Jon Daniels and his staff certainly aren't wasting any time in trying to replace C.J. Wilson. ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted today that the Rangers are in talks with the Oakland A's regarding lefty starter Gio Gonzalez.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, the reported price tag is pretty steep:
Rangers are among teams talking Gio Gonzalez; two teams would seem to match up, with someone like lefty prospect Martin Perez.
Gonzalez has been a fine pitcher the past two seasons, posting WARs of 3.2 and 3.5 respectively. Gonzalez' strikeout rate went up in 2011 as well, increasing his K/9 from 7.67 in '10 to 8.78 in '11. Gonzalez' biggest problem though has been himself as his BB/9 each of the past two seasons has been north of four.
Gonzalez simply doesn't seem like the type of pitcher that's worth surrendering Perez for, especially inside the division. It's certainly quite strange that the Rangers would let Wilson leave to the Angels for five years and $75 million dollars, and then turning around and talking about trading Perez to replace Wilson.
It is entirely possible, though, that Olney is strictly talking out of his behind, and that the Rangers truly have no intention of giving up Perez for Gonzalez. Let's hope that's the case.