Not a big baseball day out there yet, but there's only one week left in January, and when February hits, you know you're close to pitchers and catchers reporting.
Some more ex-Rangers are finding homes for the 2007 season, as Carlos Pena's next club will apparently be the Devil Rays, and the Dodgers are signing Fernando Tatis and Rudy Seanez. There are some pretty mixed memories involved with those guys. I still remember the early morning that Jamey Newberg broke the news that Pena had been traded, but couldn't give details yet, and I spent the first half of that day distracted trying to figure in my head where he might be headed and for what, rather than concentrating on teaching my classes. And Adam mentioned the whole Seanez/Duchscherer/Vizcaino mess yesterday.
Some prospect roundups are finishing up. Bryan Smith has concluded his top 75 for SI.com. Eric Hurley made an impressive showing at #33, and Thomas Diamond was one of the 25 honorable mentions. By virtue of his grade, John Sickels would consider Eric Hurley one of the 30 best prospects in baseball as well. None of Jonathan Mayo, Jim Callis, John Manuel or Will Lingo included a Ranger in their top 50's. Kevin Goldstein and Matthew Pouliot, who write for Baseball Prospectus and Rotoworld.com respectively, have not yet revealed their analyses of the Rangers system.