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• I was admittedly a little too high on the Texas Rangers' Chris Davis last year, and he wound up struggling mightily in the first half before performing better after he came back from his demotion. The more I watch him this spring, the more I think I wasn't necessarily wrong, but perhaps just a year too early. Davis got in a major rut trying to pull everything last year, but I haven't seen that approach this spring. He's willing to go the other way and hit the ball where it's pitched with an improved bat path. He's also shorter and quicker to the ball, thanks to some changes in his crouch and hand positioning. This is not the same Davis who stunk up the joint in early 2009.

Davis is always going to post a healthy strikeout total, but we'll be able to live with it, given his offensive production. He'll likely hit sixth in a loaded Rangers lineup with Nelson Cruz behind him. He's more than capable of a 30-homer season with a respectable batting average in the .260-.270 range, and looks to be a bargain in the first base pool, given he's not in the top 15 off the board, on average, in standard ESPN drafts. If you're looking for a great value play for a corner infield spot in later rounds, this is your guy.

• Speaking of the Rangers, with all the focus on the Jarrod Saltalamacchia-Taylor Teagarden battle for the starting catching spot, Max Ramirez is having a great spring, including raking in some "B" games that don't show up in the spring training stats. Ramirez didn't follow up last year on his big Double-A campaign in 2008 -- in which he hit .354 with 17 homers and slugged .646 in just 69 games -- thanks largely to wrist issues that limited him to 76 games and affected his swing when was able to play.

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