First day of June, and the Rangers are in first place, 4 up on Oakland, 5 up on the Angles, and 6 up on Seattle. A nice place to be right now, despite yesterday's meltdown...
In case you missed it, Roger Clemens isn't coming to Texas. And Gil LeBreton doesn't think Rangers fans should be surprised by that, given Clemens' past history...
Kat O'Brien says the Phil Nevin trade gives Jason Botts a chance to be the full-time DH for the Rangers, but if he shows he can't handle the job, the Rangers will have time to make another move to get a DH in here before the trade deadline. I don't think Botts will be the next Travis Hafner, but I think he'll be fine as the DH, and am definitely happy he's getting the shot.
The Chicago papers' reactions to the Nevin trade are odd...the headline for the Chicago Tribune article on the trade says "Cubs deal for veteran pop," and the Chicago Sun-Times piece on the trade says that Nevin has shown enough power that the Cubs think he can help, with Dusty Baker saying he wants to try Nevin some in the outfield. I have to wonder if they are talking about the same Phil Nevin we saw here...
Nevin also says in the Tribune article that he's excited about being part of double-switches.
Richard Durrett has some injury updates, reporting that Adam Eaton threw a baseball for the first time since going on the disabled list with his finger injury, and hopes to return before August 1. Durrett also says that Laynce Nix has been sitting in Oklahoma due to infections in both eyes, and it isn't known when he'll return, while Frankie Francisco is expected to pitch for Frisco tomorrow.
Anaheim has signed Kelvin Escobar to a 3 year, $28.5 million contract extension, locking him up through 2009. That's a lot of money for a guy who has hit 30, and has had injury issues.