In a bit of a surprise, free agent starting pitcher James Shields is still a free agent with just a couple of weeks before pitchers and catchers are set to report to spring training. Right now, Shields is just wondering if he'll be heading to Arizona or Florida, depending on which team he signs with.
Shields would be a great catch for any team, but his price tag is likely going to be higher than he warrants, which is the general them these days when it comes to market price on starting pitching.
Even still, the Texas Rangers have reportedly been interested in him all offseason, and it's been known he's been a guy they've liked dating back to his days in Tampa Bay before he even landed in Kansas City before the 2013 season.
Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine spoke with Ben and Skin on 105.3 The Fan this week, and he said Shields is an intriguing target but one that will likely end up falling out of the Rangers' comfort zone in terms of price, even if he's still yet to be signed.
"We always view our roster as a fluid organism," Levine told Ben and Skin. " If we find opportunities to improve, we’ll always present those internally, and discuss them. We have had ongoing conversations to see how the market is flushing out for the aforementioned player [Shields] but all signs point to him signing a lucrative deal by week’s end, and I don’t see us involved if it ends up at that level."
