First off:
So, yeah, it's baseball season now. Football is done. That means baseball season is here. Rejoice!
Hoggy Price hasn't even loaded up the equipment trucks and the Rangers are already champions. Minor League phase Rule 5 draftee Russell Wilson led the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl title last night. I'd say that $12,000 investment is paying off nicely for the Rangers.
I know we Internet baseball fans love to scoff at things like intangibles and leadership, but I can't help but imagining the Rangers' new full-time second baseman talking with a guy who played second base in the minors just a few years before winning a championship in football. It could ultimately mean nothing, but I just like the idea of Jurickson Profar hanging around Russell Wilson at all for any reason.
Yesterday AJM posted this article from Richard Durrett where he surveyed a ton of Rangers folks for Super Bowl predictions. Let's take a look at it again, shall we?
Here are the picks from the vast majority of people listed as scouts or in player development:
Greg Smith, special assistant, major league scout: Denver 35, Seattle 21
Don Welke, senior special assistant to GM and scouting: Seattle 20, Denver 14
Josh Boyd, director, professional scouting: Seattle 31, Denver 17
Jake Krug, special assignment crosschecker: Seattle 27, Denver 24
Mike Grouse, professional scout: Seattle 23, Denver 16
Matt Klotsche, manager, amateur scouting: Seattle 24, Denver 21
Matt Vinnola director, baseball operations: Denver 31, Seattle 27
Jim Colburn, senior adviser, Pacific Rim operations: Seattle 31, Denver 28
Todd Walther, advance scout: Seattle 24, Denver 20
Adam Lewkowicz, advance scout: Seattle 28, Denver 21
Joey Prebynski, assistant, advance scout: Seattle 20, Denver 17
Mike Daly, senior director, minor league operations: Seattle 24, Denver 17
Thad Levine, assistant GM: Denver 27, Seattle 23
Bobby Crook, amateur scout: Seattle 27, Denver 24
Gil Kim, director international scouting: Denver 21, Seattle 17
By my count, that's four picks from front office types and scouts for Denver and a billion picks for the Seahawks.
Then there's Kip Fagg:
Kip Fagg, director, amateur scouting: Seattle 42, Denver 10
Comment: "Big Seahawk fan. No questions Seahawks win."
I think Kip wanted to demonstrate how confident he was in the Seahawks and predicted an outrageous score that even he didn't believe would really happen. Of course, then the Seahawks won 43-8. Kip Fagg might be a wizard, guys.
Then there's Jon Daniels:
Jon Daniels, president of baseball operations, GM: Seattle 24, Denver 20
Comment: "Russell Wilson is the MVP. Does commercial: 'I'm going to Surprise, Arizona!'"
This is why I believe that the Rangers acquiring Russell Wilson wasn't merely a publicity stunt. It was mostly one, sure. Russell Wilson will never play a baseball game for the Rangers, after all. But I think the Ranger scouts truly believe that Russell Wilson is a special person who just happens to play the wrong sport. It's pretty obvious, stunt or no, they believe in Russell Wilson.
If you bet on the Broncos, you were betting against the Texas Rangers' front office. More often than not, that's a bad idea.
That said, JD was wrong about one thing. Wilson didn't win the Super Bowl MVP, so he's not going to Disneyland. However, according to Samantha Hyde of Fox Sports, Wilson could go to Myrtle Beach and play a game with the Pelicans this season and give the charity of his choice $10K.
Of course, his next stop might just be Surprise, Arizona to talk with his Ranger teammates.
In not-football related news, Gerry Fraley compiled a slideshow featuring a list of bargain players signed by the Rangers this offseason who have a chance to contribute in 2014.
MLB.com has rolled out a fantasy baseball preview which predicts the stats of the Rangers' players in 2014. I'm pretty sure this thing is predicting a Cy Young award for Yu Darvish.
The injury bug continues to bite the Rangers even before pitchers and catchers report. Fraley writes about Robinson Chirinos being hospitalized after getting hit by a pitch to his left hand during a Caribbean World Series game.
Kate Morrison places right-hander Alec Asher as the No. 10 Prospect to Watch on WFAA.com.
Lastly, Dwain Price gives us a heads to let us know that Shawn Marion is iffy for tonight's home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the Star-Telegram's baseball blog.