Good morning. Happy Valentine’s Day, Rangers fans. The love of your life is back as the Rangers begin Spring Training.
Jeff Wilson writes that, truthfully, players have already been hanging around Surprise for days and Yu Darvish has even already thrown a bullpen sesh.
T.R. Sullivan profiles another early arrival as humanitarian Jonathan Lucroy reflects on his return to the south with the Rangers. (This piece honestly makes me feel like Lucroy is going to sign a five-year extension this spring.)
Barry Horn notes that, aside from Buster Posey’s iron grip on being the top catcher in the sport, Lucroy was named the second best catcher by MLB Network the other night.
Lucroy and Darvish come in at #3 on Manny Randhawa’s list of top batteries in baseball over at MLB dot com.
Wilson writes that the Rangers have a several players who can use a half day as the DH throughout the season which adds to the team’s flexibility.
Jurickson Profar’s journey to become young Ben Zobrist continues as Bradford Doolittle of ESPN writes that Profar is a player with something to prove this spring.
Wilson writes that Mike Napoli’s deal won’t be made official until Wednesday at the earliest because he still has to take a physical (and Prince Fielder still has to be placed on the 60-day DL to free up a roster spot).
With Napoli’s return a formality, Matt Fisher takes a look at what the Rangers’ everyday lineup might look like.
Wilson writes that Jeremy Jeffress is doing well and ready for a prominent role following a season where he got traded and ended up in rehab following a DWI.
Among Sullivan’s notes is one on the Rangers signing former pitching prospect then hitting prospect then reliever Adam Loewen to a minor league deal.
John Calvagno talks Hickory Crawdads in his preview of the Sally league.
And, lastly, Will Leitch takes a look at the oldest players in baseball for 2017 and hey, none of them are Adrian Beltre!
Have a nice day!