The Rangers have been out of contention for a while this season, so as a result, a lot of teams have been talking to them about possible trades. The names you hear most often are Mark Teixeira, Eric Gagne, and Akinori Otsuka, but they aren't the players the Rangers really would like to trade.Now that Sammy Sosa has already reached 600 home runs, he doesn't offer the Rangers a lot, and they'd like to cut him loose.
"...the guy the Rangers really want to move is Sosa, who hit his 600th career home run earlier this season but is standing in the way of Texas' top hitting prospects, Jason Botts and Nelson Cruz. Texas would like to get both of their Triple-A sluggers some at-bats in the majors in the final two months of this season, and if they can't deal Sosa, they might have to bench or even release him. The Rangers are trying to sell Sosa as a potent right-handed bat for a team (like Minnesota or Anaheim) in need of offense."The problem the Rangers are facing is that nobody really wants Sosa. The Angels are looking to add another power bat to their lineup, but the only Ranger they're interested in is Teixeira. I'm sure they feel that their chances to win the World Series aren't going to increase with Sosa in the fold. The same goes for the Twins, whom if they're going to get back into contention in the AL Central, they're going to need a lot more than Sosa.
With the Rangers set to start another rebuilding process, they need to get Jason Botts and Nelson Cruz more playing time, so moving Sosa is a priority. The best option the Rangers have may be to include Sosa as part of a package. Just tell teams, "Sure you can have Akinori Otsuka, but you have to take Sosa on as well." If that doesn't work, then just release him. It's cold blooded, I know, but there's no point to keeping him on the team.
