Scroll through the whisper wire and you hear the Rangers' name mentioned with just about all of the remaining free agents on the market.

And with plenty of good reason, too. Most of them would fit quite nicely on the Rangers roster.

Take switch-hitting Dexter Fowler, for example. A report earlier in the week suggested the Rangers and White Sox were still bidding for him. He could offer the Rangers protection in left field in case Josh Hamilton can't stay healthy and protection in center in case Delino DeShields can't repeat his rookie season. A .303 career batting average vs. lefties; a career .346 OBP. Some speed, some power.

What's not to like about that?

Speaking of, what's not to like about still-unsigned Yovani Gallardo? He made 33 starts for the Rangers last year, pitched 184 innings, got the AL Division Series off to a nice start and, in case you forgot, he's from these parts. And the Rangers could use some starting pitching depth. They are counting on Yu Darvish to return from Tommy John surgery in May, but there are no guarantees with that.

Not to mention: 2015. The Rangers rotation depth was decimated by the first week of the regular season. Darvish was lost to Tommy John; Derek Holland to shoulder issues. Or 2014: Martin Perez and Matt Harrison crumbled inside a week of another in mid-May; the season crumbled along with those losses.

For all the reasons that those kinds of signings would make sense, here's the one over-riding reason why they are - and this being optimistic - "unlikely:" The Rangers don't have the dollars.

"We are in the range of where we'll end up payroll-wise," is the way general manager Jon Daniels put it Wednesday.

You can choose whatever conspiracy theory you'd like to support why the Rangers don't have money to spend, but the fact is Daniels was given a budget last fall and told to stick to it.

As for the "range," in the parlance of baseball front offices that's usually about 2-3 million dollars, not 8-10 million, which is what it will take to sign Gallardo. That's not say that IF Gallardo is still standing and IF the money continues to fall and IF Daniels and company make an impassioned case, ownership might expand the budget once again. That's a lot of "ifs." Too many to bet on.

For the time being, though, they've had no real meaningful contact with reps for either Fowler or Gallardo.

What's more likely: The Rangers will look at the likes of Tim Lincecum, who is supposed to throw a showcase session for teams in the next 10 days or so (the Rangers will be represented), or oft-injured Gavin Floyd, who has pitched a total of 92 innings in the majors over the last three seasons. There are no guarantees about either, but, then again, that might be the exact thing the Rangers are looking for.

Both pitchers might have to take minor league contracts, which don't include any guarantees. It would give the Rangers a full six weeks of spring training to look at the duo without committing any real money. And the major league portion of those kinds of contracts is usually built on a very low base salary with real money kicking in for incentives on starts or innings.

As they look to round out the roster, this is the kind of deal the Rangers are looking to make: One that doesn't require any actual money.