MONDAY: The Rangers appear to have increased their interest in Lohse following Perez's injury, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported today that the Scott Boras client seeks a three-year deal with a high annual salary.
SUNDAY, 7:11 pm: The Rangers announced via press release that lefthanded starting pitcher Martin Perez suffered a fractured ulna in his left forearm when he was struck by a liner in today's game. The press release states that Perez is "not expected to resume a throwing program for approximately four weeks while the fracture heals."
While it is still unclear whether Perez's injury will have any impact on Texas's interest in Lohse, several commentators have raised that possibility, including CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman, Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter), and Buster Olney of ESPN.com (also on Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that, despite the drawbacks to a Lohse signing from the Rangers' perspective, "discussions are almost certain to grow more serious" after the injury to Perez.
While Perez will likely miss a minimum of two months while he recovers and rehabs, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports that Texas still seems disinclined to look outside of the organization to fill its fifth-starter role. GM Jon Daniels said that the team would "look around at external options, but I expect to go internally at this point." He added that, "knock on wood," the Rangers "hope to get both Colby [Lewis] and Martin back a month into the season, give or take."
10:54 am: The Rangers have remained in contact with agent Scott Boras about the possibility of signing Kyle Lohse, according to Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram. Unsurprisingly, Texas is hesitating in part because of the draft pick compensation tied to the pitcher.
Some in the Rangers organization don’t want to surrender the No. 24 pick or the money that comes with it, even though they received the No. 31 overall pick after losing Josh Hamilton. However, others in the front office say the need to win now is worth sacrificing the draft choice. Ultimately, Wilson sees the pairing as unlikely but still possible at some point in spring training.
Earlier this week, we learned that the Indians and Yankees are not in on the right-hander.
