Texas Rangers Quick Cuts

A few quick hits as Texas Rangers Spring Training gets rolling.

Former Rangers’ partner Chuck Greenberg bought the Rangers AA affiliate in Frisco last year. Thursday, the RoughRiders unveiled new branding and uniforms with a cartoon Teddy Roosevelt as an icon. Teddy has a big stick, but does not have a sweet swing.

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The Texas Rangers opted to extend their contract with Adrian Beltre for 2016, in return, Beltre reworked his contract to free up a little salary room for the Rangers. This is a good thing for everyone – the team, for Beltre and the fans. That is, everyone not named Joey Gallo.

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Does anyone look more comfortable standing with a bat across his shoulders than new manager Jeff Banister?

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Josh Hamilton’s relapse is tragic. But MLB’s consideration of leniency because of his efforts to stay clean misses the point of the punishment. If they are deciding that punishment makes no difference to the truly addicted, then what good is it? Try not to do dope and you can still play after a wrist slap? If new Commish Rob Manfred wants to make a stand on drugs, here’s the place.

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Commish Manfred’s new rules on speeding up the pace of play aren’t really new rules. They’re just enforcing the existing spirit of the rulebook. Wonder what former Ranger and Cleveland Indian Mike “The Human Rain Delay” Hargrove thinks about this. Hargrove’s pre-swing routine was legendary. And long.

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Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that if Hamilton gets suspended the Angels might not have to pay his $8 million contract for 2015. That could go a long way towards healing some of LAA’s large dollar misfires.  Not great news for the team in Arlington.

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Single game tickets are on sale! You can’t get to the Ballpark for the ice, and the phone operators can’t get to the phone to take orders, but the tickets are on sale.

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“Never Ever Quit.” “Why not us?” “We’ve shut the door on last year.” Jeff Banister is a man meant for the age of hashtags.

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New attitudes. New manager. New healthy players, and the same old underwhelming expectations from the rest of the world. The Rangers are picked to finish anywhere from last to fourth in the AL West.

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The Rangers Winter of Rehab brings Derek Holland, Shin-Soo Choo, Mitch Moreland and Prince Fielder to Spring Training in their best health in months. In Fielder’s case maybe years. The saying that hope springs eternal has never applied more to the Rangers.

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2015 will be the year that Jon Daniels proves that he is either a for real baseball brain who can do it outside of the shadow of John Hart or Nolan Ryan, or not. This is Daniels’ team and his manager. It’s put up or shut up time for the President and GM, but also for his detractors.

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Jurickson Profar had successful shoulder surgery to repair his torn labrum. Until his surgery, most Ranger fans didn’t even know they had a labrum or how to tear it without taking off your pants.

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We’re a month from Opening Day and there’s 3 inches of snow across DFW. April cannot come soon enough.

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Next: Jeff Banister is Fulfilling a Dream