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More Rangers Notes: Andruw Jones’ Dutch Treat

Andruw Jones, a native of Curacao, spent Tuesday night glued to his TV watching The Netherlands oust the powerful Dominican Republic from the World Baseball Classic. Jones played for the 2006 Netherlands entry, but had to decline an invitation this season in order to try and win a job.

Being nearly 2,000 miles away in Arizona, however, couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. And he got in a little good-natured digging at Domincan-born reliever Frank Francisco.

“I was really excited for them,” Jones said. “I would have loved to be there, but the situation came up where I had a chance to go out and continue my career. I had to do that. What surprised me was how good the [Netherlands'] pitching was. I didn’t know they had that many arms. I know a lot of guys who play for the team, but didn’t know about the pitchers.”

Jones, however, said that the “upset” shouldn’t be viewed as quite such an upset. He said teams from The Netherlands, comprised mostly of kids from Aruba and Curacao, have often competed well on the amateur level against elite teams from Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

“But this is the first time we’ve done it on the pro level.”

Because Jones flatly declined the invitation to play, he was not even placed on The Netherlands provisional roster. Had he been on that roster, he could have potentially been added for the second round games which begin this weekend. The Netherlands opens the second round against Venezuela Saturday in Miami. Jones will likely be facing the Chicago White Sox in Glendale.

• Though his velocity was a very average 85-87 mph, RHP Jason Jennings pitched a scoreless inning on Thursday against Seattle and will attempt to stretch to two innings Saturday. Jennings, who is coming back from arm surgery, is in camp on a minor league contract and is not likely to be a factor for the opening day roster. He has an option to escape his contract if not on the roster by April 1, but has given the Rangers an indication he’d be willing to go to Triple-A for a month if there are no major league jobs offered to him.

Jennings said he feels like his arm strength is at about 80-85 percent of its normal strength. More significant, he said, was improvement in repeating his pitching mechanics.

“I had a lot better rhythm,” Jennings said. “I was able to locate my fastball well. I was able to get ahead of hitters and stay ahead of them. That puts me on the offensive and them on the defensive. And that’s how it has to be.”

• The return of OFs Nelson Cruz and Frank Catalanotto from the World Baseball Classic could cause some playing time issues for outfielders in camp. The most likely to suffer are Brandon Boggs, Greg Golson and Julio Borbon. It wouldn’t be surprising if Borbon is among the first round of cuts so that he can go get more at-bats in the minors. It would allow the Rangers to give more at-bats to starter Josh Hamilton, Marlon Byrd and Andruw Jones. … RHP Luis Mendoza was scheduled to play catch Thursday for the first time since popping a blister on his right middle finger Tuesday. The club will re-evaluate him Friday.