The Rangers were trying to get Oswalt even after they landed Lee

We knew that the Rangers were interested in Oswalt, but we didn’t realize he was this interested: according to Ken Rosenthal, the Rangers re-visited earlier talks with the Astros regarding Roy Oswalt after acquiring Cliff Lee.

There was no way it was going to happen — it was hard enough for them to take on the relatively minor money owed Lee, so putting Oswalt’s contract on top of that was a non-starter — but they pursued it anyway, Rosenthal says.

Animating the apparently hopeless pursuit of Oswalt? Nolan Ryan is simply fixated on the guy.  That’s what a little bird told me anyway. Ryan sees a lot of himself in Oswalt, both as a pitcher and as a guy in general, and has long wanted Oswalt to play for him.  Crushes die hard, ya know?