• What a mess.  We lose the game 7-4, and we lose Darren Oliver, who, surprisingly enough was our winningest pitcher so far this season.  Oliver goes to the DL, Dickey gets sent down, Crabtree comes back from DL, & Aaron Myette gets called up to take Oliver’s spot.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers hired Reid Nichols as their first-base coach on Sunday and shifted Bobby Jones to third base.
The Rangers needed to shuffle their coaching staff after Johnny Oates resigned as the team’s manager Friday. Jerry Narron, the team’s former third-base coach, was named manager for the rest of the season.
Nichols, the Ranger’s director of player development since 1994, also will work with the outfielders and be responsible for base-running.
Nichols, 42, had a 13-year professional career, batting .266 with 22 home runs and 131 RBI in 540 career games with Boston, the Chicago White Sox and Montreal.
After his playing days, Nichols spent four seasons working in Baltimore’s minor league organization.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Johnny Oates has resigned as manager of the Texas Rangers, who are off to their worst start since 1985 despite signing Alex Rodriguez to the richest contract in sports history.
Third-base coach Jerry Narron will coach the Rangers for the rest of the season.
Texas is 11-17 and 11 games behind Seattle in the AL West. While the Rangers are near the lead in every offensive category, their pitching staff is by far the worst in the majors.
Rodriguez signed a $252 million, 10-year contract during the winter. The Rangers also signed other free agents during the offseason, including Andres Galarraga and Ken Caminiti.
Oates’ seven-year tenure included three division titles but a last-place finish in 2000.
Owner Tom Hicks said this week that Oates’ job could be in jeopardy if the team didn’t start playing better.
“I am very concerned, as everyone should be,” Hicks recently told Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “On the other hand, I really do feel Johnny can still do what is within his control to get the team turned around.”
Oates went 506-476 in Texas through six full seasons and part of this year. He’s the second-winningest manager in franchise history and the only to lead the team into the postseason. He’s under contract through next season.
The Rangers are the second team to change skippers in the first five weeks of the season. Tampa Bay fired Larry Rothschild.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday night because of a bruised left heel.
“I can’t do anything about it,” Rodriguez said. “I prefer to miss two weeks than play the whole year in pain. It’s only two weeks. I’ll be OK.”
Doug Mirabelli replaced Rodriguez in the starting lineup against Detroit, and was 0-for-1 with two walks in the Tigers’ 8-4 win.
To replace Rodriguez on the roster, Texas has purchased the contract of catcher Mike Hubbard from Oklahoma of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Hubbard was to join the Rangers on Thursday.
“This is the best way to get him well,” Texas manager Johnny Oates said. “The move we play him, the longer it would take to get better or get 100 percent. We’ll shut him down for two weeks and hope he is 100 percent after that.”
Rodriguez was hurt when his heel hit first base awkwardly as he ran out a grounder in the ninth inning Friday night at Cleveland. He then missed two games.
He still appeared hampered the injury Tuesday night against Detroit, despite going 2-for-4. He led of the fourth with a hit into the right-field corner, routinely a double for him, but was obviously slow running and was more than 10 feet from second base when Roger Cedeno’s throw got there.
With the game tied in the eighth, Rodriguez was lifted for a pinch-runner after reaching on an error.
Rodriguez, who is hitting .309 with six home runs and 11 RBIs, walked gingerly as he made his way through the clubhouse before Wednesday night’s game. He didn’t talk to reporters.
“Talking with the doctor, he thinks it’s best he stays off it for a while to get it well rather than try to do what he did last night for 10 days,” Oates said. “It’s a bruise. We probably didn’t help it, but we didn’t hurt it either.”
Rodriguez played in just 91 games last year, the fewest since his rookie season in 1991. He didn’t play after breaking his right thumb July 24, two weeks after starting his eighth straight All-Star games, and still won his ninth straight gold glove.

• In further DL news, Chad Curtis was placed on
  the DL (same injury that knocked him out before), and Ruben Sierra was
  called up.

Former first round draft pick of the Rangers Jonathan Johnson was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks today for an undisclosed amount of cash.

• Gabe Kapler was activated for Sunday’s game,
  and R.A. Dickey made his major league debut on Sunday, too.  I was
  there Sunday, it was a great game, great to see Gabe back, and a great start
  for Dickey.

The Rangers placed right-handed pitcher Tim Crabtree on the 15-day disabled list today, retroactive to April 15, with lower back problems.
Crabtree, 31, has not been able to pitch since Sunday due to pain and stiffness in his lower back. He had an MRI on Tuesday in Seattle and was examined by Rangers spine consultant Dr. Drew Dossett in Dallas on Wednesday. Crabtree was diagnosed to have two small disc herniations, which is believed to be a flareup of an existing condition.
The Rangers’ closer received an epideral injection in his back today, which is expected to alleviate the inflammation in his lower back. Crabtree will also be placed on a medication and rehab program. Dr. Dossett indicated that surgery is not necessary at this time. Crabtree is eligible to come off the disabled list on April 30 but it is unknown how long he might be sidelined.
The Rangers have purchased the contract of right-handed pitcher R.A. Dickey from Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League to replace Crabtree on the active roster. Dickey will wear No. 51 and will be in uniform for tonight’s game against Oakland at The Ballpark in Arlington. Texas has transferred right-handed pitcher Dan Kolb from the 15-day DL to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Dickey on the 40-man roster.
Crabtree has four saves in as many opportunities so far this season in five appearances. He is 0-0 with a 5.79 era. He last pitched on Saturday in Oakland, earning a save in the Rangers’ 9-8 victory over the A’s.
Dickey, 26, is 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA in three starts for AAA Oklahoma this season. He leads the RedHawks in wins and innings (18). Dickey had a no-decision in his last start on Monday at Salt Lake City, allowing six hits and four runs in six innings with a walk and three strikeouts. Texas’ first-round selection in the 1996 First-Year Player Draft, Dickey is in his fifth year with the Texas organization.
Kolb has been on the 15-day disabled for the entire season with a strained muscle behind his right elbow, which he injured on March 15 in Spring Training. He is currently working out with the extended spring program in Port Charlotte, Florida, and has not yet begun to throw. The 60-day DL assignment is retroactive to opening day.

• Tim Crabtree is the first player to hit the DL
  for the 2001 season.  Details &
  discussion here.

Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who returns to Seattle tonight as an opponent for the first time, has been named the American League’s Player of the Week for April 9-15.
Rodriguez batted .450 (9-20) with four homers and 13 RBIs in six games during the week, leading the AL in homers, RBIs, total bases (22) and slugging percentage (1.100). He was 6-for-10 with four homers and 13 RBIs in the three-game sweep of Oakland. Rodriguez drove in 11 runs in the final two games, one shy of the club record for RBIs in consecutive contests set by Rusty Greer on Aug. 22-23, 1997, vs. Chicago.
A-Rod has homered in three straight games, one shy of the Texas club record, which has been accomplished six times. His career-best is home runs in five straight games — Aug. 11-16, 1999, with Seattle. Rodriguez had two homers in one game for the 15th time in his career on Sunday, his 16th overall multi-homer game (he has one three-home run game to his credit). He is 9-for-14 with four homers and 13 RBIs in his last four games after going 8-for-33 with no homers and two RBIs in Texas’ first nine contests.
This marks the fifth time that Rodriguez has been awarded the AL’s weekly award. He last won it in the second week of the 2000 season, April 10-16.