All of these courtesy MLBTR:
- The Dallas News reports scouts, including Rays affiliated scouts, were at the Mariners/Rangers game last night. Without speculating relievers like Sean Green, Arthur Rhodes, and Eddie Guardado pitched last night while Milton Bradley acted as the Rangers' DH.
- Jon Heyman says the Rays are the fallback plan for Teixeira behind the Diamondbacks, but some sources say there's "no way" Teixeira lands with the D-Backs. Whether that make the Rays the leader by default or bad information I'm really not sure.
Let's be clear about Teixeira: he is a really, really good hitter. Not noted enough is his patience. Teixeira features an O-Swing% around 20% (think Akinori Iwamura) and he sees 3.95 pitches per plate appearance. The rest of his numbers speak for themselves and adding him with Upton and Longoria batting ahead and behind would make for one hell of a punch when you throw in Carlos Pena, Akinori Iwamura, and Dioner Navarro.