Watching newspapers transition into online over the past few years hasn't exactly been the most natural transformation. There's plenty of writers who don't really understand the concept of blogging, and treat it as a direct extension of their newspaper columns. Some fill it with personal information. Others use it to sound off against those young whippersnappers who blog about fancy numbers and I'm good with RBIs and batting average and what I see with my good eye so stop ruining this game you damn kids.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a blog for their beat writers, but it is inexplicably hosted on Typepad and not on the Star-Telegram website, where they could presumably make advertising money and link back to their own stories. I would find this totally weird if it weren't just so hilariously newspaper. Paywall aside, at least we have papers in Seattle that seem to be in touch with the current internet landscape.
All of this is an introduction to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's random Typepad blog, which I had to do a double take to make sure it was actually affiliated with the team and not just from a fan. But it seems to be legitimate source, so here's today's trade rumor from Jeff Wilson, who's a beat writer for the FWST and Typepad enthusiast.
The Rangers have been examining a number of bats, including Kendrys Morales. Wilson cites fear of Nelson Cruz getting slapped with a suspension soon as a cause, and also mentions Hunter Pence and Alex Rios. It isn't clear if the Rangers have engaged in any discussions, but you know, interest. I'm not exactly sure how the Rangers would balance Mitch Moreland, Lance Berkman, and Morales when they're all healthy, but that's for the Rangers to figure out. The Rangers are clear buyers, just parting with a fairly significant package for a few months of Matt Garza.
The trade deadline is still incredibly quiet this year, with just six days left to go. This is what we have, rumors of interest where Morales is one of three guys, is easily the worst fit of the three, and probably the least likely to be dealt. Still, rumors, man.