NEWSFLASH: Relaford Up, Feldman Optioned, Koronka DFAed

Huge win last night, with the offense and bullpen picking up Robinson Tejeda after he struggled through another lousy start. Unfortunately, things haven't gone real well since the end of last night's game.

Jerry Hairston Jr. sprained his left knee in Saturday's 5-4 win against the Red Sox, and is not in Sunday's lineup. Ian Kinsler's injured left foot is not improving, and to make matters worse, the Rangers are no longer certain what the injury actually is; the original diagnosis was plantar fasciitis , but there's now concern that it could be a stress fracture, which would put Ian out for several weeks, at the least. Kinsler will have an MRI in Dallas on Monday.

With Texas desperately needing an infielder, Desi Relaford has been called up from Triple-A Oklahoma. Desi hit .257/.340/.391 with 5 HR in 230 AB for the Redhawks this year. Right-hander Scott Feldman, who is 1-2 with a 6.67 ERA this year, has once again been optioned to Oklahoma in order to make room on the 25-man roster for Relaford.

Alas, Relaford was not on the active 40-man roster, forcing the Rangers to DFA somebody to make room. That somebody was left-hander John Koronka, who acquired somewhat of a cult status after pitching relatively well for the Rangers through July 2006. A couple of poor August starts knocked him out of the rotation, and he was 0-2 with a 7.84 ERA in two starts for the Rangers this season.

Texas has 10 days to either trade Koronka, try to get him through waivers, or release him. According to Jamey Newberg, if Texas is able to slip him through waivers, they'll be able to outright him to the minor leagues without him having the option to take free agency, as he has never been outrighted in his career.

Should Koronka leave the organization, John Rheinecker would be the only Ranger remaining from the infamous three team deal on March 31st, 2006 that sent talented right-hander Juan Dominguez to the Oakland Athletics. Although the deal was widely panned at the time, Koronka went on to be a key piece of the 2006 rotation, and Dominguez struggled for Triple-A Sacramento before being released by the Athletics. He has since surfaced in the Mexican League.

These roster moves would seem to suggest that the Rangers are trying desperately to keep Kinsler off the 15-day disabled list, but the latest developments on his ailing left foot obviously don't sound real good.

Sunday, July 1st Game (In Progress)

Texas Rangers (33-47) at Boston Red Sox (49-30)

Kameron Loe (4-6, 6.02 ERA) vs. Julian Tavarez (5-5, 4.60 ERA)

1:05 PM CST in Boston, Massachusetts (Fenway Park)

TV: KDFI/My27 | Radio: KRLD 1080 AM