5. I asked Jon Daniels the other day to give me an under-the-radar player to watch, maybe even on the back fields here on the Surprise campus. The name: Doug Deeds. And what do you know? Deeds started last night in left field and singled his first time up. Dude has a sweet lefty swing.
4. In the second inning this announcement was made: "There is a red Cadillac in the parking lot, license plate number blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Your doors are locked...and the car is running." I know I'm in the retirement land of give-ups and grannies, but how is that possible?
3. I know he doesn't have a place on this team -- he's fresh out of chances after being handed the first base job numerous times -- but Chris Davis is having a dazzling spring. Last night he spanked a double to the power gap in his first at-bat, launched a homer to right-center next time up and finished 3 for 3. For the spring he's hitting .405 with a team-leading 11 RBI. Somebody's going to get a good, still relatively young player (he turns 25 today). Just won't be the Rangers. Davis is hinting at a trade, and considering the Rangers have Mitch Moreland at first and Adrian Beltre at third he might get it. Unless, that is, the Rangers decide they need an insurance policy in the minors. Unless, that is, super utility man Michael Young gets his trade outta here first.
2. C.J. Wilson wasn't his ace-sharp self. He allowed a first-inning homer to Ty Wigginton, surrendered seven hits in five innings, walked one and slipped and fell trying to make a play on a slow grounder. Two weeks from tomorrow Wilson faces off against Boston's Jon Lester in the April 1 season-opener at Rangers Ballpark.
1. Yes, there are times when we're going to miss Vladimir Guerrero. But Beltre smacked a single and a homer his first two times up and he plays a Gold Glove-ish third base. Vlad, in case you missed it, signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Yuck.
