Sunday Morning Rangers Notes: I'm Out For J.D. To Represent Me

Carlos Beltran pegs an eighth-inning single against the Cardinals on Tuesday, July 19th.Now that I've plowed through yet another hip-hop reference in a trade rumors post title (yes, I just swapped out "dead presidents" for Jon Daniels in Nas's famous line from "The World Is Yours," and can only hope that isn't misconstrued in a negative light by somebody), we might as well poke around a little bit more and see what else we can find as the deadline continues to creep up on us:

● The latest as of Sunday morning (all other bullet points are current as of Saturday morning): The Rangers have "zeroed in" on Beltran and Bell as their "primary targets," and while Texas has a pro scout monitoring Beltran, New York has reportedly ramped up its monitoring of the Rangers' minor leaguers, with one Mets scout being redirected to watch the Low-A Hickory roster; the Red Sox are reportedly now regarding a Beltran-to-Boston trade as a "total longshot" (Adam Rubin, ESPNNewYork.com; Buster Olney, ESPN.com)

[Here is your Low-A Hickory roster, for handy future reference. There's more of intrigue here on the pitching side than there is on the hitting side, at least as far as the Beltran trade discussions are concerned -- Jurickson Profar is at Hickory, but it is inconceivable that he would be moved for a two-month rental player who can't recoup compensatory draft picks, which means that the likes of Crawdads right-handers Luke Jackson, Matt Thompson, and Roman Mendez, and third baseman Christian Villanueva, are the most likely to grab the Mets' interest at this level.

If the Rangers do manage to swing deals on both of these fronts, you're looking at Bell as your standard eighth-inning piece, and you're probably looking at Beltran as your new everyday left fielder, with Josh Hamilton holding down center field on a regular basis, and one out of David Murphy, Endy Chavez, or Craig Gentry getting the boot. Ideally, you'd find somebody who was enamored with what Murphy brings to the table and move him out in a separate deal (as MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan recently suggested the Rangers would love to do), but you probably can't swing that, in which case you'd be looking at optioning Gentry back to the minors or cashing in on whatever value Chavez has built up.]

● The trade talks surrounding Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran (400 PA; .289/.389/.520; 153 wRC+) have been whittled down to five serious teams, including the Red Sox, Giants, Phillies, Braves, and Rangers; the Giants were believed to be the front-runners in the Beltran sweepstakes up until a few days ago, but other teams have since stepped up, and the Giants are having some difficulty matching up with the Mets' demands; the Mets are reportedly insisting that they receive a "high-end prospect" in return; Texas is reportedly more interested in obtaining relief help than acquiring Beltran, who has told friends that he prefers to remain in the National League (Buster Olney, ESPN.com; David Lennon, Newsday.com)

[Yes, a "high-end prospect" in this context apparently is equivalent to a top-50 prospect, as each of the three Giants prospects that the Mets were expressing interest in were of the top-50 variety; that isn't to say a package lighter on upside and heavier on proximity to the majors couldn't meet the Mets' asking price, but they're clearly cognizant of the fact that they have a premium asset, and they're not going light on what they're demanding for it. It will be interesting to see how, if at all, Adrian Beltre's absence -- provided it is an extended one -- will affect the Rangers' motivation to ratchet up their pursuit of Beltran.]

● Detroit, Cleveland, and Texas all continue to express interest in Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, but no deal is believed to be close; the Rangers dispatched a scout to Los Angeles to watch Kuroda's Friday evening start against the Nationals, which ended with the 36-year-old allowing three earned runs on seven hits and three walks while punching out seven in 6.1 innings of work; in addition to wielding full no-trade protection, Kuroda is expected to ask for some form of compensation in exchange for his acceptance of a deal out of Los Angeles; there is a feeling among some American League clubs that Kuroda is "unlikely to accept a trade east," period (Ken Rosenthal, FOXSports.com; Jon Heyman, SI.com)

[I really don't have much to say on this beyond what I said last Saturday, which was that I just have a hard time seeing the appeal here unless (a) the Dodgers are seeking so little in return that Texas would be negligent in not biting, and/or (b) the Rangers are more concerned than they've let on about the rotation depth situation and Alexi Ogando's workload. The other thought that crosses my mind is that the Rangers see something in Kuroda's bag -- a deceptive quirk, a certain break on one of his pitches, an immutable resolve -- that they feel would translate especially well to the American League, and thus would make him somewhat undervalued. Or maybe I'm just trying too hard.]

● Jayson Stark on Padres right-hander Heath Bell: "The four most aggressive teams on Bell, in no particular order: Rangers, Cardinals, Phillies and Angels, with some nibbles from the Braves. While the price remains high on Bell, clubs that have talked with the Padres report they've been very flexible on the position and age of players they want back. Because they're a team that figures to make a bunch of deals in the next week and a half, they're more concerned about the upside of the players they trade for. Other clubs are also reporting the Padres would like to trade Bell first if the offer is right, so they know what they're getting back for him, and then make their smaller deals to fill more specific needs." (ESPN.com)

[In the very next paragraph, Stark remarks that San Diego continues to field calls on dy-no-mite setup man Mike Adams in spite of conflicting reports on his availability, and says that the Padres are telling clubs that in order to swing a deal for Bell, they will need to "clearly surpass" the value of the two compensatory draft picks that they would other receive if they opted to hold onto Bell past the trade deadline, offer him salary arbitration, and then watch him walk elsewhere. I haven't yet decided how I'm supposed to feel about that, but in a relief market this robust with this many potentially available pieces, I'm something less than thrilled at the prospect of paying a hefty sum for Bell.]