Sorry for the delay in this morning's stuff, as I ended up in court all morning...
As everyone probably knows, Alfonso Soriano is now saying he'll play the outfield. Tim Cowlishaw says that it is the Nationals' fault that the whole fiasco got to this point...he blasts Jim Bowden for making the deal even though the Rangers wouldn't let him talk to Soriano and Frank Robinson for putting Soriano in the lineup and embarrassing him, and quotes Michael Young and Mark Teixeira as saying that they wouldn't switch positions, either.
In the S-T, Kat O'Brien says several Rangers "saw this coming," and indicates that the Ranger players also blame the Nationals, not Soriano, for this fiasco.
In Evan Grant's notes column this morning, he says that the Rangers have invited Roger Clemens to attend the Rangers opening day game at TBIA, as part of Tom Hicks' ongoing recruitment of Clemens.
Of more import, though, is that C.J. Wilson had shoulder problems and couldn't loosen up yesterday. On the heels of his hamstring problem earlier in camp, this would seem to make him more likely to start the year in AAA or on the disabled list, making it more likely Fabio Castro makes the team out of spring training.
On the outfielder-injury front, Laynce Nix played in the field for the first time this spring, but GMJ apparently had a "twinge" while taking batting practice yesterday, making it more and more likely that GMJ will be on the d.l. to start the season. Since Nix can't platoon with Dellucci in the outfield, the Rangers will then have to decide if they want to keep Nix around as a 4th outfielder, knowing that he won't get much playing time, or if they'd rather send him to AAA, with Adrian Brown or Adam Hyzdu as the backup outfielder. Personally, I'd rather see Brown or Hyzdu in that role than Nix.
Grant also discusses the different spring philosophies of the Angels and Rangers, with the Rangers preferring not to have their regular pitchers face divisional opponents, while the Angels don't think it matters.
Finally, big day today in the 5th starter race...Edinson Volquez and Juan Dominguez both pitch today...