Sunday Notebook: Jones Willing To Be A Part-Time Player; Rangers Remain Committed To Chris Davis And More

SURPRISE, Ariz. – Andruw Jones passed perhaps his most significant test of the spring Sunday morning: It was the test of enthusiasm.

He assured the Rangers of his desire to play for the club, even if it is in a part-time role. Jones’ willingness to accept such an assignment may very well push him on to the opening day roster and force Frank Catalanotto out.

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Farm Futures — Live From Surprise (3/22)

Surprise, AZ – The farmhands played intrasquad games this morning before getting Sunday afternoon off. I’ve got a few notes on 16-year-old right-hander Richard Alvarez, and some good, some bad and some ugly from the human toolchest, outfielder Engel Beltre.

But we’ll start off with the guy you are looking at right now. Righty Carlos Melo, who turned 18 last month, is one of the two pitchers acquired in the Gerald Laird trade and he can really, really bring the heat.

Make the jump for the rest of today’s only installment of Live From Surprise.

By the way, Our Leader stranded me at the ballpark. If anyone happens to be here taking in the Royals – Angels tilt and wants to give a part-time sportswriter a ride back to one of Surprise’s many luxury hotels after the game, please shoot me an e-mail at mjhindman@sbcglobal.net. My lumbar spine and I would be eternally grateful.

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Farm Futures Notebook

Our Leader and I got to the ballyard bright and early today. As we set up in the press box at 7:30 a.m. on this Sunday morning, a group of about 30 Rangers veterans and prospects have gathered in the stadium seats for what appears to be a semi-organized prayer service. The clouds are drifting away to reveal the mountains on the horizon and sun prepares to embark upon yet another all-out attack on my neck and ever-expanding bald spot.

I had a few notes and observations from yesterday’s minor league action that I didn’t get to in the edition of Live From Surprise that we posted last night, so I thought I’d empty out the notebook as we prepare for a Camp Day (no games).

After the jump, we’ll begin with a discussion of Leury Garcia, a shortstop who turned 18 on Wednesday and then move on to talk about 2008 second rounder Robbie Ross and a few other items.

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LAX-tra following Patriot Cup

As advertised, I’m back today to go into more detail on a couple of aspects of Dallas-area lacrosse following the two-day Patriot Cup that ended Saturday night at SMU’s Ford Stadium. In case you missed yesterday’s 12-hour thread, about 7,500 folks took in the games compared to 2,500 last year.

Now, without further ado … (more…)