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Good Morning.
Richard Durrett continues his Surprise position outlook series with a look at left field. Unless things change drastically in the outfielder between now and March, David Murphy heads into Spring Training as the Rangers' every day left fielder for the first time in his what-seems-like 25 year career with the Rangers.
Drew Davison offers a couple of notes on pitchers with the Rangers and Matt Harrison still talking contract extension and Robbie Ross thinking that it would be super neat-o to be given an opportunity to grab the fifth spot in the rotation.
Davison has a blog update with quotes from Lance Berkman on how important the No. 3 hitter is in a lineup.
Level of importance rankings:
1. Hitting 3rd in a baseball lineup
2. Earth's magnetic field
3. Adaptive immunity to pathogens
Gil LeBreton writes about MLB finally cracking down on HGH and elevated testosterone with the implementation of blood testing.
Finally, Gerry Fraley notes that Elvis Andrus will join the Venezuela team in the World Baseball Classic this spring. Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz recently committed to playing for the Dominican Republican, while Joe Nathan is a candidate to play for team USA.