Rangers trade deadline update: Could Jonathan Lucroy become a pitching alternative?

There are a little more than 72 hours until the non-waiver trade deadline.

The Rangers, for the most part, remain in a staring contest with teams that theoretically have controllable, impact starting pitching to deal. You might as well settle in, they may be staring at one another for a while.

Chiefly, the opposition is the Chicago White Sox (Chris Sale, Jose Quintana) and Tampa Bay (Chris Archer). Both teams also have lesser pieces to deal - the White Sox have James Shields; Tampa Bay Jake Odorizzi and Matt Moore - and that's part of why the stare-down continues. What the Rangers would be willing to give up for their top choices, the potential trade partners are directing towards the lesser options.

The good news on this is this: There has been significant dialogue. Dialogue often leads to last-minute compromise in which both teams are willing to acquiesce a bit to the other's demands and in exchange for compromises on the other side.

In the meantime, though, the sellers have only been emboldened by the continuing high prices being paid for pitching. Most recently: The haul the Miami Marlins surrendered for rental Andrew Cashner, who has had consecutive quality starts, but also has a 4.76 ERA for the season.

So, the Rangers are left to mostly wait.

Here is where the Rangers stand on some other potential trade fronts at this moment:

The rental market

Kansas City Edinson Volquez is probably the best potential rental on the market, but the Royals still haven't acknowledged being in full-blown sale mode. In addition, reliever Wade Davis is drawing interest from a lot of clubs and GM Dayton Moore can only handle so many calls at one time. Also, the Royals would reportedly like a club to take struggling starter Ian Kennedy (and much of the $63 million he could still be owed over the next four years) in any deal. Volquez is scheduled to pitch in Arlington tonight. The Rangers are not the only team interested. Boston, Washington and the Los Angeles Dodgers are other contenders with the wherewithal to make a deal.

Beyond Volquez is Philadelphia's Jeremy Hellickson. The Phillies have been trying to sell high on Hellickson. According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, they've indicated to clubs that they want a top five prospect or they'll hold him and take a draft pick in free agency. That suggests they'd make Hellickson a qualifying one-year offer, which is expected to be above $16 million for 2017. Maybe. But the gut says that's more posturing. I expect him to get moved for a high-upside prospect, but probably not somebody very advanced in a team's system. The Phillies have scouted lower levels of the Rangers' organization.

Pitching alternatives

Think of this as the Adrian Beltre theory. The Rangers didn't land Cliff Lee or any of their pitching targets in the winter of 2010, so they decided the best way to improve the pitching was to improve the defense. They signed Adrian Beltre. It worked out pretty well.

Consider Milwaukee catcher Jonathan Lucroy this summer's Beltre. He's an excellent pitch framer, who could potentially help Rangers pitchers get a few more calls on the edges of the plate. Doesn't sound like much, but turning more counts in the Rangers' favor might lead to more chases by opponents and can change the complexion of a start.

He's signed for next year, which is significant. The Rangers have to once again wonder if they can scramble to fill the catching spot from among three or four different parts. They've done a good job they last two years, but there have to be real questions about Robinson Chirinos' durability at this point. Chirinos is not a great pitch-framer, according to online stats.

Lucroy has limited no-trade protection, but can't block a trade to the Rangers, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.

And according to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, Milwaukee has asked teams to put deals of a "minimum standard" on the table, ostensibly to accelerate the process.

The Rangers, along with several others, have considered a package deal with Milwaukee in which they'd get back a reliever (Jeremy Jeffress, Tyler Thornburg or Will Smith) and possibly even a starter (Zach Davies, Jimmy Nelson or Junior Guerra). The Rangers scouted Milwaukee extensively in the last 10 days.

For now, those, appear to be the most likely scenarios, but even the most likely scenarios are unlikely. The Rangers wait and stare. They wait for somebody to blink. The same can be said of trade partners about the Rangers.

There may be a lot of this in the next three days.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant