Friday Morning Rangers Rumors

More later this morning:

● The Phillies have embarked upon a "major push" to sign left-hander Cole Hamels -- the reputed No. 1 trade target of the Rangers -- to a long-term contract extension, and, as a consequence, have put Hamels-centric trade talks on hold until they make a firm determination on which way the negotiations will turn; per Jon Heyman, the Phillies' initial offer to Hamels will run in the vicinity of six years and $130 million, a commitment akin to the Giants' ultimate six-year, $127.5 million commitment to Matt Cain (ESPN.com; CBSSports.com)

● Joel Sherman touches on the ongoing Cole Hamels kerfuffle by suggesting the Angels/Rangers rivalry could ignite a minor bidding war if trade talks gear back up, as outside executives claim that both teams badly want Hamels and obviously don't want to lose out to the other; one A.L. personnel head (nebulous job title alert) remarked, "Philadelphia is in a good spot to play those two off each other ... Texas has the better [prospect] inventory, but the Angels may act with more urgency"; one N.L. personnel head rhetorically asked, "Are you telling me they are going to let a prospect or two keep them from putting Hamels in front of [Yu] Darvish, [Derek] Holland and [Matt] Harrison and going for it when only winning it all will make this a successful season?" (New York Post)

● Buster Olney states that the Rangers have a "very small list" of pitchers that interest them, and that they could turn away from the pitching market altogether if Hamels ultimately signs an extension with Philadelphia; Tim Brown, however, says that Texas will remain on top of the pitching market and are prepared to seriously engage on Hamels, Zack Greinke, or Ryan Dempster if the need arises and/or if the prices drop; Bob Nightengale notes that Texas would still "love" to acquire the Cubs' Matt Garza; several days ago, Bruce Levine indicated that the Rangers have been scouting both Dempster and Garza (Twitter; Yahoo! Sports; USA Today; ESPNChicago.com)

● Danny Knobler writes that the Rangers would "consider" the long-shot option of trading for Cliff Lee, a notion that is severely complicated by an outstanding commitment in the vicinity of $100 million through at least the 2015 season and a no-trade clause that permits him to block trades to 21 of 30 teams; Texas did dispatch a scout to watch Lee and Clayton Kershaw do battle on Wednesday, although it's not totally clear whether the Rangers' primary focus was Lee or somebody else participating in the same game (CBSSports.com)

● Per major league sources (via Ken Rosenthal), the Rangers will "almost certain[ly]" upgrade their bench, and could potentially do so by dumping Yorvit Torrealba and finding a superior replacement elsewhere; on a related note, Rockies middle infielder Marco Scutaro has reportedly drawn some interest from the Rangers (FOXSports.com; DenverPost.com)