Photo by <cleverCl@i®ê>   some rights reserved
According to ESPN, Sammy Sosa won’t be returning to the Texas Rangers in 2008 because he “wants to play — ideally in a situation where he could get 400 to 500 plate appearances.”
Sosa is 39 years old, can’t play the field, and can’t hit right-handed pitching (.222/.267/.410 in ‘07), and he wants a full-time job. I’m sorry, how does that work again?

The Texas Rangers have signed right-hander Jason Jennings to a 1-year deal worth $4 million. The story to date: Jennings was pretty good as a rookie with Colorado in 2002. Then he had three seasons of extreme blahness, followed by a terrific showing in 2006, after which the Rockies shipped him to Houston, where he pitched poorly and got hurt.
Jennings went 2-9 with a 6.45 ERA for the Astros in 2007. He underwent elbow surgery in August and is expected to be ready by Opening Day.
Jennings owns a career record of 60-65 with a 4.91 ERA; he spent much of …read more

The Cincinnati Reds have traded outfielder Josh Hamilton to the Texas Rangers for right-hander Edinson Volquez and left-hander Danny Herrera. Hamilton was one of the bigger surprises of the 2007 season, but apparently the Reds deemed him expendable. Hamilton’s power will play anywhere, and if he can stay healthy (and clean), he should put up some sick numbers at Arlington. Like, 40 homers isn’t out of the question.
Volquez is a hard thrower who has been highly regarded for some time but who hasn’t been able to translate his stuff into results in limited chances at the big-league level. Ranked #3 …read more

The Texas Rangers have traded outfielder Freddy Guzman to Detroit for catcher/first baseman Chris Shelton.
Who are these guys? Glad you asked.
Guzman once was known as Pedro De Los Santos and played second base in the San Diego Padres organization. Then when the visa crackdowns came along, his name changed and he aged a few years. Guzman has decent on-base skills and is fast. His ceiling is a poor-man’s Juan Pierre, but really, he’s a fourth outfielder. Actually, so is Pierre, but I digress.
Shelton spent all of 2007 in the minors after batting .273/.340/.466 for the Tigers in ‘06. The guy …read more

I don’t always point out minor-league transactions, but in this case I’ll make an exception because, well, it fascinates me. The Texas Rangers have signed right-hander Warner Madrigal, formerly with the Angels.
Why I find this story interesting:

Warner Madrigal is a great name. If the kid doesn’t make it in baseball, perhaps he could try his hand at international espionage?
When I was rummaging through the list of minor-league free agents a while back, Madrigal’s 2007 stats jumped out at me. I don’t care if a guy is in the Midwest League, if he’s striking out more than 11 batters per 9 …read more

Bad timing, eh? On the same day that the Baltimore Orioles reward manager Dave Trembley with a contract extension, his team gets beat, 30-3, by the Texas Rangers. That would be an American League record for runs in a game.
Every starter in the Texas lineup had at least two hits and one run. Rookie Travis Metcalf, who entered in the seventh inning, hit a grand slam and walked in his two trips to the plate.
The #8 and #9 hitters (Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez) combined for eight hits, nine runs, four homers, and 14 RBI. That is just goofy.
The punch …read more

Texas Rangers right-hander Eric Gagne will start the season on the disabled list because he “needs to pitch more innings.” Gagne, you may recall, has appeared in just 16 games over the past two years.
Wow. Did anyone see this coming?