T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com says the Texas Rangers are calling clubs and inquiring about the availability of starting pitching. Sullivan says the Rangers aren’t afraid of asking for some of the big names including Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt.

“We’ve had some preliminary discussions with clubs,” assistant GM Thad Levine said. “But to compel teams to move this far ahead of the [July 31st] Trade Deadline, it would take a very attractive package,” Levine said. ‘We’re still in the inventory stage and the information-gathering stage rather than the execution phase.”

Earlier this week, Craig Calcaterra of HardballTalk said the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros were “getting closer” to having a deal in place for Oswalt. At the time, those rumors were shot down by Ranger’s GM Josh Daniels.

The Rangers are somewhat in a bind because they are in the middle of bankruptcy and an ownership transition. They cannot take on a significant salary. If they were to go after a high-price name like Oswalt, they may need to involve a third-team that can pay the salary while the Rangers include prospects in the deal.