And The Beat Goes On: July 1st

Did I link this Kyoto Jazz Massive track already? Even if I did, who cares?

● Anthony Andro talks about the disaster that was last night's game, Evan Grant talks about Adrian Beltre having a "game to forget," and T.R. Sullivan talks about the Rangers being shut down by Wandy Rodriguez. 

● Ron Washington is "confident" that he'll be taking more than one Ranger with him to the Arizona when he manages the All-Star Game in less than two weeks, and says that Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, and Michael Young all have a shot to crack the roster, with C.J. Wilson and Alexi Ogando also receiving some mentions. There's no mention of Ian Kinsler here, which is interesting in that he leads the team in wins above replacement (3.4 WAR), but second base is also rather stacked in the American League this year, with Ben Zobrist, Howie Kendrick, and Dustin Pedroia all boasting better wRC+ totals than Kinsler this season.

● Buster Olney writes in his AL trade season preview this morning that the Rangers should be able to address their need for right-handed relief pitching -- though I'm not so sure handedness is a huge issue here -- with a "Heath Bell or Mike Adams or Kyle Farnsworth or somebody else," and that their problems should be "very fixable" with the right deals. As far as the rest of the division is concerned, the Angels' inability to add any kind of payroll handicaps Tony Reagins' ability to make a deal, the Mariners appear to be focused on "modestly priced means for improvement," and the Athletics are on the verge of selling off their veterans, with Mark Ellis being the first piece to go yesterday.

● Randy Galloway says that Cliff Lee slapped a "blast furnace-jet stream" tariff on the Rangers, that it would have taken a base offer of seven years and around $160 million to land him, and that the Rangers were willing to go as high as $150 million but refused to commit to a seventh year. There's also a mention of C.J. Wilson being "appalled" at the notion that he wants to walk, and that he wants to remain in Texas.

● My latest Baseball Prospectus column has dropped, and it's very Rangers-centric. Ogando says that he needs to pitch better against left-handed hitters. Scott Feldman allowed three earned runs in six innings during his Triple-A Round Rock rehab start last night, while Darren O'Day allowed one run on a pair of hits in an inning of work. The Rangers are doing their due diligence on Scott Kazmir. Tigers reliever Alburquerque and his insane 47 strikeouts in 29 innings -- yes, that's the best strikeout rate in baseball among all pitchers with that many innings logged -- has landed on the disabled list with elbow inflammation.