With Murphy officially on the DL and Bradley might-as-well-be on the DL, the Rangers could use an outfielder. But if the reports are true about the Red Sox, it looks like a purely defensive move to keep Giles away from Tampa Bay or Minnesota.

Hm, maybe the Sox are actually interested in Giles, if ESPN is to be believed. The Sox might figure that anybody with an .800-plus OPS in PETCO can't be all bad. Giles has the second-highest OPS on the team after only Gonzalez.

Maybe he's also intended as a reminder to Ortiz that he doesn't hold the Sox DH position by divine right. Papi hasn't exactly been ripping the ball since Manny left. I can't see Giles displacing Bay or Drew at corner OF. They're both over .900 OPS.

Giles has a no trade clause to Boston. How would this affect the waiver claim?

I know that Giles is a California native, but I can't believe he would nix a deal to Boston. He'd be moving from a lousy hitter's park to one of the best, and from a lousy team to one of the best.

Who knows? Let's see if the Sox make a real effort to acquire him.

A comment on the ESPN story mentions a possible Bay-Drew-Giles outfield. Not the best defensively, but a nice run-generating trio.

Or it could just be a charade, a wakeup call to Ortiz. Or maybe there are real injuries and the Sox are going to have to patch together lineups for a while.

An interesting waiver claim, at any rate.

Boston would have to go short 1 pitcher or make another roster move to add him. Unless somehow they deal Crisp or Casey.

Boston have made the move simply as protection, but more importantly to stop the Rays/Yankees picking him up.