ESPN MLB insider Tim Kurkjian recently went on 103.3-FM ESPN Dallas' J Dub City. Here are some highlights:

On his overall thoughts on the Rangers' start to the season:

"I'm a little worried about the Rangers and I'm not rooting for anyone, believe me. But I had them in the playoffs when the season began. Not gonna detour from that at the moment but it hasn't gone very well and this is all fairly obvious. Then this thought that Adrian Beltre, future Hall of Famer, is going to come off the disabled list and save everyone and everything I think is asking even too much for him. So obviously they're going to have to get this bullpen straightened out. Obviously they're going to have score a few more runs and figure out some more issues in the rotation, get some people healthy, figure out who's playing left field and then they move on. The worry for the Rangers should be that the Orioles are pretty good, the Yankees are pretty good and the Red Sox are pretty good, the Indians are really good and so are the Astros. That's five teams right there and only five make the playoffs. So you got to keep all that in mind as you move forward."

If he can envision the Rangers becoming sellers before the trade deadline:

"Well, it's certainly possible. I don't anticipate that because I think they'll be contenders when August the first goes around and Jon Daniels will be adding, not subtracting. I have that kind of faith still in the Rangers. Still, again the competition now is significant and if they don't pick this up and they're not contenders, then, yes, they have to look at moving certain people if it makes sense. This is where GMs earn all their money, right at that time. Are we in, are we out? And I don't think too many people even expected an issue. But I'm certain Jon Daniels will know the right thing to do. My guess is they will still be in this thing as a contender August the first."

On why he is optimistic that the Rangers will still be contenders:

"I'll give you this scenario -- Joey Gallo's going to figure this out and he's gonna hit 30 home runs. Beltre's gonna come back and be exactly what he is, a great player and a leader of the team. (Yu) Darvish and (Cole) Hamels are going to figure this out and they're going to have the best 1-2 there is. (This interview was conducted before the news that Hamels will miss eight weeks with an oblique strain.) They're gonna figure out the closer situation whether it's Matt Bush or somebody else. And they just find a way to figure out the left field situation, whether it's Ryan Rua or somebody else. That's my way of saying they're going to turn this thing around. You could go the other way if you wanted to."