Saturday Afternoon Rangers Notes: Yeah, Profar's Here, But ...

Thanks to your thoughts and support and courage, I've survived the first night that followed my very first random death threat. The proper authorities have been involved in the matter and all of that, and after finding some initial (and very uneasy) humor in that voice message, now I just find the entire thing incredibly sad. I don't know what circumstances led to such a hateful and vitriol-filled message being directed at someone (and then, of course, being misdirected towards me), but intolerance is a cancer, and succumbing to it is such a waste of human potential. Of course, with all of that said, there are some men who just want to watch the world burn ...

● We're getting to that point in the regular season where the wins are expected more than they are cherished, where we're all peering about a month down the road as much as we are focusing on the present, and last night's win felt like one of those wins -- Texas "only" won by a 5-3 margin, but they were in control of the win expectancy graph from virtually the outset of the game, and it was one of those games that played out just the way you hoped it would play out. Ryan Dempster pitched very well again, further assuaging the concern that rapidly developed after his immediate post-trade struggles, and the offense was carried by another spectacular performance from Adrian Beltre, and ... yeah. I don't want to downplay the significance of any win, but it was a game the Rangers should have won, and a game that they did win, and that's really just about as much as you need to say about it.

● In a tangentially related development, the lineups for the second game of this weekend set have dropped, and, as you also should have expected, Jurickson Profar (and Mike Olt and Leonys Martin) is riding pine, with Michael Young getting another start at shortstop while Elvis Andrus -- who's coming off the rare two-error night -- gets a night off from the field at DH. There is, realistically speaking, nothing that should surprise you about this, as Ron Washington has made it abundantly clear that Profar's role over the next month will be very limited in scope; he could see the odd pinch-hitting/running opportunity here and there, and he might, might get 2-3 starts in the field down the stretch, but if you were expecting anything more than that, you were destined to be disappointed.

Washington, for the record, made this statement last night with respect to Profar possibly nabbing the odd spot start in place of Ian Kinsler or Elvis Andrus: "I’m going to write Elvis (Andrus) and Ian (Kinsler) in the lineup until I decide to give them days off." Well, here's the day off, and here's Young out at shortstop again, which serves as a pretty strong indication that the No. 1 backup at both second base and shortstop in the post-season is going to be Young. And while this is looking pretty far down the road, it's an idle thought that has crossed my mind: what happens if the Rangers make it to the World Series and face a right-hander in a National League park? The answer, in all probability, is Mitch Moreland or Ian Kinsler sitting, with Young playing first or second base.

If that all drives you crazy to think about, well, at least you still have a while yet to try and fully wrap your head around it.