A little over a week ago, after a win against Seattle on May 21, the Rangers sat at 22-24, under .500, and a whopping 8.0 games back of Oakland in the AL West. Worse yet, they were also trailing the Angels by 4.0 games and Seattle by 0.5.

Which is guess is why, even though the season is still somewhat young, I'm amazed at how much things can change in a week.

Heading into a three-game set in Washington tonight, the Rangers now sit at 28-26 after a 6-2 start to what looked to be a daunting 11-game road trip. Now only 4.0 games back of Oakland in the AL West, I'm finding myself getting just a little greedy.

There's been much talk that perhaps the Rangers could "sneak" into a Wild Card slot despite the injuries and misfortune. For many, a division race has been almost an afterthought. Yet, the Rangers have managed to stay afloat -- for how long remains to be seen -- and with a series against a struggling Washington ball club, have an opportunity to make up even more ground.

Oakland and the LA Angels will play a 3-game set this weekend, and the hope -- at least I think -- would be that both clubs just beat the hell out of one another. After that series, Oakland will face a tough stretch that includes six games against the New York Yankees and three more against the Angels before the Rangers come to town on the 16th of June. LA will face a slightly less daunting schedule before seeing Texas on the 20th of June.

So, with that said, forgive me if I'm being greedy in maintaining a renewed optimism that the Rangers can somehow still snag this division. You don't always get to make up 4.0 games in the division in just 9 days, but the Rangers have managed that, and will get another 108 games to make up another 4.0, and that, more than anything, the underlying point I want to make today.