The Flotilla, Tex-Mex Style

More on the coming and goings later, but for now, Vinnie Pads has been dealt to the Rangers for former cornerstones Mark Messier and Mike Richter. Whoops, check that -- for nothing yet, but soon something. If nothing else, Pat Gillick is on a quest to make the Phillies his team, not a collection of inherited players from deals of the past both prudent and questionable. Perhaps someone should tell the former Stand Pat that this isn't the mafia and there's no great rush to start divorcing yourself from role players and trading chips so quickly. What are we trying to hide? But then again, if it is the mob, perhaps it's none of our business to ask.

What we know is that of Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects, the Rangers have exactly four:

52. Thomas Diamond, RHP - 6-3, 230 pound hard-thrower who was the organization's Nolan Ryan Award winner last year
59. John Danks, LHP - Curveball thrower who apparently struggled at AA in '05
77. Joaquib Arias, SS
98. Ian Kinsler, SS

Both Diamond and Danks were first round picks (Diamond in '04, Danks '03), so getting them for Padilla could prove difficult. Unless Gillick pries away one of the top two, however, this isn't much of a trade to worry about. The rest of the Rangers' top ten list looks this way.