I'm posting this out of frustration, so beware.

In retrospect, it looks like JD could've gotten Upton for Andrus, signed Sanchez for $15 mil, and had $10 to $15 mil to sign a reliever like Mike Adams. If he had done that, he could've put Ogando in the pen and added Perez to the rotation. And here's what the 2013 Rangers look like:

Kinsler
Profar
Upton
Beltre
Cruz
Murphy
Moreland/Olt
Gentry/Martin
Soto

Darvish
Harrison
Sanchez
Holland
Perez/Lewis

7th inning--Ogando
8th inning--Adams
9th inning--Nathan

That's a great defense, a solid lineup, a v. good rotation, and great bullpen all for under $130 mil. Plus, you retain Olt and Perez and possible trade pieces in the future.

It seems like this was all very doable. Why didn't JD make it happen?

Let's hope he has a rabbit up his sleeve.

I don't want Ogando in the BP. Not now, at least. Other than that, this looks good.

If there's no counterpunch, blow it up. Apparently the Rangers aren't "in love" with any of the remaining options out there, which is great news. If true, that leaves us with three options:

(1) Play with the team as is, finish with 79-82 wins.
(2) Sell a bunch of farm assets to try to pick up 15 wins.
(3) Sell a bunch of valuable Major League assets and build for 2014-'15.

As for option three, think about it. How many players on this team are indispensable? The only ones I can think of are Yu Darvish and Jurickson Profar. Everyone else can go.

Thoughts?

The "in love" part is per MLBtraderumors.

I suspect the Rangers will not sell off major league assets right now b/c that would infuriate season ticket holders and signal that this offseason was a colossal failure. They will wait until the trade deadline, hope the Angels suffer a rash of key injuries, and if they aren't competitive, they will sell Cruz and Nathan. They may also shop Holland, Harrison, and Andrus. Personally, I think they should shop Beltre and Kinsler right now. Those guys are going to become albatrosses soon, and their value will probably never be higher than it is today.

The bloom is off JD's rose. I don't think he has a rabbit up his sleeve. This offseason has been an unmitigated disaster for him. He has an 80-85 win core, $25 mil in FA $ to spend, and trade pieces galore. He could've built a competitive team in 2013 without going all in and sacrificing the future. He just needed to acquire 2 of the following 3 players: Upton/Swisher/Sanchez. That was doable for a reasonable price. Epic failure. JD vastly underestimated what it would take to get Greinke/Hamilton/Upton. Now, he's basically out of options.

What I don't get is hoarding Andrus. They're going to put Kinsler at 1B or COF in order to hang on to a light-hitting SS with a low walk rate who's gone in 2 years when they have the top SS prospect in baseball ready to go. I could understand it if this were a 95 win club favored to take the division. But at best, this is an 85 win club likely to be sellers at the trade deadline. So what good is Elvis? And Upton was a can't miss. He would produce at least 9 WAR during his 3 years in Arlington, maybe 15+. It leaves you scratching your head.

Andy, if the Rangers had made some acquisitions to remain competitive, I'd prefer Ogando in the pen b/c he wasn't stretched out last season. I suspect that the most you're going to get out of him this season is 150 innings, and that's pushing it.

Now that the Rangers seem to be in rebuild mode, I'm fine with stretching Ogando out. If he proves to be a good starter, he'll make a valuable trade piece down the road.