Anthony Andro writes that the Rangers and Angels are tilting the balance of power in the A.L. from the East to the West.

Drew Davison's notes at the S-T talk about the Luis Martinez trade, Josh Hamilton's accountability partner, and the signing of Matt Kata to a minor league contract.

T.R. Sullivan also has some notes on the additions of Martinez and Kata.

MJH is filling in for Joey Matches this morning, and offers his thoughts on the Rangers and how they are being run, and how it relates to Yu Darvish.

Randy Galloway has an entire column about how he can't get Nolan Ryan on the phone to talk to him about Yu Darvish (Nolan is on vacation), but he's assuming Nolan wasn't in favor of getting Darvish, apparently because Galloway isn't in favor of getting Darvish. Galloway also reluctantly concedes that Jon Daniels and the front office have "good reputations" but that they are putting them on the line with "an unknown kid out of Japan."