Surprise Day 6

Josh Rupe is picking up steam in his pursuit of the fifth spot in the rotation. Last year he got off to a miserable start in the minors, but he steadily improved as the summer wore on and wound up in Arlington by season's end, making four successful appearances. Now Rupe is pitching well in spring training and has impressed new pitching coach Mark Connor. Don't be surprised if he is on the team come April.

R.A. Dickey also has his eye on making the club. Dickey has recently made the conversion to a knuckleball pitcher and spent the offseason working with former Ranger Charlie Hough. The knuckleball that Dickey offers would add a different dimension to the rotation that could perhaps throw opposing teams off balance.

Other possible candidates for the rotation include Edison Volquez, C.J. Wilson, and John Wasdin. Volquez is one of the top pitching prospects in the Rangers system, but he probably needs another year. Wilson will probably make the team, but it's more likely he'll make it as a reliever since he had more success in that role last year. Wasdin is an emergency option at best.

There's good news on the World Baseball Classic watch. Both David Dellucci and Francisco Cordero appear to be leaning towards backing out. This would keep both players under the team's control for the whole of spring training, minimizing the risk of injury. Hopefully both players will say no.

Mark Teixeira's wife gave birth to a son Monday morning, Jack Gordon. Everyone in the family is doing fine, so Teixeira should be back in camp shortly. Adam Eaton is participating in workouts again after recovering from back spasms.

The Rangers also held their annual team meeting on Monday at the public library. Tom Hicks was present, and Buck Showalter spoke to the team. He didn't say much, but the team knows the goal. Anything less than a division title will be a disappointment.