Quite a few Rangers notes today...
Per Evan Grant in the DMN, Tom Hicks told the players at yesterday's pre-camp team meeting that he expected them to win the A.L. West. Fairly lofty aspirations for a team that didn't reach .500 last year...
Apparently, the meeting was, for the most part, pretty business-like. The theme from the quotes from the players that Grant provided seemed to be, "We know what we need to do, we just have to go out and do it." Hopefully, that will happen...
Jon Daniels says Erubiel Durazo was signed as insurance, with Evan Grant seeming to indicate that Phil Nevin still has the inside track on the DH job. I still think Durazo is a better bet to rebound than Nevin is...
In any case, the Rangers have until the last week of camp to make a decision on whether to add him to the 40 man roster, or to let him go. He'd get a $500K base with incentives that could push it over $1 million if the Rangers keep him.
Grant and Kat O'Brien of the S-T also each reported that Hicks acknowledged making a pitch to Roger Clemens, telling him he could carry the Rangers to the World Series the way he carried the Astros to the Series last season. Still sounds like everyone thinks Rocket to Texas is a longshot, though...
Kat O'Brien has a feature on Adam Eaton, and how he didn't want to come to Texas, but now that he's here, he likes it. Of course, he still thinks he wants to explore free agency after the season (big surprise), but still...
A great quote from Eaton in the piece, when asked about the struggles Chan Ho Park had coming to TBIA from the National League:
"Last time I checked, I'm not Chan Ho Park."
Heh.
A comment of O'Brien's that bothered me a little, though...she notes that a lot of Rangers fans didn't like the trade, suggesting it was because Metroplex-native Young was a "hometown favorite." I don't think the unhappiness over Young's departure had much, if anything, to do with him being from Highland Park...it had to do with him being a better pitcher than Eaton...
We have a competition for "most disturbing comment from a Rangers player" from yesterday...is it Hank Blalock, saying that he changed his hair color to brown because "it brings on the blue in my eyes"? Or is it Rod Barajas, saying that the Rangers' theme song this year should be a New Kids on the Block song (Hangin' Tough)? Tough call, there...
Jim Reeves has a column on Tom Hicks...Hicks would do things differently, he still wants to win, he thinks the Rangers are on the right track, blah blah blah. Nothing new there.