Sidney Ponson signed with Texas, mostly because Brandon McCarthy will miss the opening of the season.

The importance of that depth now looks to become magnified twofold through the first couple weeks of the 2008 season, as Daniels also noted on Sunday morning that right-hander Brandon McCarthy will likely be out anywhere from four to six weeks.

McCarthy is scheduled to fly back to Dallas today for the beginning stages of treatment to heal a nasty case of inflammation in his right forearm, which will almost certainly land the 24-year-old hurler on the 15-day disabled list to begin the year. Appears that my completely baseless prediction of a potential mid-to-late April return for Brandon was, in fact, right on target.

McCarthy has a chance to become an ace for Texas. With luck, this injury won't set him back too much.