Scoreboard Watching

Ed Ryan at Mets Fever (Network Member) writes about the possibility of The Rangers fire sale and Omar having his eye on them:

Regarless of whether the Mets are winning or losing Omar Minaya may still be scoreboard watching. It wont be the Braves or Phillies he maybe looking at but instead the team he got his start with the Rangers. Depending on how the next two go will determine whether the Rangers have a full blow fire sale or just a minor retooling.

It appears that the Mets are very interested in Otsuka but it will take a full fire sale to get to him, as Gagne will more then likely will go first. There's name recognition with Gagne which makes him more appealing to other teams, but Texas will make him more available because he's a free agent at the end of the year and is an injury risk.

What isn't as certain, however, and what is left to be decided, is how to proceed with relievers Akinori Otsuka and Eric Gagne. It's not such a dead-cinch lock anymore that one or both will be traded. The Rangers realize a strong bullpen is essential to success in the future. They realize that a healthy Otsuka and Gagne at the back end, along with the assortment of power arms ahead of them, makes for a very, very good bullpen.

If the Rangers stumble right out of the gate as they did at the start of the season, it will reinforce the notion that this team has multiple holes that can't all be fixed for 2008. But, what if they don't? What if they continue playing the winning baseball that has marked the last six weeks, during which they are 19-15 against a pretty challenging schedule? source Dallas News