A win is a win, but as Jeff Wilson writes, Rich Harden wasn't thrilled about his win yesterday, feeling there were still too many walks (a sentiment I think we'd all agree with).
Richard Durrett has his thoughts after yesterday's 6-5 win.
T.R. Sullivan has notes up that includes Ron Washington saying the Rangers are pretty far along in the process of deciding what to do when Ian Kinsler comes back, and the team working on their bunting. Because apparently, we need to have even more bunting with the 2010 Texas Rangers.
Anthony Andro talks about the bunting drills and the Kinsler return, as well, in the S-T notes, along with the news that Tommy Hunter has been activated from the disabled list and optioned to AAA Oklahoma. Hunter had a rotation spot locked up before his injury, and it will be interesting to see how the Rangers handle getting him back to the majors.
Durrett runs through the potential choices the Rangers have in clearly space for Ian Kinsler on the 25 man roster when he is activated on Friday. He acknowledges that Joaquin Arias, Andres Blanco, and Ryan Garko all likely would not clear waivers, if the Rangers tried to send any of them to AAA, and he doesn't see Blanco going down because of his ability to play shortstop.
There's talk of Arias and Blanco both sticking, but I don't really see the point. The only position Arias can play defensively is second base, and Blanco is better at it than he is (as is Ian Kinsler, for that matter). Arias isn't hitting well enough where you figure he'd be a pinch hitting option. You could pinch run with him, I guess, but we've talked before about his poor instincts on the basepaths.
I just don't see what the point of hanging onto both players would be. I think you have to find the best deal out there that you can for Arias, ship him out, and move on. That was the plan this spring, and nothing has happened thusfar that should really change that.
Nelson Cruz did a chat for mlb.com yesterday, and you can read the transcript here.
Scott Feldman starts today for the Rangers, and Drew Davison writes that Feldman is trying to get more groundball outs.