Rivals.com – the folks who courted me for awhile, and then abandoned me and went with Jamey Newberg’s Minor League Report site is folding.  This means that the NMLR will be changing location.  If you don’t subscribe to Jamey’s daily email report on the Rangers, I suggest you contact him now about getting on the list for two reasons.  One, it’s a great list, and two, you’ll know where his web site will be re-located.

• Mike Munoz & Chris Haney were
  released.  I was surprised we released Munoz.

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — The Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals reached an agreement Friday with city officials to move their spring training facilities to Arizona in 2003.
The Surprise City Council still must approve the deal, which calls for the building of a new stadium in the Phoenix suburb.
The teams had said as early as last year that they would move their spring training sites from Florida to Surprise if the city built a site.
That was assured in November when voters in Maricopa County approved an increase in hotel and rental car taxes to fund construction of a new stadium for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and other sports projects.
Two-thirds of the money for the baseball stadium will come from the tax hike and one-third from the city.
The Rangers exercised a one-year option to remain in Port Charlotte, Fla., for one more year. Texas has trained in Port Charlotte since 1987.
The Royals have trained in Haines City, Fla., since 1988.

• Gabe Kapler has gotten hurt – looks like he’ll
  be out about a month.  Details
  here.

• Some moves were made on Thursday – Pat Mahomes
  was added to the 40 man roster, displacing Brian Sikorski to AAA.  We
  also assigned Darwin Cubillan & Jason Romano to AAA.

• There’s a news article online today about Jeff
  Zimmerman – check it out.
• My kitten is ready for the season – check out
  this picture below.  She doesn’t look terribly happy about it
  though.  Hope she’s not a Yankees fan deep down.  :)

• Arod was hired to be a national spokesperson
  for Radio Shack yesterday.  Check it
  out.

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Texas outfielder Rusty Greer, a .307 career hitter and the Rangers’ new leadoff batter, agreed Saturday to a $21.8 million, three-year contract extension.
With performance-based incentives, Greer could earn as much as $29 million from 2002-04. There is a mutual option for 2005, which if exercised would raise the total to as much as $36 million.
“It feels good. It puts a lot of things to rest,” Greer said. “The biggest thing is to stay in a Texas Rangers’ uniform. That’s what I intended to do. It puts my mind at ease. It gets me back to what I do best.”
Greer gets $4.5 million this season. The new deal calls for $6.8 million in 2002, $7 million in 2003 and $7.4 million in 2004. The option carries a minimum buyout of $600,000, which could rise to $1.5 million, depending on performance.
Before a series of injuries last season limited Greer to 105 games, the fewest since his rookie season of 1994, he primarily was the No. 3 hitter for Texas. He averaged 106 runs scored, 99 RBIs and 20 home runs from 1996-99.
General manager Doug Melvin said the Rangers are confident that Greer, 32, is healthy.
“We’re excited about what he did in the offseason, his conditioning, and he took that step to put himself in the best shape of his career,” Melvin said. “That gave us more incentive that he made that commitment. He may end up having a career where he stays a Ranger.”
Greer strained his left hamstring in the second week last season and went on the disabled list for the first time in his career. During that six weeks away, he also had surgery to remove bone spurs from his right ankle.
After a slow start back, Greer recovered and finished with a .297 average — just short of his fifth straight .300 season — with 65 RBIs and 65 runs. Then he missed the last nine games because of a muscle inflammation on the bottom of both feet.
Greer dropped almost 20 pounds, from his weight of about 195 pounds last season, during offseason workouts. In addition to being in great shape, he has had no problems this spring with the injuries that bothered him last season.
While he may not be the prototypical leadoff hitter — with just 29 career stolen bases — Greer gets on base and scores runs. He became the most obvious leadoff hitter when the Rangers added Alex Rodriguez, Andres Galarraga and Ken Caminiti to a lineup that already included Ivan Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro.
Greer’s .307 average is the 11th-best among active players, and his .392 on base percentage is 17th-highest among active players.
All 981 of his career games have been with the Rangers, who picked him in the 10th round of the 1990 amateur draft.

• All remaining unsigned players have signed
  contracts for the 2001 season, although Mike Venafro didn’t sign, the
  Rangers renewed his contract for him.

• Brian Sikorski is signed to a 1 year contract.