And it so begins:

The Rangers placed catcher Gerald Laird on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled left hamstring after Friday's 4-3 loss to the Nationals and will recall Max Ramirez from Double A Frisco.

The injury was described as minor during the game, but manager Ron Washington said otherwise after the 14-inning loss at Nationals Park.

"He pulled it," Washington said. "It's bad. It's not a day-to-day thing."

Laird was injured in the fourth inning while legging out a bunt single. He said he felt the hamstring tighten two strides before the bag, then pull on his last step.

"I said to myself, 'This is not happening right now,' " Laird said. "It's disappointing. It's tough to swallow. I felt like I was playing pretty well."

http://startelegramsports.typepad.com/foul_territory/2008/06/laird-headed-to.html
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/baseball/rangers/stories/062108dnsporanglede.22fa3635.html
http://mvn.com/mlb-rangers/2008/06/21/the-max-ramirez-experience/

Per Evan Grant:

The Rangers this afternoon, perhaps momentarily, will announce that Jason Botts has been designated for assignment and that Chris Shelton's contract will be purchased. The club is desperate for another productive right-handed bat in the lineup and Botts simply hasn't taken advantage of whatever limited opportunities he's been given. He is hitting .158 in 38 at-bats. The move will give the Rangers 10 days to trade, release or outright Botts to Triple-A. If he clears waivers, the Rangers absolutely want to keep him in the system, but with the season hanging on the edge of a cliff, the Rangers need somebody with a little bit of a track record of big league success against right-handers. I don't know if Shelton will play every day at first, but I'm pretty certain that at the very least, but it won't surprise me.

Brandon Boggs is expected to be called up to replace Hank Blalock, but to get Shelton on the roster, the Rangers had to take somebody off the 40-man roster. It appears, Botts is the guy. His career with the Rangers, which began in 2000 as a 46th round draft choice, is now more in limbo than ever before.

http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/04/jason-botts-has-been-dfad.html

Well, this isn't good:

Hank Blalock, who injured his left hamstring legging out a double Friday night, is expected to be placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday. Blalock had an MRI Monday morning, which revealed a small tear. He could miss between three and four weeks. The initial plan while Blalock was hurt was to platoon Ramon Vazquez and German Duran at third. Blalock is hitting .299 with three home runs and seven RBI.

http://startelegramsports.typepad.com/foul_territory/2008/04/blalock-headed.html
http://trsullivan.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/04/blalock_out_34_weeks.html
http://mvn.com/mlb-rangers/2008/04/28/newsflash-blalock-out-3-4-weeks-with-hamstring-tear/

Not even the Edinson Volquez trade could save his job, apparently:

The Cincinnati Reds have fired general manager Wayne Krivsky less than three years into his tenure, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Krivsky, a former assistant GM with the Minnesota Twins, was hired in 2006, succeeding Dan O'Brien. He was the first general manager to be hired under the Reds ownership group led by Bob Castellini and is in the last year of a three-year contract.

The Reds are currently 9-12 and 5½ games behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3363283

I suppose this is when two of my favorite subjects - the Texas Rangers and severe weather - collide:

http://mvn.com/mlb-rangers/2008/04/09/newsflash-tonights-rangers-game-a-washout/

Hopefully the storms hold off until after tonight's game concludes, but it would come as no great surprise to me if this game was rained out.

Entire DFW area is currently under a tornado watch until 11 PM; a tornadic supercell has been reeking havoc to the west, and may be on track to slam into Denton/Sherman/McKinney in the coming hours.

Per T.R. Sullivan:

Pitcher Luis Mendoza will start the season on the disabled list with a blister on his right middle finger. The Rangers still expect him to be their fifth starter on April 12 and he'll likely make at least one start at Triple A Oklahoma on medical rehabilitation before that.

But this means Kason Gabbard will be the Rangers fourth starter while Mendoza gets the blister problem straightened out.

The Rangers have also told reliever Josh Rupe that he is on the team. That leaves one spot left in the bullpen: Wes Littleton or Robinson Tejeda.