Tuesday Morning Rangers Notes: Today Is Yesterday's Tomorrow

A few things out there today, with more to follow:

- The Rangers reportedly did have a deal in place several weeks before the season that would have sent Michael Young to the Rockies, but opted to pull back for undisclosed reasons, which the Rockies permitted with the condition that they would again be first in line if the Rangers changed their minds again; team sources now remark that the relationship between Young and Jon Daniels is "professional" and "cordial" after several private meetings between the two; on a note unrelated to Young, there is a suggestion made that the baseline for a C.J. Wilson contract may be the same five-year, $82.5 million deal that A.J. Burnett and John Lackey both previously received (Jon Heyman, SI.com)

- Mark Lowe was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock yesterday to clear room for a returning Colby Lewis, effectively rendering Michael Kirkman his replacement in the bullpen; Lowe believes that he's already figured out what's wrong (a mechanical adjustment relating to his set position), but presumably won't be returning in the very near future (Evan Grant, Dallas Morning News)

- One Dallas/Fort Worth sports columnist/radio host opines that Lewis was wrong to invoke baseball's paternity clause and miss a scheduled start to attend the birth of his daughter because (a) it was his second child, not his first, which somehow detracts from the significance of the occasion, (b) it's an "arrival," which means he'll have the rest of his life to say "hello" to his daughter, and (c) he shouldn't miss a day of work when his work year consists of only 30-40 total starts; the proposed solution to the problem is "scheduling" births for the off-season, so that they don't conflict with baseball season (Richie Whitt, Dallas Observer)

- A few small sample size-induced oddities in the Rangers' team pitching profile: Texas has the lowest team ERA (2.83) in baseball, but only a mid-pack fielding-independent ERA (4.09), with the relative oddities including the second-lowest strikeout rate (5.72 K/9), the second-lowest BABIP (.243), the second-highest left-on-base percentage (79.2 percent), and the fifth-lowest ground ball rate (42.0 percent) in baseball (FanGraphs.com)

- Professor Parks' big finish on RHP David Perez: "With his combination of present command, raw stuff, and projection, it’s not hard to dream of what this 18-year-old might become. If he can maintain the fluidity of his delivery and overall coordination as physically matures, the stuff will improve without sacrificing command. If that happens, Perez could be the top pitcher in the Rangers system in short order, and one of the best young arms in all of the minors." (Jason Parks, Baseball Prospectus)