Rangers Battling Clubhouse Flu Pandemic

ARLINGTON - The Rangers sick bay now has three patients. And counting.

Assistant GM Thad Levine confirmed that both LHP Eddie Guardado and INF Omar Vizquel both were unavailable with flu-like symptoms on Tuesday a day after putting RHP Frank Francisco on the DL with walking pnuemonia. Levine said there was a significant differences in the illnesses Guardado and Vizquel are dealing with and the viral infection that has knocked Francisco out of action.

Levine also said the club is taking precautions to try and ensure the flu bug doesn’t spread further. He also said team doctors do not believe the problem to be related to Swine Flue. It’s uncertain if other members of the team have been dealing with the issue.

“We’ve spoken with our doctors and they don’t think what we have is contagious,” Levine said. “We are taking precautions and we have a very clean clubhouse. We sent Eddie home [Tuesday] as a precaution against anything else.”