Around the Horn: Tuesday

Some good stuff out there today . . .

Baseball Time in Arlington has a fantastic scouting report on Justin Smoak, our 2008 first round pick. It even explains the basics of scouting ratings and what are called the "five tools". Of particular note was the comment that it is not unreasonable to expect Smoak to produce .290/.385/.525 year in and year out.

ESPN.com's Doug Mittler penned an article several days ago about the only NFL and MLB teams to not have reached their respective championships. There are only eight teams. There are only three baseball teams. Our beloved Rangers, of course, are lucky enough to make this elite list, along with the Mariners and the Nationals. Interesting article, but he loses me when he blames most of this on former owner George W. Bush. To me, this screams, "I don't really know anything about the Rangers."

TR Sullivan reports that the Rangers are close to bringing Eddie Guardado back. Given how desperately our bullpen needs help, I like this move. Guardado pitched well last year (3.65 ERA in 55 games for the Rangers), he will mostly likely pitch against lefties, and he's a good role model for our young pitchers.

Jamey Newberg makes a similar note about Guardado, and later states his fear that the A's will snatch Sheets for a one-year deal. That scares me too, especially since the Rangers have been fairly quiet about Sheets as of late.

Bizarre note on the NBC-DFW Blog on how Rangers game are (allegedly) moving to 105.3 FM. It appears that no official announcement has been made. This is a bit shocking to me, since the only stations that have broadcast the Rangers in my time have been WBAP and KRLD, and I have not heard any talk of an expiring contract.