TROT COFFEY: July 30, 2024, v.1.

A repository of responsibly reported rumors as the trade deadline bears in on us. The clock is ticking.

Are the Rangers the team that has won four of its last six series and 13 of 20 games, with Josh Jung, Cody Bradford, and Dane Dunning back and Tyler Mahle, Jacob deGrom, and Evan Carter poised to return, one of the weakest schedules in the league the rest of the way, and just a 3.5-game division deficit?

Or the team fielding an arrhythmic lineup dominated by underperforming veteran hitters from top to bottom, and with too many other teams to pass to get into the Wild Card group, making its only realistic path to a playoff spot the pursuit of the red-hot Astros (and floundering Mariners)?

The trade deadline is at 5 p.m. Central today.

The hourglass is quickly emptying. Pencils-down is just hours away. Here we go, with what’s being reported up to the minute — and I might send updates today, as warranted: