What Texas did was fine. They added very little in terms of salary, and they obeyed the guidelines that were set forth. They have the right to make roster moves, as long as their payroll does not increase by more than the specified amount. They had to get creative with the Lee trade, and they did. This reminds me of when MLB owned the Expos/Nationals, and Omar was allowed to do very little.
According to Sherman, the Mariners general manager set out to acquire "an interested organization's best position prospect with less than one year of service." He was offered none better than the Rangers' Justin Smoak. The Yankees' Jesus Montero was apparently the next-best position prospect offered. Zduriencik also targeted players such as Ike Davis of the Mets, Desmond Jennings of the Rays, Domonic Brown of the Phillies, Gordon Beckham of the White Sox, and Brett Lawrie (who would've had to have come from the Brewers in a three-way deal). Sherman notes that the Mets never offered a player better than Fernando Martinez; Jenrry Mejia and Wilmer Flores "were never part of discussions."
