<p>Things change. I understand that. Everyone understands that. Minds change, attitudes change. Times change. What's true in November and December and January is not necessarily so in February. Happens all the time.</p>
<p>But this Alex Rodriguez thing ... I mean, I'm not sure that anyone in baseball was really ready to believe that Rodriguez actually would be playing in Texas this season, no matter what came out of his mouth the past few weeks. Not until he showed up in Texas with a Rangers uniform on, anyway. There just weren't many people who bought the idea that A-Rod, suddenly, had come to some sort of peace with the idea of playing for the sad-sack Rangers. Or that the Rangers suddenly believed that they could win while still forking over about a third of their payroll to Rodriguez.</p>