Rangers trying, but names (Jackson, Ross, Swisher, etc.) aren't exciting

When the Rangers lost out on Josh Hamilton, after already missing on Zack Greinke, James Shields and Justin Upton, they knew it would be tough to find someone who would excite them. But they need to add, and Edwin Jackson, A.J. Pierzynski, Cody Ross, Nick Swisher and Adam LaRoche are all believed to be on their list.

By Danny Knobler

Dec 19, 2012 at 1:41 pm ET • 1 min read

The names aren't exciting, but we knew they wouldn't be.

The Rangers knew they wouldn't be.

When they lost out on Josh Hamilton, after losing out on Zack Greinke and James Shields and running into brick walls while trying to trade for Justin Upton, they knew their remaining options weren't going to be on that level.

But in a winter that has so far been about subtraction (Hamilton, Mike Napoli, Michael Young, Mike Adams, Koji Uehara), the Rangers will need some addition -- even if it's not Greinke-level exciting.

They are trying, meeting with Edwin Jackson and A.J. Pierzynski, and Cody Ross as well, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com. The Rangers are also in on Nick Swisher, sources say, and they've discussed Adam LaRoche.

Oh, and they tried for Anibal Sanchez, before he signed back with the Tigers. And Russell Martin, before he signed with the Pirates.

How about Michael Bourn or Kyle Lohse? While neither is thought to be on the front-burner for the Rangers right now, it's hard to rule anyone out.

They could even still make a trade. They've talked to the Tigers about Rick Porcello, for instance.

As for the free agents:

The Rangers are thought to be interested in a shorter rather than longer-term deal with Jackson, who may find a better offer from the Cubs.

They're said not to love Pierzynski, but their catchers for now are Geovany Soto, Eli Whiteside and Luis Martinez. Ross or Swisher makes some sense, but there are those in the organization who'd rather not block the progress of young Leonys Martin. LaRoche could be a fit at first base, but the current plan seems to be to move Ian Kinsler there to make room for Jurickson Profar at second base.

The Rangers refused to consider including Profar or Elvis Andrus in trade talks for Upton, and it's believed that they weren't willing to part with either one for Shields, either. They would have considered it for David Price, but the Rays were never interested in moving Price.