Heading into this offseason, the Texas Rangers knew they'd be looking for help in the outfield and at first base, and depending on who you believe, there were rumors this week that the Rangers were, at one time, working on a big trade with the Toronto Blue Jays that would've sent Ian Kinsler to the Blue Jays, presumably with other people, to the Blue Jays for outfielder Jose Bautista and first baseman Edwin Encarnacion — two guys with better-than-average power, for sure.
Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported the deal never got to the point to where Ian Kinsler could've invoked his no-trade clause to block a deal as he had a list of 10 teams he could block a deal to and Toronto was one of them.
Detroit, of course, wasn't one, and we all know what happened next as Kinsler was dealt to the Tigers in November in a surprise blockbuster deal for slugging first baseman Prince Fielder. A while later, the Rangers paid $130 million to free agent outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, who will serve as the Rangers' leadoff man after leading all of baseball in on-base percentage last season.
So, the rest is history. And the details still aren't totally clear, but the Rangers could've likely gotten one of those sluggers from Toronto, starting pitcher Ricky Romero and/or reliever Sergio Santos.
But none of that happened, and now the Rangers seem comfortable with what they have heading into 2014 with the exception of a starting pitcher to add some depth.
