↑ INF Joaquin Arias: He is seriously making a run at unseating 11-time Gold Glove winner Omar Vizquel as the backup infielder. There is no doubt he’s got better offensive skills at this point (he’s 8-for11 with a homer since returning from his father’s funeral). His arm has looked almost OK at second, but he really hasn’t been tested at short. Thing is: Vizquel’s arm is noticeably weaker, too. Neither has the arm to play third base at this point, which is why the club needs to look at Hank Blalock as a backup third base option.

↑ 1B Justin Smoak: Hits the ball very hard. While we wondered where he starts the season, the bigger question is: Might he finish it in Arlington?

↑ RHP Warner Madrigal: Competition is wide open for four spots in the bullpen. Check that. Make it three. Madrigal has taken a decided advantage over all the other relievers for a bullpen role.

↑ Extra Throwing: Outside of RHP Scott Feldman’s first outing, every starter has finished his designated number of innings for the day in his allotted number of pitches. And it seems like every one of them is heading for the bullpen to do a little extra throwing to build up the arms even more.

↓ World Baseball Classic: C-1B Max Ramirez has gotten five at-bats in Venezuela’s first six games of tournament. His playing time certainly won’t improve as the team moves into the semis. The WBC may be a thrill for him, but it may very well ruin his performance at the start of the season.

↓ RHP Thomas Diamond: The Rangers hoped he’d blossom this spring and contend for a bullpen role, but six walks in two innings made it clear he’s not ready for the big leagues and he was in the first group of players optioned to the minor leagues. If he doesn’t get it together this year, he’s in danger of being moved off the 40-man roster and exposed to the Rule 5 draft because there are others in the system who are clearly ahead of him. That would be another top pitching pick (first round, 2004) that yields nothing.