Per Mike Axisa of MLBTR, the Rangers are still interested in Upton (duh) but might also consider Lohse, Sanchez, and Bourn, and might try trading for Shields or Dickey.

None of these are surprising suggestions, but I'd like to know what we think about each of them. Here are my quick thoughts:

Upton: Definitely still interested. Would prefer not to give up Elvis, and certainly not Profar. Other than that, go nuts. Not sure if I'd rather have him than Hamilton; this is a very tough one.

Lohse: He's 34. He probably won't be worth 4 WAR again. Not my first, second, or even third choice, but maybe after that. If the higher priorities all fell through, I'd give him something like 2 yrs for $15-20m, which he probably won't take, understandably.

Sanchez: Interested. My 3rd choice. As FanGraphs said recently, he may provide good value, more cost-effective than Greinke. I wouldn't give him the $90/6 he supposedly wants, but I might do 4-5 years at $15 AAV, which he may not take. Might overpay for him slightly, as I'd prefer him significantly to Lohse.

Bourn: Basically Gentry but a little better on offense, and will probably cost upwards of $15m/yr. Doesn't have nearly enough power to interest me for basically filling Josh's role. No offense to him, but I don't think he's a good fit for the Rangers.

Shields: Easily my first choice right now. He's owed $21m for the next 2 years and I expect him to produce 7-8 fWAR over that time. That's a huge surplus, and hopefully by that time we might have a couple more pitchers ready to prove themselves at the major league level. I have no idea what TB will require for him, but if it's not Profar I'm interested.

Dickey: Won't require as much as Shields. Higher risk in that he seems unlikely to repeat his Cy Young season, especially since he'll be in the AL and a year older, but I'd be willing to give him a shot if Shields doesn't pan out.

What do you guys think?

I'd hope that James Shields is pitching target #1. Shields is one of the more underestimated pitchers in all of baseball, is extremely durable, and is signed to a contract that is excellent in terms of the value he provides. Not to mention he's a ground ball pitcher, which bodes well for RBiA. But I am not too sure what the Rays would want in return.

Target #2 is Justin Upton. I can see the hesitancy in a trade built around Andrus for Upton, but let's face it, Profar is a stud (albeit young and unproven) and the Rangers could most certainly use a MOTOB in Hamilton's absence. Upton is young and just now entering his prime with 3 years remaining on his contract, not to mention that the acquisition of Upton most certainly makes Nelson Cruz the full-time DH, which is a good thing. The domino affects alone of the acquisition of Upton make it a good and logical fit for the Rangers.

I have this weird sense that we may end up with Bourn. I can't justify it with anything, but his market kind of reminds me of Beltre, even though the fit isn't very good. If it's a bargain and we end up using Gentry in a trade for Shields or Dickey, I guess I could be talked into liking it. Plus the Rangers never seem to have any faith in Gentry or Martin unfortunately. I think I could get behind a Hamilton/Bourn/Upton OF. Definitely underwhelming for the cost though. Maybe a Martin/Bourn/Upton could work.

I'm also liking RA Dickey more and more with the high price for Shields going around. People are talking Myers + for Shields. That's insane. If that's the case, I'd rather talk about Profar + for Price and extend Elvis.

I'd also like to see what it would take for Billy Butler. The dude can rake. Maybe even Myers could be had. I would be all over a Myers/Martin/Upton OF and just start a youth movement.

It's time to put this famed minor league system to work.

Not trying to troll or anything. But how can you expect to get Upton, Hamilton and Bourn when you cant sign one guy? Are team is not the Dodgers. You know how jon daniels is very smart but not agressive in the sense that he would get anyone for any price, it has to be his price.

I don't think Tx have anything TB needs. I don't think Rangers give up NYM or AZ needs for Upton or Dickey.
Sanchez? Rangers aren't interested. Profar is the key, but Rangers won't budge, as they should not. I'm
not really sure Hamilton is even on thier radar. To even think of Kinsler at 1B, really has to be a joke. Get
it over with and call A.J Priesynski. Rangers can't replace Josh's bat, but they need a catcher-perfectly cheap.
That ought to wrap up Rangers winter.

As much as I was over Josh, we might need him back. I don't think Arizona is going to budge unless we offer Profar. Kevin Towers reminds me of the people in my fantasy sports leagues. They wont make a trade unless they are screwing someone over. If we could somehow grab Shields and Hamilton, I would be happy. I think Sanchez should be the plan B after Shields. He doesn't necessarily get the credit he deserves.

I think JD has done an excellent job so far. We are in on basically everything, and I bet nobody on here believed we would be able to trade away Michael Young and potentially get something in return.

I really think signing Hamilton is a must at this point. If he'll take the 4/$108 that was supposedly offered then take the plunge. If we do, Murphy becomes expendable. Package him with Grimm for Josh Willingham or some other DH.

I'd love to get Shields or Upton but realistically I don't see how we have enough assets to get both. Tampa is notoriously difficult to deal with as they simply cannot afford to get fleeced in a deal. The Arizona GM is blowing smoke and just being generally ridiculous. If we can swing either deal without giving up Elvis or obviously Profar then I tip my hat to JD.

I don't think we necessarily need to trade Murphy if we trade for Upton or re-sign Hamilton. We could go with Josh in LF and Murphy in RF, or Murphy in LF and Upton in RF. Both of these scenarios with Gentry/Martin in CF and Cruz at DH.

"Dickey: Won't require as much as Shields. Higher risk in that he seems unlikely to repeat his Cy Young season, especially since he'll be in the AL and a year older, but I'd be willing to give him a shot if Shields doesn't pan out."

Andy,

there is nothing better than a scholarly knuckleball pitcher who has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

One thing RA Dickey has said is that he has worked on throwing a knuckler in the 80s (mph). I think that would be cool to see up close at the ballpark.

What now? I think we will just resign Josh at 4 years with an option year or two. Pitching wise I think we will either trade for a top of the rotation guy or go in with what we have I don't see us dipping into the free agent market right now. My concern about trading for Upton is that he is the offensive version of Derek Holland all the potential in the world but very inconsistent. His last 3 years he went from a good outfielder to an elite outfielder to an average outfielder. Do you want to trade a shortstop that has been consistently in the upper echelons of shortstops in the majors. No matter how you look at it Elvis is either a vital part of our future or the biggest trade chip that we have I wouldn't want to waste the trade chip on an outfielder that may or may not be above average. I am not saying don't try to get Upton just don't trade one of our shortstops for him.

I feel like Andrus and Upton are very comparable in stats... I mean, other than HR's it seems like they finished the past 2 years with very comparable stats. I dont see all the big fuss over sending Elvis on over. Dont get me wrong, Id love to keep him if it were possible, but I feel like a lot of people say Upton is too inconsistant. If thats the case, then youd have to say Elvis is too right? Anyways, Im just ready for some of these dominoes to start falling now that Greinke is off the market. Shields+Upton+Hambone.

I think Sanchez might be a good target, but what about Edwin jackson? Should be considerably cheaper and has great stuff, although very inconsistent.

If I see the word "are" improperly used for the word "our" again, I might throw up.

I am not an English professor, but good lord that just makes one look like a complete imbecile, and a waste of perfectly good oxygen, water, and food.

With that being said, I am really hoping we can end the offseason by resigning Josh to something like 4/88 with some options or incentives etc, acquiring Shields without losing Profar or Andrus, and grabbing up JP Arencibia or D'Arnaud without losing Profar. I know I'll get killed for saying this, but I'd really rather have Josh than Upton. I've never been impressed by either of the Upton twins. And, while Justin projects as a MOTOB, he gets a substantial part of his value from stolen bases, and he's only hit 20+ homers once. I'm just not convinced that he's the "presence" in the middle of a lineup that pitchers are going to be afraid of. Hell, Beltre would scare me a hell of a lot more than Upton if I were pitching.

Another thing that turns me away from Upton is that he bats right handed. Not that he isn't a good hitter to the opposite field, but we all know that lefties typically hit much better at RBiA.

We've had Josh, and we have seen what he can do. We may never know exactly the reasons for Josh's midseason melodrama in 2012. However, the first two months of the season were 10+ WAR pace, Barry Bonds"esque". He has proven that he can be that type of player, even after missing a month. Inflated BABIP or not, he was directly involved with and responsible for about a run and a half per game. He's a once in a generation talent, and he has and will carry the team on his shoulders. I am not convinced that Upton has that capability. He's a good player, but he's not worth giving up a guy like Profar or Andrus, and I'm really on the fence on whether he's worth losing Olt.

Fire away.