Think of this as the less-extended version of the "And The Beat Goes On" morning recap posts, because, well, there's not a ton going on at the moment beyond idle speculation:

● I'm not going to rattle off every single player the Rangers have shown interest in over the last week (Jorge Cantu, Derrek Lee, Ty Wigginton, etc.), but there is a new name to add to the mix: Cristian Guzman, who's versatile and not a total disaster with the stick, but still owed several million dollars the rest of the way. Regarding the Cantu thing, and the reports that a deal was virtually imminent, I have a pet theory: the longer that the Rangers are painted as a "front-runner" to acquire the player, the lower their chances of pulling it off fall. It seems that this front office's M.O. is to work as covertly as possible when it comes to player acquisition; case in point, the Harden signing and Millwood trade materialized very quickly last December. The only recent example of a prolonged rumor coming true that I can remember is the Vladimir Guerrero thing.

● ESPN.com has published a complete list of vendor inspection reports encompassing all American pro sports venues, and a quick eyeballing of the list suggests Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is among the worst-ranked in terms of "critical violations" at its concession stands. That's ... disturbing? Of course, I stay away from the pizza and hot dogs and get hamburgers, but I guess that doesn't add much of a layer of protection in the grand scheme of things. 

● Following up on yesterday's discussion of the Rangers' television ratings, the Sports Business Journal shares some mid-2010 viewing figures, with the Rangers' telecast ratings clocking in at an average of 2.66 (24th in baseball), an improvement of 1.9 percent over last year. However, these figures do NOT include post-ASG games, so the Rangers' great ratings over the last few weeks are not included here. Of particular interest is the sharp decline in Red Sox viewership, which Rob Neyer attributes to three things: (1) Boston's off-season emphasis on run prevention, which isn't as sexy as scoring copious runs per game, (2) the Celtics' and Bruins' respective playoff runs, and (3) the fact that the Red Sox have spent the better part of the season in third place in the AL East.

● Aside from David's and Jason's excellent collaboration on  Matt Thompson this morning, Jason Cole has a good (and free!) interview with Michael Kirkman, and MLB.com has a feature piece on Engel Beltre, whom the Mariners apparently coveted in the Cliff Lee talks but the Rangers refused to relinquish.