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After 99 day lockout, Rangers’ first day of spring training made the mundane look magnificent

A busy day of routine activities looked special after the extended time away.

SURPRISE, Ariz. — The utterly ordinary seemed magnificently unique Friday.

Baseball was back.

For the Rangers, it began with prospect Ricky Vanasco wandering into the clubhouse before sunrise. Then catcher Sam Huff, balancing an iced coffee, bats and an equipment bag. And then came the hugs. Manager Chris Woodward bounced in from the parking lot to greet a member of his 40-man roster for the first time in 100 days. Catching instructor Bobby Wilson swallowed up Huff in a bear hug.

“It lasted a little longer than usual,” said Wilson, who played 12 seasons in the majors and has served as Huff’s baseball dad for the last two years until the Dec. 2 lockout began. “But I want him to know how much these relationships mean. You want them to know that you care, that you were thinking about them and talking about them every day.”

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The lockout imposed a mandatory freeze on club employees communicating with players. To this extent: They had been told not to even send Christmas cards. So, when the game finally came back Thursday evening, it did so with a rush.

Team owners and players each ratified the new five-year collective bargaining agreement around 5 p.m. CT on Thursday. Within minutes, the Rangers, baseball’s busiest team in the frenzied days before the lockout, picked up right where they left off. They had signed four free agents, to the tune of $565 million over 10 years, in the hours before the lockout.

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“The day before the lockout was one of the most exciting days outside of our on-field successes that I’ve been part of with the Rangers,” President of Baseball Operations Jon Daniels said. “The buzz, the energy amongst our fans, all of it was palpable. And then, obviously, it was cut off. I feel like today is a chance to continue that and build on it.”

Within the next 24 hours, the Rangers had talked to every one of their players, welcomed about a third of the roster to camp (the other players were to arrive Saturday and Sunday with the first full workout on Monday), signed two pitchers, lost out on Highland Park’s Clayton Kershaw and seen their No. 1 draft pick Jack Leiter pitch in a game atmosphere for the first time as a pro.

It was a lot. But everything will be compressed over the next four weeks leading up to the season opener April 8 at Toronto. That includes remaining elements of free agency, potential game-changing trades and, certainly not least, assembling an actual roster.

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For Woodward, it started with calling Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the first minutes after the agreement was reached Thursday. Since the end of November and without playing a game, Kiner-Falefa had gone from the club’s starting shortstop to potentially a utility infielder and then to the starting third baseman’s job after Josh Jung injured his shoulder. Only the Rangers couldn’t tell Kiner-Falefa that at the time. Because: the lockout.

For Daniels and GM Chris Young it began Thursday with reaching out to Kershaw, who ultimately told the Rangers he wanted to spend at least one more year in Los Angeles with the only pro team he’s ever known. They quickly pivoted to reach a one-year, $4 million agreement with former Ranger Martin Perez to help bolster a desperate need for innings. They also added reliever Brandon Workman, who attended the University of Texas, on a minor league deal. More pitching is still likely forthcoming.

And perhaps a bat. The Rangers have reached out to Oakland about the availability of first baseman Matt Olson, the most game-changing player on the trade market. They will also investigate the free agent market for outfielders. Daniels called starting pitching and an outfield bat the club’s two biggest priorities.

Still to be determined is this: Exactly how big are those priorities?

Attractive free agent outfielders remain on the market, including Michael Conforto and Japanese free agent Seiya Suzuki. Either is expected to cost more than $15 million, perhaps much more, per year. The Rangers had money available for Kershaw. But was that a special one-off pool? Or are they willing to still spend it?

If anything, the lockout gave them time to better ponder those questions. After they improbably landed both Marcus Semien and Corey Seager, their roster is clearly improved over last year’s 60-win team. With additional resources, can it be improved enough to challenge for one of the AL’s six playoff spots — one more than there had been in 2021?

“I’ve never said there are limits on this team,” Young said. “We’re going to take the field every day looking to win. We do that, and anything is possible. Certainly, we’re not a complete roster, yet. I don’t think we feel like we’re a championship team yet. There are still needs there. Jumping from 60 wins to 100 wins is probably unrealistic. But what the playoffs look like, we’re not ruling anything out.”

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The lockout, extending through the first two weeks of minor league camp, also gave the Rangers an opportunity to better look at their own system and examine more intimately how close some of their prospects might be. Like, oh, say Leiter, for one.

The last on-field act of the day was for Leiter and the Rangers’ minor leaguers to face Kansas City’s minor leaguers. It was Leiter’s first “game” as a pro. At moments, he seemed a bit anxious, but the power of his fastball, which ranged up to 98 mph, echoed through the stadium. He walked a couple, struck out a couple, hit a guy.

It was the kind of outing you’d typically expect to see during spring training.

On Friday, after baseball’s long dark winter, it all seemed magnificent.

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