouldn't this rotation be sweet

We're not trading Holland. Kyle Lohse wouldn't survive a month in Arlington. He needs to stay in the NL.

You haven't read Sullivan's piece about us trading him to Toronto for a catcher, have you?

and what catcher does he propose trading him for? He is more valuable than Arencibia but not near as valuable as D'Arnaud

Pass on Lohse. We just dealt with the vaunted NL to AL issue. I'd rather have Martin Perez, Ogando, Ross, etc. fill that role than spend big $$$ on an sub #2-3 NL pitcher.

We have enough of those guys to fill the #3-#5 roles till Lewis gets back.

Originally Arencibia, but everyone who's talked about this rumor (mostly thinking about Newberg) say that the Rangers want D'Arnaud and will try to get him to solve their catching problem rather than pay Napoli as much as it will take to keep him

Just looked at Toronto's depth chart and realized Brett Lawrie came up through the minors as a 2B. Kelly Johnson, their old 2B, is more than likely gone too. Could/ would Toronto move Lawrie over the 2nd if we packaged Olt/Prospect for D'Arnaud? This could be a move that benefits everyone. If you look at all the rankings, D'Arnaud and Olt aren't far apart from each other. I've seen rankings with Olt in front and others with D'Arnaud in front.

This just makes too much sense...

Just because T.R. Sullivan wrote it doesn't mean it's happening. T.R. also said Michael Young should bat 2nd next year.

d'Arnaud might rank lower on prospect lists than Perez and Olt, but catcher is a much more rare commodity than pitching or corner infield. It's going to take something more enticing than either of the two players above to get Travis d'Arnaud to come to Arlington. I do covet his talents, but he may be one of the 4 or 5 prospects in all of baseball that's untouchable.

Eric,
What are your thoughts on a Holland/Olt package for D'Arnaud? Too much? Not enough?

That's an interesting package, but I'm not sure the Rangers would wanna go that far. Despite Derek Holland coming off a down year, I think they trust more in his future (especially at his team-friendly price tag) than simply getting rid of him like that. Losing Holland means we'd have another hole in our rotation in need of filling and I don't think Texas views Moreland as a full-time first baseman moving forward. Dude just can't hit lefties. Never has.

We always see Moreland being floated out there in trade rumors, but I love those moon shots to the upper deck and how he battles. I really think he'll come around if given a full vote of confidence. His salary is a major factor for me too. I really hope the Rangers sign Greinke bc it gives them so much more flexibility in trades.

I remember when we got Saltalamacchia, he was being touted as the next big/sure thing at catcher. D'Arnaud destroys his stats and is way more consistent. Holland/Olt would be a tough sell to fans, but D'Arnaud just may be the real deal.

Eric, are you sure TR Sullivan said Young should bat second next year? I know Evan Grant said it, but I never saw any mention of Sullivan floating that idea.

I'm not saying Sullivan's word is gospel, but he's much more credible than Grant.

@Marco

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121011&content_id=39707048&vkey=news_tex&c_id=tex

Just scroll down to the bottom my man.

We always see Moreland being floated out there in trade rumors, but I love those moon shots to the upper deck and how he battles. I really think he'll come around if given a full vote of confidence. His salary is a major factor for me too.

Okay, first, Mitch doesn't get floated in very many rumors, because he's just not that valuable. He's a slightly above average glove, a slightly above average bat, but overall is a very average first baseman. His real value is that he's making league minimum money, but once his arbitration kicks in after 2013, I'm hoping Mike Olt will be ready to roll as the Rangers 1st baseman in '14.

We keep waiting and waiting for Mitch to come around, but it might be better to just accept that he's nothing special, and, honestly, nothing more than a placeholder for a more productive future replacement. Maybe that's Mike Olt, maybe it's someone else, but Moreland isn't exactly a prospect anymore; he's in his age-28 season in 2013. He's now made over 1,000 plate appearances, and sports a career triple slash of .264/.328/.441, an 8.3% walk rate and a 19.9% strikeout rate. His career wRC+ is exactly 100.

I don't know how many different ways I can say he's an average first baseman.

Basically, I like how he hits righties, and his glove is good enough not to cost us any games, but he really should be used in a platoon next year with Mike Olt. Olt is the one with the upside, and if he can mash against lefties, I imagine he'll gradually take more and more at bats away from Moreland, effectively squeezing Mitch out of Arlington.

Well, I can see it playing out that way, at least. Lots of projection on my part, but I usually always see the talent winning out. Olt is the talent.

I could see Toronto taking a deal centerd around Olt, they like power on their team and him and Encarnacion could handle the DH/1B/3B duties. If we throw in a Grimm like pitcher and another low prospect I think it might be able to get the deal done.