Only things tangentially related to the Rangers today...

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal says today that Doug Melvin is interested in Hank Blalock.  I can't see that being much of a fit, though, and I'm guessing Melvin is mainly interested in buying low, while the Rangers want to see if Blalock can continue to hit the way he did last season and, if they are going to sell him, try to sell higher...

And the Chicago Sun-Times says that there are four teams in the running for Kosuke Fukudome...San Diego, the two Chicago teams, and Texas.

There's been some interpretation by the national media that the Rangers' acquisition of Milton Bradley is a sign that they don't think they'll land Fukudome.  I don't think that's the case, though...it isn't as if there isn't room for both Bradley and Fukudome in the Ranger outfield.  And Fukudome would be a longer-term commitment, while Bradley is a low-risk one year signing.

Just saw over at the DMN blog that Ian Kinsler is doing a chat session at the DMN website today.

You can send in a question by clicking here, and join the chat by clicking here.

Just saw over at the DMN blog that Ian Kinsler is doing a chat session at the DMN website today.

You can send in a question by clicking here, and join the chat by clicking here.

T.R. Sullivan has an article up on the Rangers website, talking about how everyone is raring to go this spring.

A couple of particular things of note...A.J. Murray is the only pitcher expected to be "limited" this spring.  Despite coming off the injury, Eric Gagne is apparently supposed to be 100%, although Jamie Reed says they are going to be cautious with him.

Vicente Padilla is going to be a few days late to camp because of an illness in his family.  We'll have to see if this triggers any "see, he's slacking because he got his contract" reactions in the press....

Our friend Marc Normandin from Beyond the Box Score has a profile up on GMJ, over at Baseball Prospectus.

It is in the pay section, but is a really good analysis of his career and his situation.  And his conclusion is much the same as ours...that he will be a perfect example of the Winner's Curse.

New reports just out say the Yankees are not firing Joe Torre.

Good news, for two reasons.

One, there won't be a barrage of "We need to hire Torre!!!" cries from Rangers fans over the next few weeks.

Two, there won't be a barrage of self-righteous columns from various sportswriters about how awful and unfair it is of King George to fire Saint Joe.

Okay, with an off day today, here's a question for everyone to discuss...

Given that each team has to have a representative to the All Star Game, who should the Royals' representative this year be?

Here are links for the stats for the Royals hitters and pitchers...

At this point, Joel Peralta and Mark Grudzelanik appear to be the top candidates...

BA's Trade Central looks at the latest Ranger/Padre deal...

Okay, I've been meaning to get around to tabulating the community projections we did before the season...

First one up is Vicente Padilla.

The average of the projections was 4.33 ERA, 189 1/3 IP, and 14 wins.

The most optimistic in each category was 3.78, 220, and 18.

The most pessimistic in each category was 4.80, 170, and 12.

Folks were feeling pretty good about Padilla before the season even started...

#39 -- Frank Tanana
#40 -- Dean Palmer
#41 -- Mickey Rivers
#42 -- Doc Medich
#43 -- Aaron Sele
#44 -- Hank Blalock
#45 -- Gary Ward
#46 -- Jeff Zimmerman
#47 -- Oddibe McDowell
#48 -- Roger Pavlik
#49 -- Mickey Tettleton
#50 -- Jim Kern