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SURPRISE, Ariz. – Not three weeks ago, I set up the big issues of spring training this way in the paper and on the Website:

• Kevin Millwood must bounce back.

• Brandon McCarthy must prove he's durable.

• C.J. Wilson must prove he's got the smarts to be a closer.

Well, now, how prophetic am I? In the first 10 days of camp, Millwood has gone down with a sore hamstring; McCarthy has a sore elbow; and Wilson has a sore throat from apparently shoving his foot way down deep inside it.

Wilson, as you may have read this morning, first suggested he had nobody to talk politics with in the clubhouse in an espn.com story last week. Then, he took that a little further by using a derogatory remark to describe the average major league baseball player in a lively conversation on lonestarball.com (which along with newbergreport.com are the two Rangers blogs outside of our own that I regularly read).

This did not sit well with his teammates. They might have been willing to let the political insult slide by, but after he called the average player a name, they decided it was time to have an intervention with Wilson about his blogging habit.

Kevin Millwood and Michael Young, um, discussed it with Wilson. Normally talkative, Wilson didn't want to discuss the incident on Tuesday afternoon.

Now, the Rangers believe the injuries to Millwood and McCarthy to be minor, and if that's true, the Wilson issue is a far bigger problem. Although Wilson lives clean, works hard and can be an engaging personality, his online habits could earn him the perception of being a bad teammate. As a closer, you don't want to be a pariah. More often than not, you are going to be the guy on the mound at the end of the most heartbreaking of losses during a season.

You need to be able to have teammates who are willing to pick you up. When you are down, you need a pat on the back from a teammate saying "We'll get you next time." You are going to have the hard stare of opposing players and fans on you; you don't need to see the same thing staring at you from your dugout and from the rest of the guys on the field.

Wilson is a creative person with a lot of energy, and he's more than happy to share that with people. But being a good teammate, somebody the rest of the team believes in, requires actually giving up some individuality. It's something Wilson may still have to learn.

But, in a way, his poor choice of words this week could end up being good for Wilson. Make no mistake, the players that confronted him were blunt and direct in their, um, discussions. If Wilson is smart as he professes to be and if he actually heard those players admonishments, he will make the proper adjustments. "Blueglovelefty" (the name under which he posts) may lose some of his audience, but he may gain the respect of his teammates.

Q: Do you notice a trend in the way general manager Jon Daniels is putting together a very strong "up the middle" defense and offense that could possibly help make even an average rotation a winner? He seems to be doing this in the minors as well, and I think that once the pitching catches up, things will turn around in a hurry – a big IF, I know.

GRANT: The plan is for the defense all over the field to be better now and in the future and the premier defensive spots are catcher, the middle infielders and center field. And any GM who has read Branch Rickey's biography will tell you that improving the defense in the middle is the quickest way to improve a pitching staff.

The Rangers made defense just as much a priority as offense in rebuilding the outfield after last year. They saw significant improvement at second base after Ian Kinsler came back from the disabled list. Art Howe and Ron Washington are spending more time on individual work with Michael Young than last year. Gerald Laird and Jarrod Saltalamacchia are pretty athletic behind the plate, and the Rangers are hoping the addition of energetic Matt Walbeck as catching instructor will help make them even better. Yes, there is a real effort to improving the defense up the middle.

How much of an effort is best demonstrated by what's going on in the minor leagues. Center fielders Engel Beltre and Julio Borbon, middle infielders Elvis Andrus and German Duran, and catchers Taylor Teagarden, Cristian Santana and Max Ramirez were all among the top 20 Rangers we ranked in January. Baseball America puts six of the seven in their top 20 (with Ramirez at No. 23). And four of those seven were acquired after June 1 last year.

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Q: Milton Bradley was expected to start the season as the DH until his knee is healthy enough to return to the field. How is his recovery, and has a preliminary timetable been set for his return to the field? I have read that power for hitters comes from their hips, and it seems to me that some of this rotational force would be transfered to the knees. Assuming that this is true, would this not hinder Bradley's ability to drive the ball and perhaps turn on inside pitches? Additionally, wouldn't the act of hitting prolong his recovery? How does the strain of hitting (assuming it exists) differ from the strain of fielding?

Patrick, Somerville, Mass.

GRANT: Bradley and the Rangers maintain he's ahead of schedule. He is doing everything in drills, except running full speed defensive routes. He did not, however, play in the intrasquad game, even as DH, on Monday. I don't expect to see him in the lineup in any shape or form until sometime next week at the earliest.

I will be surprised if he plays any outfield in spring training and doubt he'd do it before the middle of April in a regular-season game. My only past experience with an outfielder coming off this kind of surgery (the repair of both of the anterior cruciate and medial collatarel ligaments) was Carl Everett in 2002. Everett had the surgery Bradley underwent last September in December of 2001 and obviously that slowed his recovery. But he tried to play center field on opening night 2002 and clearly wasn't ready to make all the cuts necessary to field the position.

Bradley has had more rehab time, but I'm expecting the Rangers to be extremely cautious with him. They've got other attractive center field options for the first month in Marlon Byrd and David Murphy. Bradley should be OK to DH by the start of the season, so the Rangers won't miss his bat.

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Q: Noting the need for leadership in the clubhouse, who are some pitchers the Rangers would be eyeing in the Cubs system to go along with Matt Murton? I would imagine that they would go for some nice up side high Class A pitchers but it sure would be nice to see a solid Class AA player instead.

Nace Lanier, Washington D.C.

GRANT: You are referring to talks the Rangers had with the Chicago Cubs regarding Marlon Byrd. As mentioned just above, Byrd holds practical importance for the Rangers as a fielder beyond the "leadership" intangible. Murton can't play all three outfield positions; Byrd can and well.

For the Rangers to make this deal, they are probably going to want the Cubs' top pitching prospect, 21-year-old right-hander Jose Ceda or their No. 3 prospect, 23-year-old lefty Donald Veal. Veal pitched at Double-A last year. There are a lot of analysts out there who think the Cubs would be crazy to part with that much. But the Rangers aren't pursuing this trade; it's the Cubs. The Rangers are perfectly comfortable with Byrd in their outfield.

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Q: The Rockies' success last year was interesting, a little like the Tigers the year before, where a young team came together quicker than expected. Many Rangers fans are hoping something similar happens in Texas some time in the next three years. My question is how does a team sustain the success? The Tigers couldn't sustain it, and people are betting against the Rockies repeating the miracle. How do teams such as Cleveland, Detroit, Arizona and Colorado keep it going?

J.C., Austin

GRANT: I think what you are really asking is: How do you guarantee long-term success?

The answer: You can't.

The Braves of the 1990s and the Yankees since the mid-'90s are freaks of the system. Both teams went through long periods without success, cut meddling owners out of the picture and built a farm system from the ground up. And when they are in position to win, they had both resources and cunning at their disposal. Those are dynasties.

Dynasties are rare. Regardless of who the "breakthrough" team is from year-to-year (Colorado in 2007, Detroit in 2006, Chicago White Sox in 2005, etc.), the only way to build for the long-haul is to invest in scouting and player development, let the baseball operations staff make the baseball decisions without the interference of an impatient owner or impatient fan base, and hope that when you are in a position to contend that the extra resources will be there to allow you to add a free agent here or there. It also helps if you've got a well-respected general manager with whom other teams are willing to deal.

It's not a quick process. Atlanta was awful from 1985-90. The Yankees averaged 91 losses from 1989-92. Colorado really embarked on building right in 2002 and went four consecutive years with at least 89 losses. Detroit lost 119 games in 2003 and 90 in each of the next two years. But underneath all of those losses, those teams were drafting high, trading off valuable veteran pieces and generally re-organizing. I expect all the teams you mentioned in your question to contend this year.

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Q: Besides obvious ethical reasons, at the beginning of the season what would keep the Rangers from putting a player such as Robinson Tejedawho is out of options on disabled list, to start the season until the Rangers need him from an actual injury as opposed to putting him on waivers and risk losing him to another team?

Chris, Oklahoma City

GRANT: Well, besides the obvious ethical reason, you'd have to get Tejeda to sign off on a fake injury. Given that he's out of options and would very be possibly be claimed by a team that would immediately add him to its pitching staff, convincing him to do that would be, um, challenging. He'd have to really, really want to stay with the Rangers. Why would he? Won't happen. Not saying it hasn't in the past. Fabio Castro's strained groin in 2006 certainly comes to mind as somewhat suspicious.

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Q: I've heard a ton of talk about the Rangers' improved farm system and how the current farm boys will be in position to (maybe) contend in '09-'11. I haven't heard much about the rest of AL West teams'outlooks for those years, however. Are the Rangers going to be peaking as the current strong teams (Anaheim, Seattle) are fading? Is Oakland a year or two behind Texas in this respect since it basically just started rebuilding this winter?

Andrew Forward, Plano

GRANT: Great question, Andrew. If the Rangers are fourth in Baseball America's organizational talent rankings, it doesn't mean all that much if the teams ahead of them are the Los Angeles Angels, Seattle and Oakland.

Alas, they aren't. In the Prospect Handbook, the Rangers were the highest-ranked AL West team. Now for the bad news: There isn't that much separation between them and the other AL West teams. The Angels, who had been fourth in 2007, dropped to 10th. Seattle, which was 24th last year, has jumped to 11th. Oakland, which ranked 27th last year, was ranked 27th at the time the book was published. If the rankings came out today, however, they would be significantly higher. The recent trades of veterans Nick Swisher and Dan Haren have brought Oakland a significant bounty of talent.

Bottom line: Even with the improved talent in the system, the Rangers are going to have a fight on their hands for the division title in years to come. The difference over where they are now is that they should be able to fight back.

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Q: Who is left on this roster that hasn't quite bought into Ron Washington's philosophy of stretching counts, making contact, and moving the runners over? Can guys such as Jason Botts, Nelson Cruz, Hank Blalock, Gerald Laird, and Kevin Mench improve their strikeout frequency by a significant amount?

Dave

GRANT: The AL average for strikeouts per plate appearance last year was 5.96. Of the 18 players to have at least 100 at-bats for the Rangers, six were better than average: Kenny Lofton (who is gone), Frank Catalanotto, Jerry Hairston Jr. (gone), Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Hank Blalock. David Murphy's rate was 5.79, putting him less than three percentage-points shy of the average as a rookie.

The worst offenders: Jason Botts (3.22), Victor Diaz (3.27), Brad Wilkerson (3.64), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (3.74), Nelson Cruz (3.83) and Sammy Sosa (4.05). Three of those six are gone. Botts and Cruz are battling for one spot and plate discipline will probably be a huge factor in determining who wins it. Saltalamacchia has less than a year's worth of experience in the big leagues and I expect he will strike out more often than other guys, but improving plate discipline is a big deal for him if he is going to win the catcher's spot.

By the way, the key players the Rangers acquired this winter were all above five plate appearances per strikeout: Milton Bradley (5.95), Ben Broussard (5.28) and Josh Hamilton (5.18).

So, to make what should have been a short answer even longer, I'll say yes, this is going to be a better team when it comes to making contact, moving runners and working pitch counts.

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Q: We all have heard that Josh Hamilton is a 5-tool player. Can you rate his speed? Are we going to be surprised at his ability to "go get" a line drive to the alley or is his speed merely slightly better than average?

Tim Perkins, Rockwall

GRANT: I don't think you are going to watch Hamilton and say "Man, can that guy run." But somehow he will end up underneath balls, making plays. Just watching him in outfield work a little over the last two weeks, it seems like he gets very good reads on balls. Because of it, plays that Kenny Lofton might have made look spectacular, Hamilton will make look routine.

Lofton routinely got bad jumps on balls, but made up for it with foot speed. Hamilton may not have the same kind of foot speed as Lofton, but he's probably going to be a step or two more efficient in reading them. That can make up for a lack of flashy speed.

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Q. Why is David Murphy not regarded very highly? He has speed, he's young, showed decent plate discipline last year. Seems like he has more upside than Marlon Byrd or Milton Bradley. Everyone keeps talking about him being the fourth or fifth outfield option, but wouldn't he be more valuable as the platoon option with Bradley so that would give us speed and youth and Bradley (or Jason Botts or Nelson Cruz ) at a regular DH with occasional time in the outfield?

Steve, Burleson

GRANT: Steve, you kind of lost me on how you would use Milton Bradley, but I don't think that's the real point of your question, anyway. I think it's about David Murphy.

Let me say that while Murphy is the fifth option in the outfield/DH mix, I think he's going to get a legitimate number of starts. He will not be a once-a-week player. The Rangers would be thrilled if they got 120 outfield starts out of Josh Hamilton this year, which opens about 40 starts. They'd likewise be thrilled with 130 or so for Bradley, which opens up another 40 starts. Factor in that Frank Catalanotto only plays vs. right-handers and there is more playing time (though most of that will go to Botts, Cruz, Kevin Mench or Chris Shelton). And the Rangers don't expect Marlon Byrd to play 162 games either.

What I'm saying is Murphy might be the fifth guy in that mix, but it wouldn't surprise me for him to get 100-105 starts. And that would be a good number for a 25-year-old guy like him to get under his belt. If he follows up last season with another productive year in an expanded role, he will end up being a starter.

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Q: In the "Briefly" section of your Feb. 23 article about German Duran, you mentioned that Kazuo Fukumori's contract "provides no protection against minor league options." A couple of questions: Is this uncommon for a veteran player? If so, did the Rangers sneak one past Fukumori's agent? What form does such protection take? What is the language that typically appears in the contract to protect a player from being sent down? Is this the reason that struggling veterans are not usually sent down, or is it because teams don't want to be paying multi-million dollar contracts to a minor leaguer?

Richard, St. Pete

GRANT: The only thing that is unusual about this situation, Richard, is that usually free agents have exhausted their options or have the service time to refuse them by the time they are free agents. Players with more than five years of service time can basically refuse an option under the collective bargaining agreement. That's why, even though Chan Ho Park had minor league options remaining while he was with the Rangers, sending him down to the minors wasn't a realistic alternative. He could have essentially taken his release – and the Rangers still would have owed him the full value of his contract.

Fukumori has no major league service time and has never been on a 40-man roster. Under the standard contract, that means he has three minor league options. The Rangers didn't sneak one past his agent; his agent was well aware what the options were.

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Q: With the Phillies and Ryan Howard not getting along real well, is there any kind of opening for the Rangers to sneak in and trade for him? I know it is a long-shot but you don't know until you ask.

Sean, Wylie

GRANT: Better chance of Mark Teixeira returning this off-season. And I don't give that very much of a chance.

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Q: The bullpen was one of the obvious strengths of the team last year. Do you think we should expect more or less from them this year?

Corby, Austin

GRANT: No telling. The Rangers are counting on a lot of guys who will be in previously uncharted waters (i.e., C.J. Wilson as closer, Kaz Fukumori as a major leaguer and several guys who have been steadily been up and down in middle/long relief roles). It could be a great 'pen, but until everybody settles into a role and performs in said role, it's going to be a question mark.