The Quest For Relief: Otsuka Off the List?

by Ian Casselberry on Jul 20, 2007 12:20 PM EDT in Detroit Tigers News

With the trade deadline 11 days away, I figure I'll be posting quite a few updates on which relievers are available or which the Tigers are rumored to be interested in. Thus, "The Quest For Relief."

In our first installment, the Rangers' Akinori Otsuka may no longer be a reliever of interest for Detroit. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list yesterday, with tendinitis in the forearm and elbow of his right arm. Yep, that's the one he throws with.

Otsuka actually hasn't pitched since July 1, after throwing 2/3 of an inning against the Red Sox. The Rangers made the disabled list move retroactive to July 9, so if his elbow has recovered after a couple of rehab assignments, he could be healthy enough to trade.

Teams still might not bite until they see Otsuka throwing to major league hitters, but Rangers' GM Jon Daniels (and Otsuka) insists inflammation is a short-term problem that will clear up with rest. I'm not a doctor (or Will Carroll) so I don't know if a ligament strain caused the inflammation, but all parties involved say it's the muscle that needs to heal up.

Still sound like someone you'd want to trade for?

EDIT: For an idea of what Texas might be looking for in a trade, consider this conversation Jayson Stark had with an anonymous team official that's been dealing with the Rangers:

An official of another team that has been talking to Texas says: "Here's how they're thinking: Take a guy like Otsuka. They basically traded Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez for Otsuka, right? Well, how does that look now? So you think they could take back, like, one B-level prospect for Otsuka and sell that to their fans when they traded two All-Stars for him? We might look at him as a set-up man. But that's how they look at him. So it's going to be tough."

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