A lot of stuff today worth a quick mention, and since I don't want a dozen FanShots on the front page this afternoon, I'll do them all now...
Yahoo Sports has a piece on how awesome Matt Purke is, and even though he's likely not going #1 -- and likely won't be the first pitcher selected overall -- he's still going to make a lot of money this June.*
* Yes, he was in the 2009 draft, and you normally aren't eligible to be drafted again after your senior year in high school until after your junior year in college (if you attend a four year school), but because of Purke's age, he'll be eligible this summer as a sophomore.
Former Ranger Chris Young is going to pitch for the New York Mets this year.
Scott Hairston, who is a player I thought the Rangers should pursue, is signing a minor league deal with the Mets, and Craig Calcaterra is surprised:
Hairston managing only a minor-league deal is surprising, because while he’s been overmatched as an everyday player he’d be an excellent fit for any number of teams as a platoon starter versus left-handed pitching, against whom he’s hit .280 with 18 homers and an .839 OPS in 375 at-bats during the past three seasons despite calling pitcher-friendly ballparks home.
He’s also a solid defensive corner outfielder with experience in center field as well as second base, making him an ideal bench player. Very nice low-cost pickup for the Mets and a head-scratcher for the half-dozen other teams that could use a part-time lefty masher.
Yeah, that doesn't sound like anyone the Rangers could use...
Chris Jaffe looks at the 15 worst regular season losses (in terms of devastating, not in terms of blowout), with Texas, of course, being featured in one of them.
Rob Neyer talks about the Dodgers' left field platoon of Jay Gibbons and Marcus Thames. With those two in left, Matt Kemp in center, and Andre Ethier in right field, the Dodgers probably have the worst outfield defense in baseball, with all four of those guys good candidates to be in the double-digit negatives in UZR/150 or +/-.
Gil Meche has announced he's retiring, closing the book on one of the stranger chapter of recent Kansas City Royals history. To recap...Meche was a highly-touted pitching prospect of the Mariners in the early aughts, was rushed to the majors at age 20 by Seattle, missed tons of time with arm problems, got his career back on track, was inked to a 5 year, $55 million deal before the 2007 season that was met with much derision, pitched pretty well for the first couple of years of the deal, was (according to those who follow the Royals) run into the ground by Trey Hillman, had more arm problems, and is now out of baseball.
A Tampa columnist thinks the Rays will finish last in the A.L. East, because, you know, they lost their closer and Carl Crawford and Matt Garza, and clearly have no one available who can step in.
Craig Calcaterra and an L.A. writer bag on Halo's Heaven commenters who think the Angels can trade for Evan Longoria (and more generally, fans who make ridiculous trade proposals, and when confronted by how unrealistic they are, say, "Well, yeah, but its nice to think about.").
Off topic somewhat, here's an article that explains that, realistically, you aren't going to make money blogging.