I’ve decided that I’m going to try and shamelessly steal an idea that Joey over at BBTia does which is offer my thoughts on the stories of the day. I probably won’t be able to do it as regularly as him, mostly because i don’t always have time in the morning to peruse the stories, digest it and spit it out, I have stuff to deal with at work. hahaha. :) Anyway, here’s what I see today.
Minor Injuries: It seems that Brandon Boggs and Marlon Byrd are dealing with some minor injuries. Boggs has an inflamed right shoulder (and got an MRI), and Byrd is recovering from a knee surgery. Byrd has apparently declared himself 75% healed, and there’s not a ton on Boggs. In the various scenarios we’ve been hearing, I haven’t heard much about Boggs. He was a nice story in 2008, but barring injuries to our projected front line guys, I don’t see Boggs cracking the lineup much this year – especially if Andruw Jones is on the roster.
Ben Sheets: Given Sheets didn’t sign with the Rangers and had surgery, he probably thinks he can make a major play with a team contending. I was hoping we’d do the sign for a two year contract with year 1 being next to nothing. Oh well.
Nelson Cruz: There was a nice article I read in the DMN about Nelson Cruz and his turnaround last year. Apparently the fact that no other club claimed him when the Rangers released him was the turning point. If he continues that into 2009, I think it pretty much seals it for Brandon Boggs as I theorized above.
Number 21: Jarrod Saltamacchia has switched to #21, voluntarily giving up 25 for Andruw Jones. I covered this last week when I updated my uniform number history section of the website with all the spring moves. Anyway, some notes from the DMN say that it was done out of respect for Andruw. Uniform numbers are a big thing with me, so I like to make note of things like this.
Joaquin Arias: The same set of notes talk about Joquin Arias and playing short again in workouts so far. The last remnant of the Alex Rodriguez trade (either direct or indirect) is probably never going to make it with the Rangers, I would imagine. With Elvis Andrus all but being handed the SS job, and Michael Young going to third, I can’t see where Arias fits anymore.
Frank Catalanotto: Here’s another guy who I think would be off the club if his contract wasn’t what it is. He seems to have been relegated to almost 25th man; we barely saw him last year. This article talks about his playing for Italy in the World Baseball Classic. It’s theorized he will probably see more action there then he will for the Rangers. Shame, as I really liked the guy, but when he came back, he “not hit” himself into the position he’s in. The Rangers website talks about this too, also including Travis Metcalf in this category of “just about forgotten players”.
Rudy Jaramillo & Steroids: OK, I’m breaking my steroids rule after only a couple of days, but not for the usual reason. This was an angle I had thought about a lot. With all the talk of Ranger players and steroids, did it diminsh the reputation of Rudy Jaramillo at all? He’s generally considered the best hitting coach in baseball, and if the Rangers were as roided up as has been theorized, perhaps Rudy wasn’t that great after all? I’d like to think that’s not the case, and this article by Jim Reeves addresses this issue. It’s a good read. Rudy’s also the last link back to the Johnny Oates era (well, OK Jerry Narron is also here in an advisory capacity), and I kind of like he’s still around – even if just for that reason.
Less than a week now till the first game of spring training.
Oh, and finally, thanks to Adam Stellar over at “Ranger Rumors” for naming me a “Hot Rangers Fan“. It was kind of odd to see that pop up. Not sure what I did to deserve that, but thank you. :)