No Pepper Games

* Jon Daniels' big winter adventure continues, as the Texas Rangers came to terms with four of its seven arbitration-eligible players. The biggest news was Mark Teixeira's two-year deal, but the sum of the work Daniels' team did with the group impressed me the most. Both Teixeira and Brad Wilkerson are Scott Boras clients. I may be reading too much into it, but that Boras was willing to deal readily with the Rangers on both gives me a little bit of hope for 2008, when Tex's next contract comes due.

Kevin Mench's arbitration hearing will be the toughest thing for Daniels to deal with next. With all of the frustration Mench has had in contract dealings with the Rangers in the past, I'm willing to bet it won't be a pretty conversation. Civil, but not pleasant. I really hope they work something out for a decent amount of time -- not just from a blind fan's standpoint, but from a stats perspective as well. Shrek produces from anywhere in the order you place him, and his fielding has only gotten better while he's been roving the outfield.

* The fine, upstanding young men and women who make up Hank's Homies have a petition site up to try and convince Roger Clemens to make Arlington his home for the remainder of his career. RangersForRocket.com had over 300 signatures at last glance, and with the pub the site got from the Star-Telegram today, that number should sky-Rocket! Rock me.

* I know I should be more excited about the coming inaugural World Baseball Classic, but I'm simply non-plussed about it all. I guess a lot of it has to do with the Alex Rodriguez circus. "Will he play?" "What country will he play for?" "What did he have for lunch?" Spare me. I hope I can get into it more once the tournament kicks off. The concept is sound, and I hope it will kill off the goofy-ass Home Run Derby trickery of "North America Against The World." Blergh.

* I do occasional work for Jamey Newberg, getting his annual Bound Edition book ready for prime time. I'm trying to drag him into more ventures, and my latest bright idea is developing a podcast for NewbergReport.com. My hope is that it will be a good combination of his insight into the Rangers' organization, and interviews with players and staff. More details as it gets closer to launch in the next couple of weeks.

* My big wish for the 2006 season (other than an ALCS berth for the Rangers) is a complete lack of steroid drama. The 2005 post-season was an amazing one, and yet all I can remember is Rafael Palmiero wagging his fingers at the Congressional dog and pony show in March. I almost typed, "With luck, players will figure out how to stay off the juice," but the tears from my hearty laughter were too hard to ignore.

* 28 days.