SURPRISE, Ariz. _ Destin Hood has been one of the stars of Texas Rangers spring training.
That's not just some writer saying that, either.
"He has been one of the stars of camp," manager Jeff Banister said Saturday, before Hood went 2 for 4 with a three-run homer and four RBIs.
But what first caught Banister's attention this spring was an early-camp conversation with the outfielder. Hood is a quality person.
Banister said that Friday about Kevin Jepsen after the veteran reliever blew through four batters in another strong showing. Jesse Chavez, another right-hander having a strong camp, was hailed as a terrific teammate by general manager Jon Daniels.
They are players on minor-league deals or non-guaranteed major-league deals trying to make the Opening Day roster. Don't think for a minute that a player's character doesn't affect his chances on making the team.
No, nice guys don't always finish last. The Rangers _ manager, GM and players _ believe that quality people make quality teammates who make quality teams.
"It's as important as the talent level they bring with them," Banister said. "When you have the combination of both, the talent level and great teammates and people, it creates the environment and culture you want inside the clubhouse.
"It's a place where people want to come to work. It's a place where you can challenge each other to get better. Better people make better players. Better people make better Rangers."
Every job has jerks to deal with, and so does every team. The Rangers will not have 25 high-character professional ballplayers on their team this season, just as they didn't last season or past seasons.
If two players are equally talented, the tie-breaker for the Rangers is which player would be the better teammate.
But the good far outweigh the not-as-good, who might be trying to overcome immaturity or ego or a chip on their shoulder or the effect of having a bunch of money in their pockets for the first time in their lives.
Everyone is wired differently, but the goal is to have the vast majority of the players be accountable.
Be on time. Be supportive. Be transparent. Respect the game. Follow the rules.
"You want to have teammates you can rely on," third baseman Adrian Beltre said. "You want to have a teammate that you trust and talk to about anything. If you have a good guy next to you, it means a lot. They don't all have to be good guys, but it depends how bad of a guy they are and how selfish they are."
Beltre is the Rangers' leader. He runs the clubhouse, with help from other veterans. But when it hits the fan, Beltre is the one who either cleans it up or his advice is sought for the clean-up.
The Rangers dealt with a clubhouse disruption last spring, when Keone Kela was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock following a dust-up on the final day of camp. The Rangers didn't even let him fly to Texas on the team plane.
The 2009 Rangers finally had enough with right-hander Vicente Padilla, who was waived after an August start in Oakland after he hit Kurt Suzuki and was caught smiling on camera when the A's retaliated by plunking Michael Young.
Padilla had become too disruptive to a team trying to capture a playoff spot.
"Being a good teammate is everything," center fielder Delino DeShields said. "We wear Texas across our chest. Our name is on our back. We're all in this together. That's how I've always looked at it.
"If everybody is playing for themselves, it's not going to work out very well. I'm them cancers on the team, to the point where guys don't even want to be around them, and that's not good. I don't care how good you are or what you bring to the team, if you're a bad teammate and not good for the team, I don't want you here."
Beltre said that becoming a good teammate is a process that young players often struggle to understand. Some get sooner than others, but they had better get it sooner than later.
And, yes, some never get it.
"I think a lot of guys need to learn the hard way," Beltre said. "As a teammate and one of the leaders, you try to find away to get through to those guys to make them understand how things work, why you should not be acting a certain a way."
But Hood, Jepsen and Chavez already have it down. Don't think that doesn't affect their chances at making the team.
