Lobby talk: Rule 5 draft, Angels, muffins

December, 8, 2011
12/08/11
8:51
AM CT


DALLAS -- It's the final day of the 2011 Winter Meetings were at the Hilton Anatole and that means the Rule 5 draft. A few random things this morning (more to come later):

* How about those Angels? They are in on Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson and reports are they feel like they can do both. Wow. We'll see how it all shakes out.

* Wilson is closing in on a decision and could make it this morning. It sure seems like the Angels, if you listen to everyone in the lobby, but we'll see.

* The Rangers have a few open spots on the 40-man roster and could make some selections in the Rule 5 draft if they choose. They should also know who the player to be named later is from the Baltimore Orioles trade for Taylor Teagarden once the draft is completed. They have a list of four guys and will get whichever one they want that isn't selected.

* Texas has checked in with a variety of possible trade partners -- Cubs (Matt Garza), A's (Gio Gonzalez), White Sox (John Danks) and Boston (Jed Lowrie), for example -- and while nothing has happened at this point, sometimes those can be seeds that get planted for later.

* Had a muffin for breakfast this morning and sat by Yankees GM Brian Cashman. No, we didn't talk baseball. But he was very nice and said he was ready to head back home after some meetings following the draft. It was a quiet Winter Meetings for the Yankees. How often do we say that?
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.

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