After the slowest day in Rangers news in months, welcome to your source for all things Rangers.

- Cool article in the Washington post today about how the Rangers aren’t defined by the Yu Darvish signing in their quest for the World Series title this year. I discussed on the podcast my concern for Joe Nathan but there is no denying that he is a great veteran to have helping develop your young pitchers.

“Obviously the team has been where we all want to be, and it’s pretty much the same group of guys here,” Nathan said. “I think they’re very hungry to get back where they were and be so close, so obviously they’re going to be extremely hungry to get back there. That puts me right where I need to be because I know I’m hungry to get a chance to be in that situation.”

- Jeff Wilson does a great article on his spring training assessment of the Rangers thus far. He breaks it down into several categories and one of them is Best Impressions.

RHP Yu Darvish: His new teammates have made him feel at ease while transitioning from Japan, and he’s doing his part to make them feel comfortable with him. Not only is Darvish trying to master English, he’s giving Spanish a shot, too. On the mound, he’s got the right stuff.
3B Mike Olt: It’s clear that Olt is a quality player, even though he has never played above High A. Just as impressive as his talent has been the way he has handled himself in his first big league camp. Olt watches each play of each game, and hasn’t been afraid to ask veterans for advice.
LHP Robbie Ross: He has been the best left-handed reliever in camp and is now getting a closer look. The Rangers are weighing whether sticking him in the bullpen is more important than continuing to let him develop in the minor leagues as a starting pitcher.

Robbie Ross has been on my radar for a while and I’m excited at the possibility that he could fill the void of a left-handed specialist in the bullpen.

The Rangers and Angels rivalry has clearly been heating up after the past couple of years and its clear that both teams view each other as dangerous. The Rangers decided to hold Yu Darvish out of his normal starting spot which would have been against the Angels and shortly after the Angels did the same with CJ Wilson. I see why the Rangers would want to keep the Angels from seeing Darvish in person but I’m not sure about the CJ thing. Pretty sure the Rangers are familiar with his douchiness pitching.

Good Morning Rangers Fans, 15 days until Opening Day. To be more specific, 23,253 minutes.

- In case you missed it yesterday, Scott and I spent most of the day high fiving each other over and over again because we joined forces with the delicious Grand Praire eatery and drinkery Patty Shack Burgers. Check out the announcement here.

- The Rangers took care of Derek Holland yesterday by inking him to a five-year $28 million dollar extension. Texas now has control over the rights to Derek through 2016 with 2017 and ’18 being option years. It’s incredibly satisfying to see a guy like Derek Holland get locked up like this especially when he appears to be putting it all together. Would you be upset with the next five years of your rotation being anchored by Dutch and Yu Darvish? Me either.

- The Rangers played the Cubs yesterday and won, some notables for your reading pleasure:

• Neftali Feliz threw three innings and gave up no runs. What started out as a great sign that Feliz was putting things together turned scary when he had to leave with what the club is calling “shoulder stiffness”. All signs point to this being more precautionary than anything but you hate to see your young, brand new starter, being forced out of a game with an injury.
• Young center fielder Leonys Martin hit a two-run homer. Upside.

C.J. Wilson yet again shows his out of control douchiness yesterday. From ESPNLA yesterday when asked about the Napoli prank:

• Wilson had no further comment on the matter, but when he was talking about working with a new set of Angels catchers, he named each of the six Texas Rangers catchers he had worked with over the previous few years, omitting one. When a reporter suggested it was Napoli, he replied, “Oh yeah, Napoli.”

Read more here http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/angels/post/_/id/5012/c-j-wilson-takes-a-twitter-vacation

 

Good Morning Rangers Fans, we are one work day away from the weekend. Start your day off with some customized Rangers news from your old friends Baseballdo.

Read a great article from the Fort Worth Star Telegram on Mike Maddux and what he sees out of his pitchers so far in spring training including the surprising breakout of Robbie Ross.

• “Robbie went out there and threw a good inning, then threw another good inning and another good inning,” Maddux said. “We were like, ‘That’s pretty good.’ But we’ve got to remember now that we do want to stretch him out.”
• Check out the rest of the article here including some quotes about Yu Darvish and Mike Adams.

Over on the ESPN Dallas blog there is a blurb about Robin Ventura’s thoughts on the Nolan Ryan fight not being shown on the jumbotron anymore. I’ll give you the meat of his thoughts

• “I don’t care,” Ventura said. “It’s not like I haven’t seen it.”

My favorite part of this story is the Paul Konerko recollection as he was a 17-year-old playing for the U.S. Junior National team. He actually drove to Arlington and was in the house for that particular game.

• “The story you hear is that the Rangers had hit some of the White Sox guys, and Robin stood up in the clubhouse and said, ‘If this guy hits me. I’m going out there. Be ready.’ That’s a pretty gutsy thing to say with Nolan Ryan. Sure enough, Robin got hit, and there he went,” Paul Konerkosays.”Two hours later, it was a riot,” Konerko says. “People were chanting ‘Nolan! Nolan!’ for about five innings. It was awesome.”

Great stuff, read the rest of the story here.

The Rangers played the Oakland Billy Beanes yesterday and lost another spring training game 11-7. Game notes:

• Two of the Rangers top prospects struggles pitching yesterday. Martin Perez gave up a home run to start the game and then 4 of the next 5 got on base. He actually did a good job of limiting the damage by only giving up one run in the 1st and one in the second. Seeing young pitchers struggle in spring training isn’t a big surprise and shouldn’t be looked at as an indication of talent.
• Neil Ramirez also struggled giving up four runs on five hits and after the game he felt like he was up in the zone the entire game.
• It was nice to see some of the guys that will be playing opening day make an impact. Ian Kinsler went 2 for 3 with a home run and Nelson Cruz had a bases loaded double. I can’t wait to see that in April.

The Rangers will be in Las Vegas this weekend playing the Cubs. I wonder if they will go out at all…

Spring Training is really starting to heat up  the excitement of opening day is getting closer and closer. I wanted to use this opportunity to make some predictions for the five biggest games of the season.

Game 1 - Chicago White Sox at (YOUR) Texas Rangers April 6th, 2012

After “the games that shall not be named” the ballpark will be in a frenzy trying to forget what happened last year.  Colby Lewis will be itching to prove who has better facial hair vs John “I’m better than Diamond and Volquez combined” Danks.  Before the game while watching the intro video Nolan Ryan will get so fired up he will run over to the White Sox dugout, put new Chicago manager Robin Ventura in a headlock, and give him old man noogies. They will shake hands afterwards and the Rangers win 8-5. Colby will give up 5 solo home runs.

Game 2 Texas Rangers at Detroit Tigers April 20th, 2012

Just for fun we are going to call this game a matchup of Neftali Feliz and Justin Verlander. The buildup to this game will be incredible and the Rangers will be riding high on a 13 game winning streak to start the season. It will be a pitchers duel until the 7th inning when Mitch Moreland hits a line drive off of Prince Fielders stomach which turns into an inside the park home run as Prince lies on the ground giggling. As Moreland rounds first he will stare at Prince and say “First Base is mine homey” The city of Detroit loses again. Rangers 1-0

Game 3 Anaheim Angels at Texas Rangers May 11th, 2012

This will be the first meeting of the year for the Rangers and Angels and will be quite the spectacle. Jared Weaver will be opposing Derek Holland in a match up of complete opposite personalities. Jared Weaver will give up a 5th inning grand slam to Mike Napoli and as Nap rounds the bases he will high-five Mike Soscia for giving him the opportunity to play for a winner. Weaver will go into the dugout and intimidate the bat boy to make himself feel better. Dutch will throw a gem and after the game do stand-up outside of the stadium. Rangers win 5-2.

Game 4 Texas Rangers at New York Yankees August 13th 2012

The Rangers will throw Matt Harrison out against CC Sabathia in this pivotal August game. This will be one of the few times that Matt will crumble under the pressure of Yankee Stadium. He will give up 4 runs in the first inning when A-Rod hits another meaningless regular season home run in preparation for disappearing in the playoffs. The Rangers will make a furious comeback when someone tricks Josh Hamilton into believing this is the home run derby and he will hit 5 home runs in 4 at bats (do the math).  Rangers win 14-5

Game 5 Anaheim Angels at Texas Rangers September 30th

Last game against the Angels of the year. Incredible build up as Yu Darvish pitches against CJ Wilson with a trip to the playoffs on the line. This will be a pitchers duel through the first three innings as Yu blows away every hitter he sees. In the middle of the 4th innings CJ will realize that he is missing his fencing class and will walk off the mound mid inning. Yu will pitch all nine innings and get the win propelling the Rangers into the playoffs and toward their first World Series title ever.

Good Morning Ranger Fans, today is one day closer to Opening Day.  So we have that going for us…which is nice.

Some very interesting articles on the Rangers floating around out there so let me recap.

• Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPNDALLAS.com writes about Ron Washington’s desire to make the Rangers a running team. JJT quotes Ron talking about responsible base running.

“We’re going to keep running the bases, but I want them to be more careful late in the game,” Washington said. “You can still be aggressive, but after the sixth inning you have to be 100 percent sure you can make it.

“Otherwise, you’re taking the bat out of the hands of Hamilton. Or Beltre. Or Young. Or Cruz. Or Napoli. Early in the game, we can live with it. Late in the game we can’t because we don’t want pitchers to be able to run from our guys.”

I think the Rangers are at their absolute best when they are aggressive on the basepads. The key is not to take away run opportunities from the big guns.

• The Rangers reached an agreement with the Tom Hicks owned Ballpark Real Estate for BPiA parking lot rental. Last year the Rangers actually sued them because they were overcharging for rent. Shocking that Tom Hicks is trying to screw the Rangers like he did his entire tenure as owner. Still bitter. Nonetheless they are locked up for the next two years.

Yu Darvish started the Rangers Spring Training game yesterday against the Indians. Instead of breaking it down, go read Baseballdo’s own Tim Howell who broke down the entire start here.

I found the Indians quotes about impressions of Yu Darvish interesting. These are from www.therepublic.com.

• “He has very good stuff,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “But he’s just getting in shape, so it’s not really fair to judge him.”

• “I only saw him for six pitches, one at-bat,” said Jack Hannahan, who doubled off Darvish in the second inning. “I don’t care how hard you throw, if your fastball is straight, it’s going to get hit.”

• “He’s got good life on his fastball, and he looked comfortable out there,” Kipnis said. “It doesn’t seem like he’s bothered by any situation.”

• “I had two at-bats against him and struck out,” Choo said. “But I’m not going to hit a 95 mile-an-hour fastball in February.”

I wouldn’t be surprised to see players get sick of being asked about Darvish very quickly.

Today marks the second start for prized off-season acquisition Yu Darvish, more on that later.

• Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star Telegram writes a great article on Adrian Beltre this morning. Lots of good quotes from Adrian but this one was my favorite by far.

“There’s no doubt, signing with the Rangers is the best decision so far in my career,” Beltre said. “Coming to a good ballclub that’s committed to winning, and being in a clubhouse that everyone pulls for each other and has fun, I can’t ask for more.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/03/12/3804496/beltre-hopes-second-season-with.html#storylink=cpy

It is so incredibly awesome to have a team full of players that want to be here. This team has some really special chemistry and I think that’s the reason the fans feel so connected to this team. Awesome.

• Mike Bauman of MLB.com writes about how even without CJ Wilson the Rangers pitching rotation may be even better than last year. His contention is that the incredible depth makes up for losing the team “ace” from last year.

“Add it all up and, even without Wilson, this does not appear to be a group that is suffering a collective decline. In fact, there is an argument that could be made on the other side of the issue. With continued improvement from the young pitchers, maybe the Texas rotation could even be better in 2012.”

There aren’t many times where a team can say they are better after one of their best players leaves the team but this might be one of them. Credit to the scouting department and JD for taking the risk with Yu and developing young pitching allowing them to be in this position.

• The Rangers lost another spring training game yesterday (who cares?). Here were my big takeaways:

- Matt Harrison was solid yet again. Only gave up one run in three innings of work. Love to see Matt Harrison continue to improve on his breakout season last year.

- Leonys Martin started his first game in CF yesterday and went 1-2 with a single. Love to see him getting some action in the outfield. I think he will get play full-time in the minors this year.

• Yu Darvish starts today. MLB Network and FSSW will televise the game. 3:05 CST. Yu should throw about 50 pitches. Today is awesome.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!?!

Yesterday was the long-awaited first spring training start for some guy named Yu Darvish. The Rangers took on the San Diego Padres and won 6-2, here’s what you need to know:

• Yu Darvish did nothing to calm down the anticipation and hype of Rangers fans yesterday. He pitched two scoreless innings and gave up two doubles. Some say Yu threw six or seven pitches, Ron Washington feels like that’s a little high.
• He pitched entirely out of the stretch which was a little surprising but according to Mike Maddux, he pitched out of the stretch in a bullpen session and wanted to continue in this game. Hey, whatever works my friend.
• Three of Darvish’s six outs were via the strikeout. The big thing I noticed where how many swinging strikes he induced. A good indication that he has the ability to get the strikeout when needed.
• Darvish showed some real swagger on the mound during the game and after. When discussing the double off the wall in the second inning. When asked about the hit Darvish said he didn’t think it was hit very squarely. Venable didn’t seem pleased with the Darvish assessment when asked about it ”Maybe his perception of reality isn’t as right-on as … well … no comment,”
• Yu also showed some athleticism on defense when he snagged a bouncer up the middle and covered first on a hard hit to Michael Young.

Today the Rangers will play the Chicago White Sox and there is almost as much intrigue in this game without the Yu Darvish storyline. 

• Neftali Feliz will start his journey of converting from closer to starter today. Going to be interesting to see how he changes his approach and pace.
• New free agent closer Joe Nathan should get into the game today for the first time this spring. Joe Nathan who is 37 years old could be an awesome veteran presence in the bullpen if he can regain the form he had before Tommy John surgery.

John Daniels was on ESPN radio yesterday and talked about the Josh Hamilton comments earlier in spring training regarding his contract status.  He wasn’t pleased with the wording of Hamilton’s comments around playing hard for the Rangers and had this to say “He says, ‘Well, I play hard, I give it what I have with the Rangers. For me, that’s in the job description. That’s the expectation. You don’t get extra credit for that.”  I would be really happy if this would just go away. Its baseball time.

I woke up this morning and there was a YU DARVISH START UNDER THE TREE!!!!

Before we get to that, there was a spring training game played yesterday. Although it doesn’t matter, the Rangers pounded the Arizona Diamondbacks 16-3 giving them their first Cactus League victory. Here’s what you need to know about it:

• Elvis continued his scorching spring so far with a 2-2 day and a sacrifice fly. Can you imagine this lineup with Elvis consistently getting on base for Josh, Nelly, Beltre, and Napoli???
• Leonys Martin got a chance to play centerfield yesterday when he replaced Julio Borbon. He made some great defensive plays and hit a home run. Pretty good for a guy who found out yesterday that he wouldn’t get a chance at playing center field this year in the major leagues.
• My favorite thing about yesterdays game was Matt Harrison pitching an efficient two innings. He threw only 22 pitches. If you haven’t read it yet, check out my love affair with Matt Harrison.
• Josh Hamilton said yesterday while talking to ESPN Radio 103.3 that he would rather play center field than left field. This makes for an interesting battle over spring training and in my opinion gives David Murphy more hope for regular playing time. We’ll keep an eye on this as it plays out.

YU DARVISH STARTS TODAY!!!!!!

Game should start around 1:45 to 2:00 and will be webcast on www.TexasRangers.com

Don’t expect to see all that Yu has to offer in terms of pitches but its going to be cool to see our prized off-season acquisition in action for the first time today.

Things I love about spring:

1. How excited weathermen get knowing there are going to be some all-nighters soon with ridiculous Texas spring storms

2. I can open my windows and paint doesn’t melt off the walls.

3. Restaurant patios, beer on restaurant patios, food on restaurant patios…you get the idea.

4. BASEBALL TO TALK ABOUT EVERYDAY!

Speaking of baseball, the Rangers took on the Royals again yesterday in the second Cactus league game of the young Spring schedule. Here are some of the notables:

• Fairly pointless to even mention the score but in case you care, Rangers lost a heartbreaker 6-7
• Derek Holland started this game going two innings and giving up one run. Holland made it clear that he was working on his off speed stuff to prepare for the season but there is still work to be done. Holland talked about it after the game  ”I’ve made some big adjustments and it’s softer than last year. My teammates can see it. I need to slow it down a little bit, but I’m getting it over to strikes. I had good action, just a little bit firm.”
• Tiny Elvis was the biggest offensive bright spot for the Rangers with two singles and a triple in the game. Elvis as an offensive weapon makes this lineup EVEN MORE scary.
• Texas will get away from those pesky Royals today and go play the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Mike Napoli should be behind the plate again today testing the ankle.
• Next week the Rangers pitchers will get an extra day of rest since one game will be started by rookie Martin Perez. This should be an exciting game if you care to see what one of the Rangers top prospects has against major league hitters.
• WEDNESDAY IS YU DARVISH DAY!!!!!! I’m sure the Rangers aren’t but I am certainly looking past todays game as the excitement builds for Yu’s debut against another team in real game action. This is spring training, and you won’t see the Yu that will be pitching in the regular season but its fun nonetheless.