I think all that psilocybin I took with Tim Lincecum this winter is starting to wear off, because he suddenly cut his hair and I'm no longer reading hallucinatory Jon Daniels ravings about top infield prospects playing in the outfield.
Yeah, according to Anthony Andro, Jon Daniels was just new-boot goofin' about that outfield stuff and Profar will only make the team if he's going to have a meaningful role. Also in the Q&A, Daniels says that Holland has decided to cut back on a few (but not all) of his off-field distractions, so while Derek won't be high-siding or cutting up this year, he still might be able to work in some subdued, perfunctory tomfoolery.
Andro also says that Colby Lewis was playing catch with A.J. Pierzynski on Tuesday, but that Colby hasn't set a target date for his return to the rotation. With neither Roy Oswalt nor Scott Feldman in the organization to serve as placeholding bait dogs for whatever good pitcher happens to be just finishing up their rehab starts, Colby seems to realize that his return may actually push a deserving pitcher back to the bench.
Drew Davison has a post about the Rangers 2013 advertising campaign, which focuses on the Mark Holtz signature "Hello win column!"
Jeff Wilson also covered the the Jon Daniels Q&A session, with Daniels saying that the only bullpen candidates that are guaranteed Opening Day roster spots are Jason Frasor and Joe Nathan. That's comforting.
The FWST also has some photos from Day 0 in Surprise, one of which looks like a shadow puppet of that one completely useless plastic soldier that is waving while holding binoculars.
T.R. Sullivan has a notes column that discusses the M.A.S.H. unit that is the Ranges pitching corps and a help wanted ad that reads "Undisclosed A.L. West contender seeks utility infielder for sporadic playing time, light housekeeping, must love bunting."
T.R. Sullivan also shares Pierzynski talking with the Chicago press about leaving the White Sox for Texas, and some unnamed Ranger saying that until Derek Holland wins twenty games in the show, he needs to clean the fungus off his shower shoes.
On the other side of the DMN paywall, Evan Grant writes some juicy Jurickson Profar / Ron Washington / Jon Daniels slash-fic. I'm guessing on that from the free preview. Please don't submit your own work in the comments.
Evan also has some comments from Engel Beltre about playing for traditional baseball powerhouse Spain against his home country in the World Baseball Classic. He's eligible because his grandfather is from Spain, which means that I guess I'm eligible for the Texas State Hospital lacrosse team.
Evan says that Leury Garcia and Jurickson Profar got locker assignments between Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus, a move that was not unintentional according to Evan, and that Julio Borbon's locker assignment is between Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain.
According to Richard Durrett, Ron Washington wants to focus on fundamentals and will be playing "bubble hit" with Mitch Moreland throughout the Spring. Durrett also says that 36 year old A.J. Pierzynski wants to catch a lot of games this year, which I also think would be great because a bunch of starts means Pierzynski is a) healthy and b) not as bad as Soto.