Grand opening.

Rites of spring training Nadel calls a Jimmy Jack Season has begun Fun to do bad things Borbon creating havoc Makes the offense go Harden and Scheppers Seven groundouts, and no flies Present and future Prospect bats pitch in Moreland, Brown, Tracy, Gentry Is this '86?? Thirteen Ranger runs But was pitching the real story? Seven hits, one walk

A ton of interesting things to touch on from Texas 13, Kansas City 3, from Rich Harden's efficiency despite working in the upper 80s, to Matt Brown's sizzling day at the plate (and clunky one at third base), to Tanner Scheppers and Alexi Ogando tripping efficient upper-90s, to Hit Dog Mitch Moreland, to an offense that racked up more walks (five) than strikeouts (four), and a pitching staff that fanned just five itself but issued only one walk, to a Jarrod Saltalamacchia cannon blast that came on a two-strike count, to an attack that put 20 runners in scoring position – and converted on eight of them, to Julio being Julio. Still, a 10-run win to open Cactus League play is no more indicative of what this team is going to achieve in 2010 than a left fielder's prediction of 96 wins, or a team president's forecast of 92. What to make of the win total guesses? Not much. You don't go into a game in late May and say, "Hey, we're a 91-win team, so we ought to beat those guys tonight," or, riding a three-game win streak, "We're supposed to be a .500 club, so no big deal if we give a couple games back this weekend." It's about winning the next game on the schedule, no matter what the pre-season predictions say, and doing it more times over the course of the season than at least 10 other teams in the league. A 10-run win counts the same as a one-run win, and neither counts at all when it happens in March. But, yeah, as meaningless as yesterday's game was, that sure was some meaningless greatness. (Want some video highlights from the game? Check out www.foxsportssouthwest.com, where I'm also providing spring training notes most days this month. Scroll down the "Latest Headlines" on the right side for the Newberg Report entries.) There was nothing more exhilarating yesterday than listening to Scheppers and Ogando make what amounted to their pro debuts on the mound. Despite both being converted position players, the two couldn't have more different backgrounds, with Scheppers closer to pro ball in a sense than any fellow draftee last summer (having pitched in the independent leagues) and Ogando arguably further away from the minor leagues than any prospect in baseball, having been banished from stateside entry due to his getting caught up in a visa fraud scandal five years ago just as his transition from hitter to pitcher was about to kick off. Scheppers retired the Royals in order in the sixth, needing just seven pitches to get three ground ball outs, five of which were fastballs that registered between 96 and 98, all for strikes, mostly low in the zone. Ogando worked at 95-99 in the eighth, and his one strikeout came on an 89-mph change. Saltalamacchia's majestic three-run blast in the second inning, which nearly cleared the berm in right center field, came off Royals righthander Kyle Davies, whom Saltalamacchia caught twice in 2006 with AA Mississippi (on August 1, when he went 2 for 2 with two walks, and caught two no-hit innings from Davies and five no-hit innings from Matt Harrison; and again on August 11) and twice in 2007 with Atlanta (on May 27, when he hit his first big league home run [off Cole Hamels]; and on June 6). Ron Washington told reporters this week that Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden are "dead even" in the battle to win the starting catcher job. Teagarden should get today's start at catcher, with Scott Feldman, Dustin Nippert, C.J. Wilson, Neftali Feliz, and Kasey Kiker among those slated to pitch. Zack Greinke gets the Kansas City nod. Despite getting a considerable amount of work in camp at first base, Max Ramirez came off the bench to reliever Saltalamacchia behind the plate yesterday. Ramirez caught Scheppers, Ben Snyder, Ogando, and Pedro Strop, who combined to allow one unearned run on three hits and no walks in four innings, fanning three. More scheduled pitching assignments: Tommy Hunter and Harrison tomorrow. Brandon McCarthy, Guillermo Moscoso, and Luis Mendoza on Sunday. Colby Lewis (one perfect 11-pitch frame yesterday) and Derek Holland (whose knee sprain is evidently no longer an issue) on Monday. Harden and Mathis on Tuesday, when Darren Oliver is set to make his spring debut. Today's foursome then gets split, with Wilson and Feliz going on Wednesday and Feldman and Nippert pitching Thursday. One beat writer suggests that Feliz "has not yet started throwing well," which may stall his rotation candidacy enough that it never really materializes in camp. Righthanders Chris Ray and Warner Madrigal have thrown bullpens, and Holland and righthander Omar Beltre have thrown live batting practice. Progress for each of them. Righthander Eric Hurley threw a side but isn't expected to see any exhibition game action this spring. Righthander Omar Poveda had Tommy John surgery Wednesday and will miss the 2010 season. Josh Hamilton didn't play Thursday, still nursing his bruised left shoulder. He's resumed conditioning drills, hit off a tee yesterday, and is apparently shooting for game action early next week. He says throwing is causing more pain than swinging a bat right now. I'm not sure I'd seen this reported anywhere a year ago, but according to a note this week from Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, Hamilton turned down a four-year, $24 million contract offer from the Rangers last year, one that would have covered him through his arbitration seasons. For now, Nelson Cruz is hitting sixth, one spot ahead of Chris Davis, but the plan, assuming Davis earns it, is to have the two flip spots before the season begins, allowing Washington to break up the trio of Vladimir Guerrero, Ian Kinsler, and Cruz with a left-handed hitter to force more late-inning bullpen moves. When Rangers officials (including Jon Daniels, Washington, and A.J. Preller) flew down to the organization's Dominican Republic Academy last month, they had Cruz, Elvis Andrus, Borbon, Feliz, and Strop address a group of Rangers minor leaguers. An offshoot of that program was, according to ESPN's Jorge Arangure, a meeting between Washington and Cruz in which the manager challenged his right fielder to take on a greater leadership role in Arlington this season. The stories about Andrus's level of focus in camp lasted one news cycle. I sort of like that it became a story. Probably good for him. Two local reporters have suggested this week that the Rangers would like to keep Snyder (who retired the two left-handed hitters he faced yesterday) even if the Rule 5 pick doesn't make the Opening Day staff (there may not be a job open if Wilson and Oliver both start the season in the bullpen) and could approach San Francisco with a trade offer to allow them to option the lefthander to the minors, but both reports are missing a key fact: Snyder would first have to clear league-wide waivers before Texas could negotiate such a trade. Speaking of March trades: (1) one local report suggests Texas remains interested in Arizona utility infielder Augie Ojeda; (2) there's also some sentiment that St. Louis could make middle infielder Julio Lugo available and that the Rangers could be interested; and (3) Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe believes Minnesota could get in on Mike Lowell if he proves in Red Sox camp that he's healthy. Lowell took batting practice on Monday, without incident. Tim Marchman of Sports Illustrated ranked baseball's general managers on Thursday. Daniels was number eight. Said Marchman: General managers are always going on about the virtues of building a strong farm system, and what they generally mean is that they want to win major league games so they can keep their jobs. Daniels has actually built a preposterously good system (Justin Smoak, Neftali Feliz, Derek Holland) over the last few years, bringing in talent every way you can, and now has his team positioned to contend for the next several years. That he has kept the major league team perfectly respectable on modest payrolls while overseeing this rebuilding project is really very impressive, and with a good run over the next couple of years he could well move up on this list. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus released his Top 101 Prospects list this week. Feliz checked in at number three (behind Nationals righthander Stephen Strasburg and Braves outfielder Jason Heyward), Martin Perez was number 15 (the top lefthander next to number 10 Aroldis Chapman), Justin Smoak was number 17 (the top first baseman next to number 11 Chris Carter), and Scheppers was number 68. Andy Silverman (Executive Vice President, Sales) and Dale Petroskey (Executive Vice President, Marketing and Community Development) are leaving the Rangers organization. Silverman will join the Marlins, who are opening a new ballpark, as their Vice President for Sales and Service. Both have been good friends to the Newberg Report, and are true professionals. I'm happy for Victor Rojas but saddened that he's leaving MLB Network for the Angels television booth, where he'll handle play-by-play duties. The Marlins and Rays have each reportedly made offers to Hank Blalock, but in each case they are apparently minor league deals. Minor league deals: righthander Jason Jennings (Oakland), righthander Wes Littleton (Seattle), and third baseman Travis Metcalf (Colorado). Outfielder Rocco Baldelli, rumored over the winter to be a potential Rangers target, is taking a special assistant's position in the Tampa Bay front office. He's not ruling out an eventual return as a player but is limited at the moment by a shoulder injury. Seattle outfielder Milton Bradley on his miserable 2009 season with the Cubs: "Two years ago, I played, and I was good. I go to Chicago, not good. I've been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me." The Rangers are wearing a patch on their uniform sleeves this spring to honor the late Bobby Bragan. We need to have a bunch of framing done at our law firm (paintings, diplomas, etc.). If that's something you do and you're interested in the job, let me know. No broadcast of today's game (a rarity this spring). No big deal, right, since these games don't count? Can't wait for a box score. =========================================================== To join the free Newberg Report mailing list so you can get e-mail deliveries of every edition of the newsletter, daily minor league game recaps, and frequent Newberg Report News Flashes, go to www.newbergreport.com and click the "Mailing List" link on the top menu bar. (c) Jamey Newberg http://www.newbergreport.com Twitter @newbergreport If you want to be removed from this list, please e-mail me at newbergreport@sbcglobal.net Post your own review of the 2010 Bound Edition: Amazon link