Sunday Morning Rangers Notes: Things Fall Apart

Some things lingering out there this morning, as the 48-hour countdown to Christmas Day ticks away:

● After meeting with the Rangers this past week, the Diamondbacks reportedly "came out of nowhere" to sign free-agent outfielder Cody Ross a three-year, $26 million deal which includes a fourth-year club option with a $1 million buyout (effectively making it a guaranteed three-year, $27 million obligation), giving Arizona a surfeit of outfielders which will presumably lead to another move; ESPN.com's Buster Olney confirms that Arizona is working to trade an outfielder in the wake of the Ross signing (whom many pundits believe will be Jason Kubel), while CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman hints that the Ross deal will act as a catalyst for interested teams to make another run at Justin Upton (Jim Bowden, Twitter)

● As of Friday afternoon, Jon Heyman was reporting that the Rangers were beginning to "look into Michael Bourn" as a possible free-agent addition to their outfield mix, but characterized their interest as being in the "infancy stage"; there is some thought that Bourn's slow-developing market and lack of desperate suitors could force him and agent Scott Boras into accepting a one-year deal and taking another shot at a multi-year deal during the 2013-14 off-season, but given that Bourn received and rejected a qualifying offer from the Braves, he will cost his next employer a 2013 draft pick, and it remains to be seen whether there's a team out there willing to part with a draft pick for a one-year signee (CBSSports.com)

● Two interesting notes from Jeff Wilson's piece yesterday morning: first, "[Rangers] players and/or their agents have expressed concern about the off-season to [Jon] Daniels, who insisted that the winter planning is far from over and is steadfast in his belief that the Rangers will be a good team in 2013"; second, Wilson writes that the Rangers will talk to Elvis Andrus about a contract extension, but "club officials quietly aren't hopeful" that a deal will get done (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

● Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan is close to being dealt to the Red Sox in exchange for a multi-player package consisting of Stolmy Pimentel, Jerry Sands, and possibly Mark Melancon, and free-agent outfielder Raul Ibanez is close to re-joining the Mariners on a one-year deal; the Rangers had been mentioned by FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal as a potential suitor for Hanrahan, and one local report indicated some interest in Ibanez on the part of the Rangers (ESPN.com)