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Morning everyone.
The story today, of course, is Derek Holland, who, we learned yesterday, will miss the first part of the season after undergoing knee surgery.
Drew Davison has a story on the Holland surgery in the S-T, with Jon Daniels saying the team will stretch out Robbie Ross, Tanner Scheppers and Michael Kirkman -- all of whom have been relievers the last couple of seasons -- in spring training, while looking at them as potential replacements for Holland in the rotation.
T.R. Sullivan's story also has quotes from Daniels, who says the Rangers will likely add someone, but it will be someone who will provide depth, and won't be an impact starter. Sullivan also mentions Colby Lewis among the various starting pitching options, and says Lewis is expected to be ready for the start of spring training.
Anthony Andro has a story on the Holland injury, with quotes from JD.
Gerry Fraley writes that the Holland injury puts an end to the Rangers' offseason "winning streak."
Sullivan has a story on the Rangers' interest in Masahiro Tanaka, quoting Daniels as saying they will do their due diligence, although their focus is elsewhere, and noting that the Rangers tend to "work in stealth" when it comes to free agents.
Richard Durrett has a blog post talking about Matt Garza as a possible option for the Rangers, although he says the Rangers would only want to do a one year deal with incentives if they signed Garza, which would seem to make that discussion moot.
Durrett also asks whether the Holland injury should prompt the Rangers to go all-in on Tanaka.
Kevin Sherrington writes that the Holland injury means the Rangers have to go after Tanaka.
The DMN has a blog post about Jon Daniels speaking at the Fort Worth Rotary Club, which included some comments about Nelson Cruz (SPOILER: JD doesn't expect him back).
Gerry Fraley has a story about Ron Washington's lame duck status as manager, though I suspect Wash, whose contract runs through the 2014 season, will get an extension before the season starts.
Shawn Tolleson went to Zambia with Clayton Kershaw a year ago and helped build an orphanage.
