Tuesday Morning Rangers Notes: Things Are Sorta Happening, Right?

RIGHT???

● The Rangers made a "significant run" at Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-Jin that was thwarted by the Dodgers' winning $25.75 million bid, but they are not operating with an operating budget, as "according to preliminary projections, they will likely spend around the same as this past season, somewhere between $120-130 million" (T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com)

● Texas reportedly attempted to swing a deal that would have sent Mike Olt -- it's unclear if he would have been packaged with anyone else -- to the Braves for shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who then would have been traded to the Diamondbacks for Justin Upton; Atlanta wouldn't pull the trigger, though (Danny Knobler, Twitter)

● Free agent outfielder Torii Hunter is intent on signing soon, probably within the next two weeks, and the Rangers have been named as one of the more interested parties, with T.R. Sullivan suggesting that the Rangers envision Hunter as a starting corner outfielder alongside Nelson Cruz (in another corner) and a Leonys Martin/Craig Gentry platoon in center field; however, the Tigers appear to be Hunter's most aggressive pursuer at this time (Scott Miller, CBSSports.com)

● Mike Napoli is attracting interest from "a bunch of teams" (with both the Red Sox and Yankees being rumored possibilities), and says that while he would prefer to catch, he is open to a position change if it means he will get into the lineup on a regular basis; Napoli also says that he has loved playing in Texas and made it fairly clear that he would like to return, although I don't think there's much reason to believe the Rangers can parlay that into a discount; in other news, "rival executives say they don't expect the Rangers to tender a contract to catcher Geovany Soto," and the potential departures of both Napoli and Soto could leave Texas in a perilous spot catching-wise (Richard Durrett, ESPNDallas.com)