As was evidenced on Tuesday night, the Texas Rangers might not be fully covered in their starting pitching staff with the addition of veteran pitcher Roy Oswalt, who got shelled on Tuesday night and has let opponents his near .450 against him in his three starts for Texas.
With the conventional thought being that the Rangers would like to move closer-turned-starter Neftali Feliz back to the bullpen when he is eligible to return from the disabled list in a couple of weeks, the Rangers might be in search of yet another starting pitcher with the MLB trade deadline approaching on July 31.
The two main names the Rangers have been linked to on the starting pitching market are Milwaukee Brewers righty Zack Greinke and Philadelphia Phillies lefty Cole Hamels, who are both presumed to be on the market as their teams will look to sell at the deadline.
The Brewers had a scout at the Frisco RoughRiders game on Tuesday to scout some Rangers prospects, tweeted Fox Sports' Jon Paul Morosi. Of course, Double-A Frisco is loaded with elite Rangers prospects such as shortstop Jurickson Profar, third baseman Mike Olt and starting pitchers Cody Buckel and Neil Ramirez.
Greinke has been incredibly solid for the Brewers this season, sporting an 8-2 record with a 2.82 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 102 innings this year. The 2009 American League Cy Young winner has a career 3.76 ERA and averages 8 strikeouts per nine innings over his career, leading the league in that category last season with 10.5 per nine. He's also known as a pitcher that pitches very well at home and gets shelled on the road, as well as having a reputation as a bit of an unstable mind that doesn't thrive under pressure and pitching for a championship club.
The biggest drawback to adding Greinke would be the fact that he's a free agent at the end of the season and would be a rent-a-player much like Cliff Lee was back in 2010. Of course, Lee opted to leave in free agency after spending three months with the Rangers, and Greinke could very well do the same, as could Hamels.
