Brandon Boggs says the injection he received has helped his shoulder, which an MRI showed was structurally sound. He says he should be at full speed in a few days.
Jeff Wilson writes that Marlon Byrd -- who was already getting squeezed for playing time as the 4th outfielder -- would face even less playing time if Andruw Jones makes the team, since Byrd would become the de facto 5th outfielder
Jim Reeves re-visits the Danks/McCarthy trade, as part of a column on the importance of Brandon McCarthy this season, and offers a surprisingly level-headed view of things that includes quotes from Mel Didier and McCarthy himself:
It’s important to remember that virtually every Rangers’ scout and official advised Daniels to make the deal when it was offered, though to a man most would have preferred putting Thomas Diamond in the trade, not Danks. If Daniels had bothered to ask me, I’d have said the same thing and for the same reasons.
McCarthy appeared to be a highly talented right-hander who had the ability to become a No. 2 or 3 starter in anyone’s rotation. Best of all, he already had big-league time and, by almost everyone’s estimation, was probably at least a year, maybe a year and a half, ahead of Danks in development.
We were all wrong on both fronts. McCarthy has proven, so far, to be as brittle mentally as he has been physically. And the Rangers drastically underestimated Danks, who promptly earned a spot in the White Sox rotation.
T.R. Sullivan says that McCarthy and C.J. Wilson have been the stars of spring training in the early going, and also writes about Jarrod Saltalamacchia wanting to seize the opportunity to be the starting catcher.
Sullivan also has some bloggy notes this morning, including the news that Joe Biemel turned down a minor league deal with the Rangers.
Jean-Jacques Taylor says the Rangers are better with Michael Young at third, although he doesn't really explain why.