We start this morning with a couple of photos taken by Channel 5’s Newy Scruggs from Nolan Ryan’s press conference…

1. Occasionally you read stories about the financial troubles about the Dodgers and the Mets, and you hear them being described as one of the “premier” franchises or the “crown jewels” of baseball. Just wondering – other than being lucky enough to be in a big market – what it takes to be one of the “crown jewels” of franchises.

Never heard of the Oakland Athletics being considered a “crown jewel” but they have won four World Series since division play began in 1969. Only the Yankees have won more. The Dodgers, Red Sox, Phillies and Mets have won two World Series since then, same as the Marlins, Pirates, Orioles and the Twins. The Reds and the Cardinals have won three.

2. Nolan Ryan on the increased media attention with Yu Darvish: “That’s one of the things that the more success we’ve had and the attention we’ve received the last couple of years, with the attention he brings, I don’t think our guys will view it differently. They’re used to the attention.

3. Jim Bowden of ESPN said that free agent pitcher Roy Oswalt could decide by Thursday which team he will sign with for this season. Based on what club officials have been saying, it would be a shock if he signs with the Rangers.

4. Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said that all 32 pitchers and six catchers are in Arizona and will be at Thursday’s workout.

5. Legend has it that during Spring Training, Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean was so incensed at giving up seven runs in an inning that he hit seven straight batters. Too bad there is no documentation for that.

6. Former TCU great Pete Donuhue died on this date in 1988. He was a three-time 20-game winner for the Reds in the 1920s.

7. Spring Training in Texas? Used to happen all the time. Mineral Wells, Marlins Springs, Waxahachie and Galveston were all popular spots in the first half of the 20th century. So was San Antonio. Been to Hot Wells, Texas? The Cardinals trained there in 1915-17. That is in Harris County. Cosmetics queen Mary Kay Ash was born in Hot Wells in 1918.

8. Greg Maddux has 355 career wins. Ryan has 324. They rank top two for most wins by a pitcher in Texas. Third? James “Hippo” Vaughn. The Weatherford native won 178. Roger Clemens was born in Ohio.

9. Ryan won 51 games for the Rangers in 1989-93. But the pitcher born in Texas to win the most games as a Ranger? Bonham’s Danny Darwin with 55.

The Rangers have hired former Toronto All-Star Shortstop Tony Fernandez as a special assistant to GM Jon Daniels.  Fernandez will be in uniform during Spring Training.

More on the website later.

We’re off and running on the birthday of George Washington, Don Pardo, Jeri Ryan and Drew Barrymore.

1. Remember when Colby Lewis bunted into a double play in the second inning of Game 6 of the World Series? Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine does and that is why he has his pitchers working on the slash play in the batting cages during Spring Training.

“The thought was that I felt the American League lost the world championship [last year] because they didn’t have a slash play,” Valentine said according to MLB.Com’s Ian Browne who covers the Red Sox.

A slash play is when the batter shows bunt and then pulls his bat back and swings away. Manager Ron Washington would have preferred Lewis do the slash and swing away in that situation.

“And when there’s men on first and second in Game 6 [of the World Series] and the Cardinals put the wheel play on and they were standing in the batter’s box and the bunt went foul — if that was a slash, they call off the wheel play, they move one guy over, it becomes second and third and the Rangers are the World Champions,” Valentine said.

2. Washington said there is one big difference between Yu Darvish and Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Washington said Darvish can get hitters out throwing the ball in the strike zone while Matsuzaka relies on hitters chasing pitches.

“(Darvish) can power a baseball,” Washington said. “He can throw a fastball up or down, he’s got a couple of breaking balls, a hard slider and a changeup. He’s got more weapons than Daisuke. With Daisuke, they stopped swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. You do that with this guy, you could be walking back to the bench.

“He is a Japanese pitcher with a power arm. Most Japanese pitchers reliy on deception. He looks like he can power the baseball.”

3. If you are going to the Rangers workouts on Thursday, be advised that the entrance for fans to the complex is now on the east side off of Bullard Ave. There is free parking located across the street on Bullard. Fans used to enter on the west side off of Parkview but had to drive to the other side to gain entrance to Surprise Stadium off of Bullard. Now it’s one-stop parking for both.

4. Interesting that Darren Oliver, who is represented by former Ranger Jeff Frye, signed a $4.5 million deal with the Blue Jays. That was on Jan. 9. On Feb. 1, the Blue Jays signed Francisco Cordero for one year at $4.5 million. Which means that it is either good to be represented by Frye or to be one of the few quality left-handed relievers on the free agent market. Wonder if the Rangers would rather have Koji Uehara at $4 million or Oliver at $4.5 million right about now.

5. If you see former Rangers coach Don Wakamatsu today, wish him a happy 49th birthday.

6. Jack Graney was a hot-shot rookie pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in 1908. Actually they were called the Naps because of Hall of Fame player-manager Nap Lajoie. The Indians had the 22-year-old left-hander throw batting practice and first up was Lajoie. Graney hit him in the head with a pitch and this was back before they wore batting helmets. Lajoie was knocked out. Graney was later summoned to the manager’s hotel suite and tried to apologize but Lajoie wasn’t interested in hearing it. Instead Graney was sent to Triple A Portland. He later played 13 years in the Majors but it was as an outfielder.

7. Washington said he’ll meet with the pitchers on Thursday but will only stress the importance of staying healthy and not trying to make the club on the first day. The big speech will be saved for the first full-squad workout.

8. Early work on Tuesday: Craig Gentry working on his bunting with first base coach Gary Pettis. The Rangers had 19 bunt hits last year, tied for ninth in the American League. Gentry had two of them.

9. The Rangers led the league with 177 infield hits. Their hitters also led the league by reaching base 75 times by error. That includes 12 for Elvis Andrus, most in the league. Andrus was also the only player in the Majors to steal home twice.

Pitcher Koji Uehara doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. General manager Jon Daniels said he has no trades planned right now. The Rangers are going into camp with the idea that Uehara will be on the team.

Daniels also said nothing has changed as far as Roy Oswalt and the Rangers have no plans to sign him at this point.

The Rangers have acquired left-handed pitcher Kelvin De La Cruz from the Indians for cash considerations. He goes on the 40-man roster and might be another candidate for a job in the bullpen.

Here is the release from the Rangers:

The Texas Rangers announced today that the club has acquired left-handed pitcher Kelvin De La Cruz (#71) from Cleveland in exchange for cash considerations.

 De La Cruz, 23, went 5-6 with a 4.19 ERA (40 ER/86.0 IP) in 23 games/16 starts for Akron (AA) in 2011, holding left-handed batters to a .143 (13-91) average.  He has been primarily a starter throughout his professional career, although he made 6 of his 12 pro relief appearances at the end of last season.  Still seeking his first action above Double-A, he has averaged 8.9 strikeouts per 9 innings and 0.6 home runs allowed per 9 innings in his career.  He also made one appearance for Triple-A Columbus in the International League playoffs last year and had 6 games with the Cibao Eagles in the Dominican Winter League.

 De La Cruz was designated for assignment by Cleveland on February 13 and goes on the Rangers’ big league roster.  For his career, he is 32-28 with a 4.21 ERA (213 ER/455.1 IP) in 105 games/93 starts since signing with Cleveland as a free agent on December 4, 2004.

 With this trade, the Rangers now have 59 players in the club’s major league spring training camp: a full 40-man roster and 19 non-roster invitees.

Yu Darvish has arrived in camp. Darvish showed up in an SVU sitting in the back seat. He apparently doesn’t drive. He got here and was greeted by Rangers scout Joe Furukawa and public relations VP John Blake.

He walked past a couple dozen members of the Japanese media without saying anything. They got about a 15 second video of him walking from the parking lot to the clubhouse.

Darvish is not expected to talk to the media until Thursday.

This will get you started on the first day of the Musikahan Festival…

1. Charley Pride, the legendary country music star, Negro League baseball player and Rangers part-owner, was talking to pitcher Matt Harrison on Monday and asked him if he knew him if he had ever heard of Warren Spahn, the Hall of Fame left-hander.

Harrison, to his great credit, said he had heard of Spahn.

Said Pride, “I hit a single off him and got picked off first base. I hit a double off him and got picked off second. I could hit but I couldn’t run. He had the greatest pickoff move I ever saw.”

2. Forget Scott Boras, the smartest agents of the off-season? Dave Pepe and Billy Martin Jr. They represent Joe Nathan, the Rangers new closer. They got him signed early in the off-season for two years and $14.75 million with the Rangers. That was well before Francisco Cordero took a one-year $4.5 million deal with the Blue Jays and Ryan Madson accepted a one-year $8.5 million contract with the Reds. Pepe and Martin out-hustled their competition.

3. Ivan Rodriguez , still looking for a job, said to the Associated Press, “It has been a tough market for veterans. There are a lot of guys who have won championships and have playoff experience to offer teams with no jobs. It’s hard to believe.’

4. Interesting that Roy Oswalt has turned down overtures from the Red Sox and the Tigers. He wants to pitch for the Cardinals and the Rangers because they are close to his home in Mississippi, but both teams don’t have a spot in their rotation. The Red Sox and the Tigers had openings and he doesn’t appear interested. That seems to send up a red flag when a pitcher shuns a couple of ideal baseball spots only because he wants to be close to home.

5. Other former Rangers who are still free agents: Vladimir Guerrero, Michael Gonzalez and Doug Davis. Also, presumably, Milton Bradley and Gary Mathews Jr.

6. Left-handed reliever Neal Cotts has signed with the Rangers but does not have an invitation to Spring Training. He still has one distinction that no other player has under Rangers contract. He played for the White Sox when they won the World Series in 2005. No Rangers player in camp has ever played for a team that has won a World Series.

7. On Feb. 21, 1957, Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley traded Fort Worth. He traded the city to the Cubs for their rights to Los Angeles.  One year later he was on his way to Los Angeles from Brooklyn.

8. Yu Darvish is expected in camp today.

9. All those photographers waiting around for Darvish today should also remember that it was on Feb. 21, 1947 that Edwin Land demonstrated the first “instant camera” at a meeting of the Optical Society of America. That was the iconic Polaroid Land Camera.