One more day to Opening Day. Yay!
We're all worried about the bullpen this year, but Eddie Guardado isn't. Guardado feels good about how the bullpen is situation. And Mike Maddux has praise for C.J. Wilson, saying that Wilson "can do things with a ball that most people can’t."
Kevin Sherrington says that Ron Washington's job rests on getting off to a good start. I absolutely agree...another 10-18 start, another April filled with sloppiness, and Washington is gone, with Jackie Moore likely tapped by Nolan to take his place.
Gil LeBreton says that the Rangers' spring record -- one of the best in team history -- means nothing, but the fact that the Rangers appear confident and have gotten through the spring largely injury-free means a lot, and bodes well.
Randy Galloway says Tom Hicks' finances are a mess, the Ranger payroll is too low, and the pitching is in flux.
Richard Durrett talks about the misplay Elvis Andrus had yesterday:
Andrus, 20, said he wasn't prepared for the wind, which altered the flight of the ball and confused the shortstop.
"It was pretty crazy," Andrus said. "It was my first time in here. You see the flags in center field, they go in the opposite way of the wind. I didn't know that. I will learn from that. It's a good thing to happen before the season."
Andrus said he plans on taking many pop ups at practice today at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington to get more comfortable. But that's a typical rookie mistake. The flags can mislead someone who has not played at the park before.
Manager Ron Washington told Andrus that if he goes after a pop up, he needs to call it and that it's his unless an outfielder calls him off.
Durrett also asks about how many errors Andrus will have this season, and i'm sure that's a number folks are going to be focusing on. There's going to be a lot of whining about why the Rangers moved a Gold Glove shortstop to make room for some kid who is leading the league in errors. But the reality is that Andrus can make 25 errors in 2009 at shortstop (more than any other shortstop in the majors had last year), and still represent an upgrade defensively at the position.