Tommy Hunter may not be as good as he's pitching right now, but his solid command, improved stuff, steady composure and burgeoning self-confidence have, for me at least, made him the one starting pitcher presently residing on the Texas Rangers' pitching staff that you simply can't afford to miss these days:

● As of late Monday afternoon, the Rangers believed they had emerged as the front-runners to snag Indians slugger Ryan Garko, and they were consequently "surprised" when the Giants acquired the .285/.362/.464-hitting first baseman late Monday evening; Texas continues to pursue a righty-hitting first baseman (Joel Sherman, New York Post)

[And so the plot thickens. San Francisco dangled 21-year-old southpaw Scott Barnes in exchange for Garko's services, which proved sufficient to whet the Indians' appetite; Barnes, a 2008 eighth-round selection out of St. John's University, has dominated the hitter-friendly High-A California League this season, parlaying his 6' 3" frame and polished fastball-curveball-change-up arsenal into some pretty peripherals (2.85 ERA in 98 innings, strikeouts-to-walks ratio of 99-to-29), and reports indicate that the Indians coveted Barnes to some degree, so ... that's that. The trendy Rangers comp to Barnes is Double-A Frisco left-hander Kasey Kiker, although the prevailing theories appear to be that Kiker is destined for the bullpen and Barnes profiles as a serviceable back-end starter, so it might well have taken more than Kiker for the Rangers to secure Garko's services.

Garko's value is predicated on his southpaw-mashing tendencies and not a whole lot else; according to ESPN.com's Keith Law, Garko is regarded as a poor defensive first baseman, his below-average baserunning skills leave much to be desired, and he's going to begin banking some respectable chunks of change once his arbitration eligibility kicks in after the conclusion of the 2009 regular season ($2-2.5 million is a pretty safe supposition), but he is capable of seasonally furnishing a .350-.360 on-base percentage, and paired with Hank Blalock and/or Chris Davis and/or Justin Smoak at first base he would have represented a minor upgrade to this offense, but almost certainly not by more than a fraction of a win through August and September. Is that the player you want to burn a Kiker-type talent on? You tell me.]

● Texas "very much remains a part" of the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, but Blue Jays manager J.P. Ricciardi is reportedly insisting that three of the Rangers' top five or six prospects be included and that each of those three top prospects already reside in the majors or at Triple-A Oklahoma City, lofty demands which understandably give the Rangers considerable pause; additionally, the Blue Jays are currently refusing to encumber themselves with the contract of right-hander Vicente Padilla and aren't interested in defraying a portion of Halladay's salary, obstacles which appear more formidable than the inordinately high talent demands (Sherman)

[You may recall that back on July 9th, I suggested that the acquisition of Halladay might require a prospect-laden package comprising left-hander Derek Holland, first baseman Justin Smoak, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden and perhaps Kiker or right-hander Omar Poveda -- a deal which few Rangers fans appear amenable towards doing. Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi has clearly not softened his demands (though it would appear that his self-imposed July 28th deadline to deal Halladay will pass with little consequence, as not a single general manager seems to believe that he'll hold to that), and Rogers Communications, the parent company of the Blue Jays, is on an apparent cost-cutting binge, so this entire Halladay-to-Texas notion remains the longest of long shots.

Additionally, SI.com's Jon Heyman reported yesterday that the commissioner's office would green-light a trade bringing a highly-paid player to Texas (that in spite of the fact that the Rangers have been "bailed out in two straight pay periods," according to sources), but since when has that been the principal obstacle?]

● Texas has rejected a deal that would have sent Rays left-hander Scott Kazmir to the Rangers (Sherman)

[Pass. Cliff Lee, anybody?]

● Right-hander Vicente Padilla has triumphed in his battle against the H1N1 influenza strain (more commonly known as "swine flu," cementing his legacy as the first American professional athlete to contract the highly communicable disease), but is "still somewhat weak" and has been scratched from his previously scheduled start this evening against the Tigers; sinkerballer Doug Mathis will make the emergency spot start in Padilla's stead (Evan Grant, D Magazine)

[While this particular influzena strain and the recent assortment of clubhouse maladies fortunately haven't proven virulent to the Rangers' post-season chances (they're more or less in the same position as they were when closer Frank Francisco first exhibited symptoms of illness on Saturday, July 18th), this still isn't what one would categorize as a good development -- particularly since the Rangers' rotation depth has already been impaired by Matt Harrison's bleak diagnosis of season-ending Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and because Padilla gives you a better chance of winning any given game than Mathis.

Now, Mathis, to his credit, has been an exemplary reliever thus far this season, logging 17 shutout frames out of the Rangers' bullpen and most recently notching his first major league save during a stellar 3.1-inning performance against the Red Sox last Wednesday evening, but how much longer is he going to continue amassing strikeouts and ground balls at a 60-plus percent clip in that role, and how will his newfound major league success translate to this important spot start? Should he falter in this effort, sizzling-hot RedHawks right-hander Guillermo Moscoso -- whom the Rangers have summoned to Arlington as a precautionary measure -- might well supplant Mathis as the No. 7 starter behind putative No. 6 starter Dustin Nippert.]