More on the Rangers
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Texas' aging slugger is focused more on staying on the field, insisting before his first spring game against the Los Angeles Angels that he has no hard feelings for his former team.
"I just want God to keep me healthy and whatever happens happens," Guerrero said Monday through an interpreter. "I always smile, I'm always happy. I try not to change."
The Angels showed little interest in retaining the eight-time All-Star and former American League MVP after he had two stints on the disabled list last season for a torn right pectoral muscle and strained left knee.
After the Angels signed free-agent Hideki Matsui and kept Bobby Abreu, Guerrero got a one-year contract with the AL West-rival Rangers that guarantees him $6.5 million and includes a mutual option for 2011.
"Sometimes you think a lot," Guerrero said when asked if it was difficult to leave the Angels. "But I feel good here."
Guerrero will be primarily a designated hitter for the Rangers, though he will play a few games in right field.
In his first at-bat serving as the DH in the spring game against the Angels, Guerrero drove the first pitch from Ervin Santana to deep right field. Terry Evans leaped near the wall to make the catch.
Guerrero insists he doesn't know if the Angels tried to keep him.
"I felt good playing with them," Guerrero said. "I played well when I was there."
Guerrero helped lead the Angels to five AL West titles during his six seasons in Southern California, winning the AL MVP award in 2004. He began his career in Montreal and is a .321 hitter with 407 homers and 1,318 RBIs in 1,850 games.
Guerrero is a .396 career hitter against Texas, and has 14 homers and 33 RBIs in 50 games at Rangers Ballpark.
"He's a difference maker. His asset to us is his bat and as often as we can get him out there and use it, I want to. He's been good," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He's not limping. He certainly draws a crowd, a crowd of his teammates. He talks to them a lot, something he doesn't do a whole lot of, and I think his teammates are drawing it out of him."
Hampered by injuries last season, Guerrero hit .295 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs in 100 games, his lowest totals since he was a rookie for the Expos in 1997.
"Last year because of the knee surgery, I couldn't do the same things to prepare," he said. "This year, I just do the normal things and work hard to be ready for the season. I feel good."
There also was another significant offseason change for Guerrero, who became a U.S. citizen on the same day he reported to Rangers camp. The Dominican Republic native was sworn in as a U.S. citizen in Los Angeles on Feb. 19.
Guerrero said being a citizen makes it easier for his mother to travel in the United States.
"She was in the Dominican during the offseason," he said. "Now she is here for spring training."
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