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Less than two weeks after being designated for assignment by the Houston Astros, Carlos Gomez will have the opportunity to be a starting outfielder with the AL West-leading Texas Rangers.Texas manager Jeff Banister told reporters Sunday that Gomez will be the Rangers left fielder once he is brought up from the minor leagues.The 30-year-old outfielder, who signed a minor league deal with the Rangers on Saturday, said he expects to play three or four games with Round Rock before being added to the major league roster.The plan is to play about three games in Triple-A and take advantage of that opportunity because I have been out for 10 days, Gomez said. I really dont think [the time off] is going to affect me, because I have worked out and practiced every day, but live pitching is different. So I am going to play a few games in Triple A to get back into the swing of things, that way when I go up to a team that is in first place I can have a positive impact.Gomez, who reported to Triple-A Round Rock on Sunday, told ESPN.com that he evaluated offers from several teams, including the Miami Marlins, but opted for the Rangers due to their position as divisional leaders, the opportunity to get regular playing time, and his familiarity with the league and division.This is an amazing opportunity for me to go to a team that is in first place in the division and headed to the playoffs, Gomez said in a phone conversation Saturday night. I had a few offers from other teams, but I chose the Rangers because I believe it is the team where I can feel most comfortable and develop better since I will be staying in the same division. Even though I did not do my job with the Astros, I know the league and the division well.The Rangers are a team that seem to have great harmony and their playing style is similar to mine, but the first thing for me was that they are in first place and have players like Adrian Beltre, Carlos Beltran, Elvis Andrus, Ian Desmond; thats pretty special. Its inspiring. I am going to be on a winning team.Gomez gave credit to Beltran for the Rangers giving him a chance after hitting .210 with five home runs and 29 RBIs in 85 games before being released by Houston. Gomez was brought up in the New York Mets organization, where he met the Puerto Rican outfielder in 2005; they were teammates during the 2007 season.Carlos Beltran has been like a father to me; he has always being very supportive of my career, Gomez said. When a player like Carlos Beltran speaks on your behalf then I think he believes in that person because I dont think he would put his reputation on the line if someone is not worth it.The fact that he even gave his opinion [to the Rangers] about me means a lot, he added. We are talking about someone who has been a very important person in my career and is a future Hall of Famer. When someone who has had an 18-year career at that level speaks, people listen; his opinion matters.Cheap Bengals Jerseys . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Custom Bengals Jerseys . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. http://www.custombengalsjersey.com/ .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Custom Jonah Williams Jersey .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. Authentic Custom Bengals Jersey . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments.GENEVA -- A report by the World Anti-Doping Agency included more details from investigators about how Russian athletes -- with help from government officials -- doped and got away with it at the Sochi Olympics.Mondays report agreed with earlier stories that said the Russian government, secret service and state-funded anti-doping operation let cheating athletes compete and win medals. Canadian law professor Richard McClarens report supported allegations made by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of the WADA-accredited lab in Moscow. Rodchenkov fled Russia and detailed the scam for The New York Times in May.Because of the report, WADA recommended banning all Russian athletes from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.Some questions and answers about the report:---WHAT DID THE REPORT FIND?Since 2013, German and American television programs, and British and American newspapers have detailed widespread Russian doping in track and field and beyond. Rodchenkovs claims went further, detailing a scam that included cooperation from athletes, lab workers and security workers.McLaren said Monday he was supremely confident of his findings, which found most of Rodchenkovs claims credible, including that a mouse hole in the Sochi testing laboratory allowed for a urine-swapping scheme to replace steroid-laced samples, enabled by secret service agents breaking into tamper-proof bottles.Claims of bottle tampering and adding salt to urine samples to make them more credible all checked out after independent expert analysis, the report found.The surprise of this latest report, McLaren wrote, was the extent of State oversight and directed control of the Moscow Laboratory to cover up cheating.And the reports last November of 1,400 stored samples in Moscow destroyed to deny them to WADA investigators? Well, it was more like 8,000, McLaren now says.---ISNT RUSSIA ALREADY BANNED FROM THE RIO OLYMPICS?Only the Russian track and field team, so far, is banned from the Summer Games starting Aug. 5.Tuesday is a huge day for Russias Olympic status on two fronts in the IOCs home city of Lausanne, Switzerland.The International Olympic Committees president, Thomas Bach, will lead a conference call of his 15-member executive board to discuss fallout of the McLarren report.dddddddddddd.A blanket ban of Russian teams across all 28 Summer Games sports -- even in those few not tarnished by Mondays report -- has to be an option.Across town, the IAAF governing bodys expulsion of the Russian track team is being challenged by the Russian Olympic body at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.That urgent verdict is scheduled for Thursday but could be rendered meaningless by an IOC blanket ban.---HOW DID THE SCHEME WORK?It was already alleged that the Russian sports ministry, and state-funded anti-doping agency and lab were in on the scam.The labs role as the failsafe mechanism was central to Mondays report, enabling the Russian state to transform a positive analytical result into a negative one.All positive samples at the Moscow lab had to be reported up to the Deputy Minister of Sport, Yuri Nagornykh -- a 2010 appointee by then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.The ministry could then order which to report as negative to the global WADA system.Still, when Russia hosted international sports events which brought independent observers -- the Sochi Olympics, the 2013 track world championships -- then deeper deception was needed.Hence, bottle tampering by the secret service.---WERE INDIVIDUAL ATHLETES IDENTIFIED?None are named by McLaren on Monday, though some names emerged in May after reports by CBSs 60 Minutes and the New York Times, which interviewed Rodchenkov.He suggested that four gold medalists and at least 15 medalists from Sochi were tainted.---WHATS NEXT?Bach and the IOC are on the clock.The IOC expects to publish a statement on Tuesday summing up its boards judgment. No news conference is planned.If Russias Olympic committee is banned from entering any teams for Rio, it would likely be allowed to appeal that decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.Sports highest court of appeal can turn around fast justice at a push.It could mean Olympic brinkmanship just days before the opening ceremony.And WADA has asked for more funding so McLaren can complete more detailed work after this report, which was delivered in 57 days so it came out before the Summer Games. ' ' '