Ian Desmond is a Texas Ranger, and his former teammates with the Washington Nationals are starting to react, as well as his new teammates with the Rangers.
T.R. Sullivan has an article up that has quotes from Derek Holland, Cole Hamels, Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre, Chris Gimenez, and even Josh Hamilton. Fielder calls Desmond "intense," while Hamels and Josh both talk about his energy, but this quote from Josh made me raise my eyebrows:
"Another good fit for the clubhouse. It's going to be another guy who can play multiple positions. Another athlete to plug into the lineup. We're excited to see him here. He knows what he's doing. He'll fit in perfectly. You think back to '10 and '11, we had guys coming off the bench getting the job done. Having depth throughout lineup, pitcher never getting a break, is what we want."
Yeah, Josh...its Desmond who'll be coming off the bench...although in fairness, Sullivan says in his article that Desmond will fill a utility role once Josh is back. My guess is that it is likely that Desmond will play a number of positions, but that he's not getting bumped to the bench to make room for Josh.
In the meantime, Desmond's former teammates have reactions over at an article at MASN.com, with Jayson Werth calling him a great player and great person, and Ryan Zimmerman saying Desmond's work ethic is "through the roof." Bryce Harper also praised Desmond:
Bryce Harper: "Whether that's on the field or off the field, the Rangers are getting a great baseball player and a great person."
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) February 28, 2016
The Rangers tend to put a heavy emphasis on makeup, and Desmond seems to get good marks in that regard.