No, this is not a news report from a few years ago. The year is 2013, the Texas Rangers have a ridiculous amount of money to spend and enter the MLB trade market with a need for starting pitching.
Trade rumors have linked the Rangers to Matt Garza of the Chicago Cubs, but the real target of the Rangers’ trade rumors appears to be Cliff Lee of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Here’s Danny Knobler of CBS:
"The Rangers should be in a great position to make an impact trade this month, and they would be … if only an impact guy were available.Perhaps one will be. Perhaps the Phillies will eventually decide to trade Cliff Lee, a guy the Rangers always loved and would love to get back.Perhaps, but at this point the Phillies seem to have most people in baseball convinced that they won’t trade Lee (or maybe anyone else)."
Knobler goes on to say the Rangers are not exactly thrilled with Garza and would much rather get Lee back instead. The Phillies do not seem content with giving up Lee this year, but everyone has a price.
The Rangers certainly have the ammunition to pull off a deal. Now the staff just has to figure out how to pry Lee away. Keep close tabs on this one. It could be the biggest deal to go down this year.
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