Texas Rangers

Fireworks from Friday night

For the first time since 1998, the Rangers did fireworks during the rain delay. For those of you who left the game early, here's a little sample of what you missed.

- Anthony Andro

Rain delay video

Here's a little video during the rain delay Friday.

Frank Francisco pitching for Frisco tonight

He's slated to throw an inning tonight for the RoughRiders in San Antonio. He must have caught a late flight because he was still in the Texas clubhouse at 4 p.m.

- Anthony Andro

Halladay wouldn't accept trade to Rangers

The Rangers' chances at getting right-hander Roy Halladay were complicated by Toronto's unwillingness to accept a trade that didn't include Derek Holland and some financial considerations, but the biggest reason a deal didn't come down was Halladay.

He informed his general manager, J.P. Ricciardi, that he didn't want to go to Texas. The Rangers were handed that news around 10 p.m. Thursday, leading to a quiet morning and, of course, no trade for Halladay.

-- Jeff Wilson

Sunday pitching plans are up in the air

Another non-trade note. Kevin Millwood didn't sound confident he'd be able to make his start Sunday. Manager Ron Washington said the right-hander is still tentatively scheduled to start, while pitching coach Mike Maddux said it's a TBA. If not Millwood, Dustin Nippert would get the start. Seattle has traded its scheduled Sunday starter - Jarrod Washburn. It looks like the newly acquired Ian Snell will start.

- Anthony Andro

Jon Daniels talks about standing pat

The Texas general manager said the Rangers went into the non-waiver stretch looking to make a big move instead of trying to just tinker with the lineup. Here's some of things he had to say at his press conference.

Overall approach: "There were certain paths we went down a little further than others, certain clubs we had a little more dialogue with than others. We got past the initial phases on a few things. Ultimately, in any of those deals, there was some stumbling block and an impasse was reached at some point where it didn't make sense for us."

On Roy Halladay: "It's not a secret he was one of the more attractive names that was out there. His club talked about him publically potentially being available and we certainly went down that path. There are 30 clubs in baseball that would love to have him. He fits in so many ways. At the end of the day, it wasn't meant to be. Just leave it at this, and not specific to Toronto, we were very aggressive. We were willing to put some very good players into deals. Players that otherwise typically we're not inerested in talking about because I do believe we have an opportunity to win and I do think those opportunities are special."

Did finanaces impact trade chances? "It all plays into it, in that situation and in others."

Did Holland's performace chance conversations? "Not internally. He's one of numerous players we were asked about pretty consistently with good reason. We didn't want to trade him six months ago, six weeks oago or 24 hours ago. I certainly don't want to do it now."

- Anthony Andro

Derek Holland glad to still be a Ranger

Texas general manager Jon Daniels said the trade status of left-hander Derek Holland didn't change because of his two-hit outing Thursday night against Seattle. Holland said he was getting text messages from friends for about a week when he name was mentioned in different deals. The rookie is glad he isn't going anywhere, saying he wants to be a Texas Ranger for as long as he can..

"I wasn't really thinking about that. The way I saw last night was that I've got to go pitch. We're trying to go to the playoffs and win a World Series. I wasn't too worried about where I'm going to go if I was going to go somewhere."

Holland said he didn't pay attention to Friday's trade news, instead opting to follow his normal off-day routine. He was running outside at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington just before the 3 p.m. trade deadline passed.

- Anthony Andro

Ian Kinsler will sit again

In our first non-trade note of the day, Ian Kinsler again tested his strained hamstring before batting practice, but it wasn't good enough for him to get into the lineup today. Omar Vizquel will again lead off and play second. Here is the rest of the lineup against Seattle lefty Jason Vargas.

1. Omar Vizquel, 2B

2. Michael Young, 3B

3. Marlon Byrd, LF

4. Nelson Cruz, RF

5. Hank Blalock, 1B

6. Andruw Jones, DH

7. Josh Hamilton, CF

8. Taylor Teagarden, C

9. Elvis Andrus, SS

- Anthony Andro

Deadline passes, Rangers don't make move

The 3 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline has passed, and the Rangers look like they did at 3 p.m. Thursday. No one new was added to the roster, despite the efforts of general manager Jon Daniels and his staff. The thought here is that they might have worked harder than in any other year because of the money situation and the fact that the Rangers are in contention and could use another piece.

In the end, though, no Roy Halladay, no Cliff Lee, no pitcher, no hitter, no one.

-- Jeff Wilson

One hour to go

The non-waiver trade deadline is just under an hour away, and here's the latest:

Nothing.

But consider this: If the Red Sox choose to send a package of prospects to Cleveland for Victor Martinez -- which appears to be the case, according to reports -- that eliminates another possible Toronto suitor for Roy Halladay. So, does Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi decide to reduce the price on Halladay and call the Rangers back to see if they're interested? It would have to be a package without Derek Holland, who some believe has a higher ceiling than John Danks. Would Neftali Feliz, Justin Smoak and a couple others be sufficient at the 11th hour?

Everyone will know in just under an hour.

-- Jeff Wilson