Surprise Day 8

Spring training enters week number two, and thankfully it has been a quiet camp so far. The main talk in Surprise has centered around the World Baseball Classic and the new players. In February, no news is definitely good news. Injuries have been few, so spring training is going as planned so far.

Manager Buck Showalter is having conversations with each individual outfielder about which position they might be likely to play during the season. There are plenty of options, as all of the outfielders are versatile and can play multiple positions. However, newcomer Brad Wilkerson will probably start in center field according to Showalter. After him, the rest of the outfield defense will probably be decided by what happens in spring training.

One of those outfielders, David Dellucci, will skip the World Baseball Classic. Dellucci has decided that he wants to stay with the team for the duration of spring training instead of playing for Italy. That is certainly a positive development.

Francisco Cordero threw off a mound for seven minutes, the first time he has thrown off a raised surface for quite some time. The Rangers are still hopeful that he will skip the upcoming tournament.

It's getting closer to the first spring training game. The Rangers will take on the Kansas City Royals on March 2 in Surprise.