Breakfast Links: Lohse sets price, Nolan Ryan out in Texas?, Harang drawing interest

Happy Tuesday everyone

Today we have dirt on Kyle Lohse asking for monies, Nolan Ryan possibly heading out of Arlington, and Aaron Harang catching the eye of a pair of clubs. Also, Rick Porcello attracting more attention, the Cardinals proclaiming open season at shortstop, and the Royals looking for outfield help (LOL).

Finally, a brief discussion on "throwback" music.

The Big Three

1. Did we travel back in time to November and everyone forgot to tell me? Because that seems to me the only way that Kyle Lohse's asking price of three years with a "big" annual salary makes any sense. I do hope they realize that we're now in the third week of Spring Training and that they have no real suitors. I'm still of the belief that Lohse will have to settle for a one-year deal with a team option for a second (and maybe third) year. He may just not get it until Scott Boras concedes that he's lost this round. Hopefully for Lohse, that'll happen sooner rather than later; the countdown to Opening Day has begun.

2. Yesterday's surprise of the day was the rumor that Nolan Ryan may leave the Texas Rangers by the end of Spring Training. The Rangers' CEO was left with fewer duties upon the promotions of Jon Daniels to Supreme Overlord of Baseball Things (not his real title) and Rick George to head all business decisions earlier this week. While the Rangers have expressed that their primary goal in handing out the promotions was to allow Ryan separation from some of the day-to-day stuff so he could focus on more "significant decisions," it seems the change was not interpreted as such. Ryan hasn't said anything on the matter as of yet so it could just be a bunch of smoke, but there's usually fire there as well, so Texas could have an early-season PR disaster on their hands.

3. The odd man out in the Dodgers' eight-deep rotation, right-hander Aaron Harang, is drawing interest from a pair of clubs: the Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles. Harang would be a solid fit for either club, so it's probably just a matter of what they can give the Dodgers in return for the veteran. LA has enough pitching to last them through several seasons, but they still have a large question mark at third base and -- because of Carl Crawford's lingering injury -- in left field. It's unclear whether Harang would command anything that substantial in a trade, but it's certainly worth a try.

In Other News...

1. The Texas Rangers "inquired" into Tigers right-hander Rick Porcello recently, likely in light of the Martin Perez injury. The young starter has been a frequent subject of trade rumors the last few months, but it seems a little late in the game now for him to move squads. Maybe at the trade deadline.

2. Rafael Furcal was healthy, but then he wasn't, and now the Cardinals have a bit of a quandary at shortstop. Pete Kozma and Ronny Cedeno are now in competition for the job on Opening Day, which is probably not comforting to Cardinals fans.

3. My favorite rumor of the year by far. The Royals are on the prowl for outfield depth because they realized that trading Wil Myers was a huge mistake don't really have any options in right field for when Jeff Francouer inevitably sucks. Hindsight is a real bitch sometimes.

Tuesday Tunes

I've always been a big fan of classic rock, and pretty much any music from the 50s through the 70s. As a result, I've always have a bit of a soft spot for groups/musicians who attempt to be "throwbacks" in their performance/style.

I'm not talking about cover bands -- who are their own special genre -- but rather groups that seem to embody an earlier time in their music, but with a modern twist. My main example for this type of group would be The Darkness, who I think are hilarious and who put on one hell of a live show.

A good friend of mine just introduced me to another throwback-type group, The Noisettes. They've been around a while but I'm just hearing of them now so I thought I'd share. Here's a hit track from 2009: