Several days ago, the word on the pending return of Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre from a sprained thumb was not a particularly positive one, and those in weekly fantasy leagues were better off leaving him on the bench. So it came as a nice -- perhaps frustrating for some -- surprise late Tuesday afternoon that Beltre, a near-top-20 choice on draft day, was suddenly activated off the disabled list and inserted right away into the cleanup spot for what became a high-scoring affair with the Oakland Athletics. Beltre singled in four at-bats, knocking in a run and scoring one in an 8-6 loss.

While those in daily formats can place the valuable Beltre -- and he will hit -- back in their lineups today, and those in weekly ones have to wait a bit for gratification, I’m more interested in how Rangers manager Jeff Banister handles his newfound depth.