Tuesday Evening Rangers Notes

Marlon Byrd Trade Watch: Day Four has now all but come and gone, with nary a peep from the Texas Rangers front office in regard to the violently swirling rumors surrounding the immediate fate of the club's probable Opening Day left fielder.

From where I sit on this chilly, gloomy Tuesday evening in north Texas, the sheer amount of media speculation - which has been offered by a wide variety of media sources, ranging from MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan to the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers - that has been offered to the masses on this proposed Byrd-for-Murton swap suggests, to me, two somewhat obvious things:

a) There is simply way too much smoke present here for there not to be something to these rumors.

b) The longer these negotiations drag out, the farther the odds fall of a deal ever getting done.

Apologies if you were expecting something a bit more substantive. At any rate, only time will tell if Rangers GM Jon Daniels will find a way to transform a 30-year-old fourth outfielder into a younger and likely more talented 26-year-old asset - or if Cubs GM Jim Hendry will suddenly snap to his senses, and put a quick end to this foolishness.

Considering that 96 hours have now passed since T.R. Sullivan published his original report on the matter, I'm betting on the latter scenario being the more likely to come to fruition at this point.

With all of that out of the way, time for some Rangers quick hits!

? T.R. Sullivan's latest edition of his weekly MLB.com mailbag touches on the potential future Hall of Fame merits of shortstop Michael Young, a lifetime .302/.347/.448 (103 OPS+) hitter with 103 HR in 4,315 at-bats to this point in his eight-year Major League career.

Though Young isn't going to blow anybody away with his on-base and slugging percentages, there is something to be said for his astonishing consistency at the dish - he's batted at least .306 and collected 200 hits in five consecutive seasons (including a 2005 AL batting title), and now sits at 1,305 hits for his career.

It would be a little hypocritical of me to overly worship his raw batting average and hit totals, considering that there are much more comprehensive and modern ways of chronicling a player's offensive value - such as EqA, for instance. However, if there's anything we've learned about the BBWAA's convoluted Hall of Fame voting methodology over the years, it's that they absolutely love the 3,000 hit benchmark in determining who should be deemed worthy for election.

Of the 27 players who presently reside in baseball's prestigious "3,000 Club," 23 inhabit Cooperstown. The four who don't? Rafael Palmeiro (who may eventually gain admission, but will suffer as a direct result of the lack of support for Mark McGwire), Rickey Henderson (who attains HoF eligibility in 2009, and will be a first-ballot entry), Craig Biggio (borderline candidate, but will probably get in sooner or later) and Pete Rose, who we all know the story on already.

Assuming that Young manages to hang around in the big leagues for another nine years (which would take him through his age 39 season in 2016), he'll need to accumulate around 189 hits per year to reach the 3,000 hit plateau. Achievable? Certainly. Likely? Probably not, although it'd be foolish to ever bet too heavily against Mike given the obstacles he's had to overcome in reaching the big leagues to begin with.

And let's be perfectly honest here: though I'm certain Young would be positively ecstatic to someday join the ranks of baseball's other immortals in Cooperstown, he's probably exponentially more ecstatic at the thought of helping the Texas Rangers win a World Series.

Hell, even a playoff game would be nice.

Sullivan also touches on the unlikely possibility of right-hander Eric Hurley winning a big league rotation spot outright, defends the wiseness of the Rangers doling out so many one-year contracts this winter, and includes a brief update on the health of left-hander Kason Gabbard, who will reportedly be ready to go by the time spring training activities officially commence next month in Surprise, Arizona.

And as for the Rangers' decision to sign right-hander Jason Jennings over Bartolo Colon?

In your opinion, what may have led the Rangers to show more interest in signing Jason Jennings rather than say, Bartolo Colon?

-- Bruce F., Crown Point, Ind.

Jennings is five years younger than Colon and should be ready from Day 1. That might not be the case with Colon. The Rangers had real concerns about his health and overall conditioning, and it's interesting that he still hasn't signed.

Interesting, indeed.

? According to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, backstop Jarrod Saltalamacchia has not been guaranteed a 25-man roster spot coming out of spring training, and could wind up starting the season at Triple-A Oklahoma if he fails to outperform his catching counterpart, Gerald Laird, in Surprise:

"They've talked to me about that," said Saltalamacchia, who was in town for the Rangers Winter Caravan this week. "They said we need you to catch every day and if Laird beats you out, that's the thought we had [Triple A]. I can guarantee I'm ready and I'm going to give everything I've got. But it's their plan and I'm here to play."

You know, I can sort of understand why the Rangers are choosing to go about things in this manner - but at the same time, I really can't. Salty was hardly overmatched during his inaugural big league campaign, swatting 11 homers in 308 AB and hitting a respectable .266/.310/.422 (91 OPS+) between Atlanta and Texas - in other words, more or less league-average offensively for his position. As a 22-year-old rookie. Not exactly something to sneeze at.

And though the Rangers' apparent thought process in declaring the starting catcher's job to be an open competition may seem perfectly reasonable on the surface, the reality of the matter is that Laird is a vastly inferior offensive player. Defensive talent and "game-calling" ability are important, certainly - but not to an extent where the tremendous disparity between their respective offensive capabilities should be completely ignored.

Furthermore, I've long expressed a hatred for the usage of spring training statistics as a key evaluator in determining the winners and losers of positional battles coming out of spring training. Not only is sample size (or the lack thereof) a huge factor, but when considering the environment and odd makeup of talent in the way of non-roster invitees and minor league prospects, there's simply too much variability present to draw any accurate conclusions.

If you're looking for the abridged version of my basic argument, here you go: Saltalamacchia, irregardless of how he plays in spring training (barring an nagging injury that dramatically hinders his production, or some such), needs to be the Rangers' starting catcher on Opening Day. It's good for his development, it's good for the organization, and it's good for those ticket sales that are so desperately coveted by team owner Tom Hicks.

It's that simple.

? Speaking of Hicks, guess who's suddenly unwilling to part ways with his 50% ownership stake in Liverpool FC, despite reportedly being offered upwards of �350 million by Dubai International Capital to sell out?

"I have not received any offer to purchase the club from the DIC or anyone else, much less accepted any such offer. Nor do I have any intention of doing so. I and my family have always been, and remain, fully committed to co-owning the club; that no one in my family has ever indicated any intention or desire to sell our stake in the club; and that we expect and intend to be co-owners of the club, and to actively and enthusiastically support the club's manager, players and fans for many years to come."

As Bob Sturm of the Ticket's BaD Radio writes, Hicks has "picked the wrong fight" to battle:

It is one thing to torment and torture the Texas Rangers fan base. It is a similar or perhaps easier proposition to frustrate the Dallas Stars fan base. But, friends, make no mistake, it is quite another to instigate a battle with the fans of one of the most powerful sports institutions in the world, Liverpool FC.

The fans of that team see it as a lifelong obsession, a way of life, and hope every morning.

Tom Hicks saw it as another passionless money making opportunity, they say.

Here we go again.

The fans, meanwhile, have gradually progressed from restless to enraged:

"The fans want them out, unconditionally," said Kevin Sampson, of Reclaim The Kop. "It's as simple as that. They�re no good for us; no good for the club. As the world is seeing it right now, Liverpool is the most welcoming city and its people are the most generous hosts you're going to find anywhere.

"But cross us, and that's that. We're enemies, for life. Ask Mackenzie. Ask Thatcher. Ask Boris The Buffoon."

In less than a year, Hicks has gone from the fan-labeled American savior of Liverpool FC to perhaps one of the most hated men in England. His blatant refusal to dispense the necessary funds needed for his club to compete has infuriated his widely beloved manager, frustrated his players, and have angered the fans to the point of rebellion.

Tom may want to hire an extra bodyguard or two. Or ten. Some background checks to ensure that his new hires aren't Liverpool natives might be in order, as well.

? Along with the Reds, Twins and Rays, FOXSports.com's Dayn Perry has pegged the Rangers as one of his four "under the radar" teams who have the potential to pull off a major divisional upset in 2008:

On balance, the Rangers were a disappointment in 2007. But it's worth noting that Texas was .500 after the break. Here's what they've got going for them in 2008: the potential for excellent up-the-middle offensive production (Jarrod Saltalamacchia at catcher, Michael Young at short, Ian Kinsler at second, and Josh Hamilton in center), a strong outfield defense, and an underrated bullpen.

However, if the Rangers are to make the necessary strides this year, then a few things need to happen. To wit, Kevin Millwood needs to pitch as he did in the second half (6.16 ERA before the break, 4.29 ERA after the break), Milton Bradley needs to stay healthy and hinged, and Jason Jennings needs to rediscover his 2006 self.

This division, by all rights, should belong to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but the Rangers, given a small miracle or two, could make the worst-to-first leap in 2008.

This assessment seems about right. A lot of things would have to fall perfectly right for Texas to win the AL West in 2008, but there's little arguing against the talent this organization currently possesses, even at the big league level.

? Baseball Prospectus's Christina Kahrl is a fan of the Jason Jennings signing, from the Rangers' perspective - though she doesn't seem to believe (and perhaps rightfully so) that he'll propel Texas beyond third place in 2008:

Give me a choice between Jennings for this sort of money and similar signings like Kip Wells, and I think you have to credit the Rangers for taking a risk on the right one-year rental vet. Jennings needs to deliver the kind of season that can get him back to where he thought he was heading before last season�big money for multiple years�so he needed to find a solid one-year option somewhere.

[...]

I'd bet on his returning to being a solid mid-rotation starter, perhaps leaving him shy of Meche money in a rotation, but good enough to get him a three-year deal next winter after helping propel the Rangers into third place.

Meanwhile, Kevin Sherrington offered a decidedly more mainstream slant towards the signing in his DMN chat session on Tuesday:

Rangers in 08: What are your thoughts on the Rangers signing Jason Jennings?

Kevin Sherrington: He's not the type who will sell a lot of tickets, and obviously he's had some health issues since his rookie season. But the Rangers are not going to ask a lot from him other than to be healthy and put up close to 200 innings. If he does that, and Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla do, too, the Rangers will contend. If you get innings from your starters and a great bullpen, it mitigates somewhat the lack of an ace.

Of course, given the health problems that Jennings dealt with in 2007, that probably sort of is a lot to ask.

? Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News has named Blake Beavan, Engel Beltre, Taylor Teagarden, Cristian Santana and Neftali Feliz as the 5th through the 9th best prospects in the Rangers organization. I'm still looking to publish my own top prospects list at some point before spring training; hopefully, the addition of Craig to the BTiA writing staff will help to facilitate that goal.

And no, I haven't forgotten about the "Texas Rangers Top 10" series. More installments are still forthcoming, though I'm uncertain as to exactly when that will be.

? Former Texas Ranger and current Chicago Cub infielder Mark DeRosa is less than pleased at the thought of his club acquiring second baseman Brian Roberts from the Baltimore Orioles, since that would relegate him to a strict utility role:

"I'm on the fence with it," DeRosa said Monday. "My personal opinion is that I find it hard to believe a utility man is as important as an everyday player. He's not. Period."

One of my loyal readers and commenters, Jon, deserves some props for calling attention to the possibility of DeRosa becoming miffed when I summarily dismissed it as a total non-issue. Granted, the Cubs have yet to pull the trigger on a deal for Roberts - but should a trade eventually be consummated, it'll be fun to see how DeRosa publicly reacts.

? Free agent outfielder Sammy Sosa will not be returning to the Rangers in 2008, though that was more or less a foregone conclusion already:

"Sammy provided a lot to the club and our fans last year," Daniels said via e-mail. "We wish him the best going forward."

Earlier in the winter, Sosa was purported to be seeking a guaranteed Major League contract worth at least $7 million. That's going well then, is it?

? Along those same lines, Sosa's free agent cohort Brad Wilkerson reportedly wants a three year, $21 million contract. Yikes. The Red Sox have expressed some interest in bringing Wilkerson aboard as a backup first baseman/outfielder, but not even a franchise as flush with cash as Boston is going to shell out that kind of dough for a struggling 30-year-old coming off a mediocre season.

? Finally, Jon Daniels has agreed to answer some reader-submitted questions for Tim Dierkes at MLB Trade Rumors, which are being fielded as we speak.

For a lack of idiotic fan-engineered trade proposals in T.R. Sullivan's MLB.com mailbag this week, here's a humorous (or perhaps depressing, I'm not entirely sure which) sampling of questions from some of the best and the brightest MLBTR readers to take us out tonight:

"Why didn't you trade for Adam Dunn of the Reds?? He is a Home Run hitter who is from Texas."

"what are you going to do to make the rangers not suck? quit?"

"Outside of yourself and your staff, was there ANYONE who thought trading Chris Young and Adrian Gonzales for ADAM EATON AND AKINORI OTSUKA was a good idea?"

Sigh.

Just twenty-two days until Texas Rangers pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Surprise, Arizona.

Greetings, from the New Guy

I'm the new blood here, mostly to keep things updated here so that Joey doesn't have to drive himself crazy posting every day, and also to share my own personal opinions about the Texas Rangers news, MLB goings-on, and Tony Romo's love life. I would suggest that you think of Joey as the hard-nosed, modern play by play guy, and me as the doddering color man who still knows what's going on, but whose opinions have become marginalized by the increasing use of statistics as a tool for player analysis.

I don't want to take up too much space with this, but let it be known that I'm not here to discuss player statistics, I'm here to share my views on the Rangers, as someone who can enjoy each game for what it is, instead of worrying that the team hasn't gotten anywhere because our players have an average zipper score of only .204. I'm not saying I don't think the statistics that players put up are interesting, I just don't think they're anything more than that. So, with my arguably ignorant stances and goals out in the open, let me move on to something that will be more interesting to everyone who isn't me.

Right now, the hot topic on Rangers fans minds is Matt Murton, a player whom I'm certain you're all interested in. Murton is 26 years old, he's fairly popular among Cubs fans, and he reminds me very much of Rusty Greer. Not only because of his red hair, but because of the goofy grin he's wearing on his MLB.com player profile. It's possible that Matt Murton's perceived tradability is related to the versatility of Mark DeRosa and the outfield role of Alfonso Soriano, two former Rangers who currently call Wrigley Field home. I'm only musing here, but should this trade go through, it'd be quite strange to see three ex-Rangers, all reasonably well liked, playing in the Cubs outfield at the same time.

Frankly, I doubt that Jon Daniels is motivated by my speculation about interesting outfield arrangements on other teams, he probably is more concerned about our own arrangement. Daniels appears to feel that the team could definitely use some strengthening in the outfield, as evidenced by the acquisition of Josh Hamilton from the Reds last month. Last off season, there was some speculation that Marlon Byrd might give us the same sort of surprise performance that Gary Matthews Jr. gave us, based on the apparent similarities of the two. It seems like playing in Texas has paid off for Byrd, he had his best season since his rookie year in 2003.

Now, I really am only speculating here, but it seems likely that Byrd is poised to only get better. Trading him could get us a very appealing player in Matt Murton, or even additional prospects, but I don't think that it's a slam dunk thing that trading Byrd now would be the best way to get the most value from him. Now, I'm not suggesting that Byrd should've been given a long-term deal (Remember, he was only signed for the 2008 season last week) but I think it's pretty likely that he's going to be significantly more valuable later in the summer than he is right now.

For now, we can only wait and see, but I think trading Byrd could be a big mistake. Pitchers and catchers report in 23 days, we haven't even gotten started yet.

The Plight Of A North Texas Packers Fan

Disappointment. Frustration. Heartache.

Those are but a few of the emotions coursing through my veins at this late hour, in the wake of the Green Bay Packers' stunning 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Giants at Lambeau Field in Sunday night's NFC Championship game.

Perhaps the most maddening three and a half hours of my life has come to an end, and has yielded one of the greatest - if not the greatest - sports letdowns I've ever had the misfortune to experience. As far as I'm concerned, this is more devastating than any typical last place finish by the Texas Rangers, or any poorly officiating-fueled playoff collapse by the Dallas Mavericks.

The Giants, to their credit, never relented for one moment. Despite being labeled by the Vegas oddsmakers - and the national media - as fairly significant underdogs heading into the contest, New York unleashed an inspired effort that most likely brought smiles to the faces of team legends like Frank Gifford, Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor, each of whom played an instrumental role in helping to bring home at least one of the franchise's six league championships.

I fully applaud and congratulate the Giants for their gutsy, hard-fought effort, and wish them well in their quest to topple the formidable New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII on February 3rd.

As for the Packers, their 2006-2007 campaign will sadly not be remembered for the electrifying resurgence of Brett Favre, the unanticipated emergence of Ryan Grant, their sparkling 13-3 regular season record, or their fantastic comeback against (and subsequent dismantling of) the Seattle Seahawks in last Sunday's NFC Divisional playoff game.

Instead, it will be remembered for a single, heartbreaking game. A game which will forever be characterized by a fundamental lack of execution on the part of the Packers in nearly all facets of the game, from their nonexistent ground attack to their blatant failure to win in the trenches to their shoddy defensive pass coverage, a weakness which was most notably exposed by wide receiver Plaxico Burress, and exemplified by his monstrous 11-catch, 154-yard night.

And when everything was on the line and his team needed him the most, Brett Favre was nowhere to be found. Just as quickly as it had materialized, the magic that had powered him to an extraordinary football renaissance at age 38 had vanished into the subzero temperatures that enveloped Lambeau Field on this despondent, bitterly cold Wisconsin night.

Favre's greatest, and perhaps last, window of opportunity to win that second coveted Super Bowl ring of his storied career may now have come and gone, with little more to show for his efforts than a shiny regular season statistical ledger and an impressive - but largely irrelevant, in the grand scheme of things - playoff triumph over his former head coach, Mike Holmgren.

And that's tremendously disappointing. Then again, the greatest disappointment of all may have been sustained by the hopeful and ever-optimistic Packers fanbase, consisting of football aficionados from every corner of the globe who so desperately wanted to believe that this was the year.

Count me in among those who got caught up in the tidal wave of excitement, if only to momentarily help forget about the seemingly perennial dose of dissatisfaction that's doled out with such unnerving regularity by the Rangers and Mavericks.

Instead, I now have a new, deep-seated appreciation and understanding of how Cowboys Nation must have felt after their club's equally demoralizing defeat at the hands of the upstart Giants.

And though Green Bay and Dallas will likely retain most, if not all, of their NFC superiority heading into next fall, the very foundations of both franchises - from the front office to the bleachers - have been shaken to the core by the events that have transpired over the past week.

Welcome to the NFL, where anything is possible - and nothing is guaranteed. For the Green Bay Packers, Sunday night's debacle at Lambeau Field will undoubtedly prove to be a lasting, stinging reminder of that fact.

Just twenty-four days until Texas Rangers pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Surprise, Arizona.

February 14th cannot come soon enough.

Rangers, Cubs Talking Byrd Exchange?

Courtesy of MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, we find this interesting little Friday evening nugget:

The Chicago Cubs, according to Major League officials, have called and asked about center fielder Marlon Byrd. The Cubs are looking for a right-handed-hitting center fielder.

Byrd played center for the Rangers last season but is expected to switch to left after the acquisition of Josh Hamilton earlier this month.

The Cubs would likely be willing to give up left fielder Matt Murton, who hit .281 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs in 94 games and 235 at-bats in 2007. Murton played in 144 games for the Cubs in 2006 and batted .297 with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs. He is career .326 hitter against left-handed pitchers.

Right now, there have only been preliminary discussions between the two teams and no deal is imminent. Rangers general manager Jon Daniels declined to discuss specific trade rumors.

Well, well, well. Murton, a lifetime .296/.365/.455 (108 OPS+ and .276 EqA) hitter in 830 Major League at-bats who just turned 26 last October 3rd, is a player who has long been both undervalued and underutilized by the Chicago Cubs, for one reason or another.

Perhaps the strongest internal argument against Matt receiving regular playing time in the Windy City has been his relative lack of power compared to other topflight corner outfielders. In those 830 career at-bats, Murton has collected just 28 HR - or just one home run every 29.6 at-bats, on average. Not exactly elite power production, as you can undoubtedly tell.

But the Rangers are a team thirsting for talented players who possess the ability to reach base consistently, particularly after logging a mere .328 team on-base percentage in 2007 - good for a dismal 22nd out of 30 in baseball. Adding Josh Hamilton (.368 OBP in '07) and Milton Bradley (.402 OBP in '07) as ingredients to the offensive recipe should provide a refreshing dose of help in that regard, but there's still plenty of room for improvement.

And Murton's solid offensive capabilities may not be his only vastly undervalued asset. Though he's generally regarded as, more or less, a league-average left fielder defensively, there's evidence afoot to suggest that he's better than that subjective label would imply.

In 2006 and 2007, for instance, Murton posted nearly identical RZR (Revised Zone Rating) totals of .904 and .905, respectively. Just to put that in context, his .904 RZR in 2006 ranked as fourth best in all of baseball among qualifying left fielders, behind only Melky Cabrera (.915), Andre Ethier, (.920), and Dave Roberts (.932) - three guys with very good reputations as strong defensive outfielders, range-wise.

Not satisfied with the statistical merits of RZR? That's cool. According to John Dewan's excellent Plus/Minus fielding evaluation system (which you can read all about here), Murton clocked in at +11 in 2006 - or, again, among the top 10 defensive left fielders in baseball. Indeed, his failure to register on the most recent list is almost certainly solely attributable to the fact that he logged just 185 innings, or the equivalent of about 21 full games, in left field with the Cubs in 2007.

And even then, Murton proved to be a valuable defensive commodity. According to the +/- run conversions gleaned from The Hardball Times' zone rating data, which have been compiled into a neat little spreadsheet by Justin Inaz, Murton registered at 5.8 runs above average defensively in left field last season. That jives pretty closely with Baseball Prospectus's RAA (Runs Above Average) statistic, which pegs Murton at +10 and +4 for 2006 and 2007, respectively.

I just threw a whole lot of numbers at you which may or may not make a whole lot of sense, so allow me to explain the basic gist of what all of this boils down to: Murton's a good defensive left fielder. There's no other way to look at it. Virtually every respected defensive metric out there more or less agrees on that point, along with one other constant: he's not a good defensive right fielder.

And assuming that the Rangers understand all of this, I see no good reason as to why the Rangers shouldn't pull the trigger on a Byrd-for-Murton swap. After taking into account the huge disparity, in terms of both age and talent, between the two outfielders, as well as the fact that Murton would be under club control for at least four more seasons, there doesn't even appear to be a question as to whether or not this is a good idea.

Except, of course, for one slight problem: other than an off-hand suggestion from T.R. Sullivan, there are no immediate indications to suggest that this alleged deal is on the table - or, in fact, that Cubs GM Jim Hendry even has any intentions of shipping Murton away.

However, that dynamic may be on the verge of rapidly changing. Though general manager Jon Daniels refused to comment on this purported trade rumor on Friday, Gordon Wittenmyer's comment in the Monday morning edition of the Chicago Sun-Times suggests there's more to this than meets the eye:

So while first baseman Derrek Lee says the Cubs Convention marks the symbolic end of the offseason to him, general manager Jim Hendry has a vastly different outlook as he wrings what he can out of every minute of the next few weeks in pursuit of a trade for Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd, and in the dogged hope he eventually can pry second baseman Brian Roberts from Andy MacPhail's Baltimore Orioles.

For now, the Byrd moves looks possible, if not probable.

And now, courtesy of Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune, we have this unconfirmed, but incredibly intriguing, report to chew on:

Still, the one name to definitely keep in mind with the Cubs is Marlon Byrd. They are having conversations with the Texas Rangers about the center fielder, and this is a deal that could happen fairly quickly, assuming the Cubs are willing to give up some pitching.

The rumor in Texas involved Byrd for Matt Murton, but others say the deal would be Byrd for two or three players, including Murton. The Rangers, like the Orioles, apparently want pitching prospect Sean Gallagher to be in a deal.

Sean Gallagher too? Seriously? The guy who Minor League Ball's John Sickels ranked as the Cubs' third best overall prospect back on November 18th?

It's a nice thought, but don't count on it. Let's just be satisfied with the exciting possibility of the Rangers possibly acquiring Murton, and then move on from there, shall we?

NEWSFLASH: Rangers Sign Laird

With one swift blow, the Texas Rangers have deftly knocked out their final potential salary arbitration case.

According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, the organization has agreed to terms on a one year, $1.6 million contract with catcher Gerald Laird.

The deal likely comes as a pleasant surprise to both Laird and the Rangers, who would have been required to exchange proposed salary figures if the two sides had been unable to strike an agreement before the end of the day on Friday.

Texas had not gone to arbitration with one of their own players since the 1999-2000 off-season, when the club was forced to attend the salary arbitration hearing of former Major League first baseman Lee Stevens. Given that Laird is represented by power agent Scott Boras, the Rangers were probably not looking forward to the possibility of having to deal with Boras during the course of a lengthy (and potentially nasty) arbitration hearing.

Ironically enough, Stevens was dealt to the Montreal Expos on March 16th, 2000, as part of a three-team trade that shipped Brad Fullmer to the Toronto Blue Jays, and David Segui to the Rangers, thus forcing the Expos to foot the bill for the entirety of his $3.5 million salary for the 2000 season. Stevens hit a respectable .265/.337/.481 with 22 HR in 449 AB for Montreal that year, but was out of professional baseball for good by 2003.

Laird, 28, batted a paltry .224/.278/.349 (64 OPS+ and .216 EqA) with 9 HR over the course of a miserable 407 AB campaign with the Rangers in 2007. To his credit, Gerald did swipe six bases in just eight attempts - and perhaps more significantly, gunned down would-be basestealers at an impressive 39.8% clip (39-for-98), good for second best in the American League and third best in all of baseball.

Then again, a superior defensive skill set can only take you so far when your cumulative offensive production - measured, in this instance, by OPS+ - over the span of a full season is on par with that of the career OPS+ of Jose Molina. Yuck.

Gerald was entering his first year of salary arbitration eligibility, so it's a little surprising to see him snagging $1.6 million straight out of the chute. But perhaps the slight overpay on the Rangers' part was worth it to them in order to avoid the dreaded hassle and aggravation that the actual arbitration process would have likely entailed.

Laird will enter spring training firmly entrenched behind Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the competition for the starting catcher's job, a battle which will apparently be decided, in large part, by how the pair of backstops perform during their month-long stay in Surprise.

Should Saltalamacchia fare poorly against Cactus League pitching, he could theoretically be demoted back to Triple-A Oklahoma to further work on his development - but even that possibility remains remote, at best.

And should Saltalamacchia terrorize Cactus League pitching - well, Laird's time as a Texas Ranger could quickly be coming to an end.

Thursday Evening Rangers Notes

On an evening where not much in the way of creative inspiration is really coming to me, I think it's a good idea to roll out a fresh edition of Rangers-flavored quick hits:

? Newly inked right-hander Jason Jennings was formally introduced to the local media contingent during an 11:00 A.M. press conference on Thursday morning.

His one-year contract includes a guaranteed base salary of $4 million, as well as added incentive clauses (based on innings pitched) that could push the overall value of his deal to the $8 million mark if should he manage to clear the 200-inning plateau.

Not a bad payday, considering that multiple arm problems and general ineffectiveness limited him to a horrific 6.45 ERA (68 ERA+) in just 99 innings of work with the Houston Astros in 2007. Jennings is good for anywhere from 180 to 200 league-average innings, when healthy - but let's just say that despite his clean physical, I'll believe in his full recovery from late August surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow when I've witnessed it firsthand.

But Jennings, to his credit, seems to have complete faith in not only his health, but his new employer as well:

"This time last year my elbow was hurting and I was starting to get concerned," Jennings said. "But I had just been traded to Houston and I didn't want to make a big stink about it. I was just hoping it was tendinitis but as the year went on it got worse and worse. I finally had to get it taken care of and now I feel great. It's fun to play catch again. Last year it wasn't fun to even play catch."

[...]

"There were some other teams in the mix, but being from here, this was at the top of my list," Jennings said. "I had a great meeting with J.D. on Monday, met some of the guys and had a really good vibe about the attitude of the team and the direction we're going. I wanted to be a part of it."

[...]

"I'm just looking forward to proving I'm healthy and being the pitcher I can be and not the pitcher I was last year," Jennings said. "I have no reason to feel I'm not going to like it here, so who wouldn't enjoy the opportunity to discuss a multiyear deal and play at home?"

Let's just hope he's right.

? According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, Jennings is currently slated to slide into the #3 slot of the Rangers' tentative Opening Day starting rotation, behind Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla but ahead of Brandon McCarthy and Kason Gabbard.

Oddly, Sullivan notes that both McCarthy and Gabbard have merely "an inside track" on the latter two spots, and could still face stiff competition in spring training from the likes of Eric Hurley, Luis Mendoza, Armando Galarraga and Kameron Loe.

If McCarthy is fully healthy, there's simply no way that he fails to crack the Opening Day rotation. And if he isn't - well, he sure as hell better be on the disabled list resting and rehabilitating, so as to avoid another debacle such as the one that unfolded last summer, when the organization seemingly turned a blind eye to McCarthy's complaints of "sharp" pain in his right shoulder.

Gabbard, on the other hand, could be a far more intriguing case. He doesn't strike me as the type of pitcher who's going to be able to stay consistently healthy over the long haul, given his lengthy history of medical problems - and to make matters worse, I'm not yet convinced that he's not just another John Koronka starter kit in the making, talent-wise.

I sure do hope I'm wrong about Gabbard, because I'd love to see him excel in Arlington - but realistically, it wouldn't come as any great surprise to me if he was forced out of the starting rotation picture, for one reason or another, by the All-Star break.

? Initial reaction across the baseball world to the Jennings signing has been somewhat positive in the Rangers' favor; Baseball Prospectus's Christina Kahrl touched on the matter during her most recent chat session on Thursday afternoon, in response to a question from some random East Texas yokel:

Joey Matschulat (Tyler, TX): Thoughts on the Rangers signing Jason Jennings to a one-year, $4 million deal?

Christina Kahrl: Might be a win-win for both, as Jennings takes his shot at delivering a year that really puts him in the winner's circle in the subsequent winter. Although I always hate to see a pitcher who can hit a little see that ability get wasted in the AL.

Baseball Think Factory's Dan Szymborski isn't quite as optimistic, but has issued a preliminary ZiPS forecast which calls for a 4.86 ERA (95 ERA+) and 139 IP campaign from Jennings in 2008:

I bet Jason Jennings was damn happy to see the calendar turn to 2008. 2007 was a disaster for Jennings as he had the worst season of his career after tearing a tendon in his elbow in his contract year, and got to watch his former team play in the World Series (he's also the Rockies all-time winningest pitcher).

If Jennings has his 2006 season in 2007, he'd be the most desirable free-agent pitcher born since Nixon took office and probably looking at least at a 4-year, $50 million contract right now. Instead, he's headed to one of the least desirable pitching environments and with an organization that seems to have little luck with reclamation projects. Jennings is playing for a contract again, but it's not an easy road.

I could live with that.

? Meanwhile, Kahrl also weighed in on Wednesday's re-signing of outfielder Marlon Byrd as part of her latest "Transaction Analysis" segment:

Byrd's had an interesting career of sorts, and I guess I ponder his lot and think of Harry �Suitcase� Simpson. Like Simpson, Byrd can play, and he had a short stint as a prospect before he wound up being a filler guy on bad ballclubs. That's not a knock on either of them�they were both good enough to play in the absence of better alternatives�and it's nice to see Byrd score a payday, especially after enduring the standard-issue tender mercies of thousands of disappointed Philadelphians.

However, it's also worth noting that last season's breakout was the product of some pretty unusual spikes in his BABIP and his line-drive rate, which suggests that Byrd's going to see his numbers drop pretty steeply. He'll still be useful enough, but he's essentially irrelevant to the organization achieving a better Rangers ballclub at some point in the future.

For what it's worth, ZiPS forecasts Byrd to hit .288/.344/.443 in 2008. Couple that with solid defense from a corner outfield spot, and you have a player who's probably a lot closer to the league-average threshold for his position than you might think.

? According to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Rangers have re-signed left-hander Bill White to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training. Texas placed the 30-year-old southpaw on waivers for the purpose of granting him his unconditional release on January 9th, but apparently no team was interested enough in obtaining his services to hand him a 40-man roster spot outright.

? Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News has named minor league right-hander Omar Poveda as the 10th best overall prospect in the Rangers' organization, while Mike Hindman of "Rangers Farm Report" has published his evaluation of the club's top five outfield prospects.

Fascinatingly enough, right-hander Michael Main - whom Hindman recently pegged as the organization's top pitching prospect - checks in at #4. Given how late the Rangers were able to snatch him up last June (with the 24th pick of the 2007 MLB Draft), he's beginning to look like a tremendous steal.

Incidentally, that pick was originally obtained as compensation from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, after they signed outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. to a five year, $50 million contract in late November 2006. Thanks again, Mr. Stoneman.

? Baseball America has released the prospect profiles from their "31st Team," an imaginary roster which consists of players that had scouting reports penned on their skill sets, but failed to gain entry into the 2008 Baseball America Prospect Handbook as a result of not being able to crack their respective team's top 30 prospects list.

Sure enough, one Ranger made a cameo appearance - minor league shortstop Marcus Lemon, who batted an pedestrian .261/.353/.364 with 3 HR in 459 AB for Single-A Clinton in 2007:

Lemon is a tough out thanks to his ability to work counts and make consistent contact, though some scouts wonder if he has enough strength to hit in the big leagues. He has occasional gap power but never will be a home run hitter.

Defensively, Lemon puts himself in position to make plays at shortstop and has a fringe-average arm and fringe-average range. He's also a fringy runner who needs to get a better feel for when to steal bases after getting caught 14 times in 26 tries last season.

Texas will leave Lemon at shortstop in high Class A this year, but he'll likely need to learn to play second base and center field because he profiles best as a gritty utilityman.

Ah, there's nothing quite like white, gritty middle infielders.

Editor's note: Reader "Trip" kindly points out that Lemon is, in fact, not white. Serves me right for even bringing race into the issue.

? The Texas Rangers' average salary of $1.645 million per player ranked 27th in baseball in 2007. See if you can guess who clocked in at #1!

(Hint: it's not the Marlins).

? Finally, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have internally discussed tendering a minor league contract with an invitation to big league spring training to none other than - surprise, surprise! - former Ranger great Juan Gonzalez.

Sammy Sosa: Part Deux anybody?

NEWSFLASH: Rangers Ink Byrd, Jennings To One-Year Deals

Queue a sudden flurry of not-so-witty "The Byrd Has Landed" headlines.

According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, the Texas Rangers have re-signed outfielder Marlon Byrd to a one year, $1.8 million contract, and have completed an agreement with free-agent right-hander Jason Jennings on a similar one-year commitment.

Financial terms of the latter deal have not yet been officially disclosed, but ESPN's Jerry Crasnick is reporting that Jennings will receive a guaranteed base salary of $4 million in 2008.

No specific mention is made of possible incentive clauses, but a strong likelihood exists that Jennings can earn additional performance bonuses based on the number of starts he makes next season.

The Rangers have tentatively scheduled a Thursday morning press conference to formally announce the signing of Jennings, who figures to join a starting rotation currently consisting of Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Brandon McCarthy and Kason Gabbard.

Byrd, 30, hit a sturdy .307/.355/.459 with 10 HR in 414 AB for the Rangers in 2007. His 113 OPS+ and .275 EqA ranked third and fourth on the team, respectively, among all players who received 250 or more at-bats as a member of the Rangers last season.

Despite some disturbing predictive signs which seem to suggest that Marlon probably won't be able to sustain that same high level of offensive production in 2008, Byrd is nonetheless positioned to obtain a healthy amount of playing time between all three outfield spots going forward - though, in all likelihood, with an emphasis on the corner outfield spots.

The finalization of Byrd's new contract leaves just one potential salary arbitration case hanging in the balance: catcher Gerald Laird, who is represented by super-agent Scott Boras. Back on January 6th, general manager Jon Daniels had expressed optimism in being able to avoid arbitration where Laird was concerned; however, he doesn't sound quite as certain of himself now:

"We'd like to get something done, but every negotiation has its own pace," Daniels said.

According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, Texas will be required to exchange proposed salary figures with Boras if the team can't come to an agreement with Laird by Friday's league-imposed deadline. The Rangers haven't had to resort to arbitration proceedings with one of their players since 2000, and probably aren't particularly ecstatic at the thought of having to do so now.

Speaking of stalled negotiations, Daniels also weighed in on the dormant long-term contract extension talks involving second baseman Ian Kinsler:

"It's something we may revisit later," Daniels said. "Right now, we have been tied up with some other stuff. Between now and the beginning of the season we may revisit it, but there's nothing going on right now."

For some peculiar reason, those don't strike me as the words of a man who is optimistic about a deal getting done before Opening Day rolls around.

And finally, it's beginning to appear that at the very least, outfielder Jason Botts will remain Rangers property through the entirety of spring training. Manager Ron Washington reportedly spoke to Botts on Tuesday about the possibility of Jason getting a look as Ben Broussard's platoon partner at first base to begin the 2008 season, a concept which - surprise! - Jon Daniels expounded upon further on Wednesday:

"Jason is our own guy. The biggest advantage [Chris] Shelton had was he had more experience in at first base. Jason has the ability but in the past we wanted him to focus on one position, and we asked him to work in the outfield because we had Mark Teixeira here. Jason made pretty good strides out there, and if he can make the same strides at first base, he has a chance to help us."

It's an interesting idea, at first glance - but as with most things in life, there's more to this than initially meets the eye.

Behold, for instance, this exchange from T.R. Sullivan's MLB.com mailbag segment on October 22nd, 2007:

Why not return Botts to first base, where he played initially in the Minors? We traded Adrian Gonzalez to the Padres and Botts, I thought, took over at first.

-- Brian B., League City, Texas

The Rangers went back and forth on Botts between first base and the outfield, finally deciding left field was his best defensive position. Botts was the regular first baseman at Double-A Frisco in 2004, but has played just 18 games there since then. Botts had back issues in the past, and the Rangers think that was a problem for him at first base.

Concerned yet? It gets even better.

From Evan Grant's Dallas Morning News chat session on June 20th, 2007:

Earl: Can Jason Botts play first base? Why am I still watching Brad Wilkerson play for this team?

Evan Grant: General consensus is no, Botts can't play first. His back was an issue the last time he played first. A guy his size could be prone to lots of back issues from all the bending and stretching a first baseman must do. So, in addition to his poor defensive instincts there, there is also a health question.

Uh oh.

Rangers Notebook: A Bullpen Primer

As a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan living in north Texas, I can't say that I particularly sympathize with the Dallas Cowboys, or their undoubtedly still shell-shocked supporters, after their stunning playoff loss to the New York Giants at Texas Stadium on Sunday night.

But being that I'm also a rabid Texas Rangers fan - one who has seen his fair share of heartbreaking finishes from his team on the baseball diamond - I can most certainly relate to the painfully fresh plight of the Cowboys.

For as much fun as the Rangers' 2004 "miracle season" was, the cold and harsh reality of the matter is that they still failed to reach the post-season.

And they haven't sniffed it since.

Granted, it's nothing short of a miracle in itself that Texas managed to climb to within two games of the AL West divisional lead with ten games to play that year - but much like the '07 Cowboys, the '04 Rangers also suffered from a disastrous collapse down the stretch (losing five of six after the legendary "Dellucci Double" on September 23rd) that served to crush their respective championship dreams.

It can be argued, perhaps even rather convincingly, that one is completely unlike the other. After all, who honestly expected at the onset of the 2004 season that the Rangers would even remotely compete for a playoff spot? Conversely, the most pressing question concerning the Cowboys going into last fall was not whether or not they'd be a good team, but just how good.

At second glance, however, both teams do share one key similarity: when it mattered the most, both the '04 Rangers and '07 Cowboys folded like a lawn chair. That's not intended as a condemnation of that memorable Rangers squad in the slightest; that entire season, with its many thrilling twists and turns, transformed me into the die-hard baseball fan that I am today.

But in the end, the ultimate measuring stick by which any team's success in a given season has to be evaluated is their success, or lack thereof, in reaching and excelling in the post-season. And using that logic, one word can both accurately and succinctly sum up the recent fortunes of the Cowboys and Rangers, two professional sports franchises that have both failed to notch a playoff win in more than a decade.

Disappointment.

Returning to present day, it's definitely beginning to appear as though the Rangers' 2008 squad is finally falling into place. Free agent right-hander Jason Jennings underwent his team physical in Arlington on Monday, and apparently passed with flying colors, as the 29-year-old sinkerballer is reportedly set to be added to the roster later this week.

Meanwhile, Chris Shelton's departure from the 40-man roster has given rise to an entirely new debate surrounding the club's utility infielder job. Team officials have openly acknowledged that minor league infield prospect German Duran, who has already been tendered a invitation to big league spring training, will be granted an opportunity to make the Opening Day roster as the Rangers' utility man:

"He's coming to camp to be evaluated for a big league spot," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "We're not labeling him as a utility player, but some guys do break in the big leagues that way."

Duran, 23, batted a stellar .300/.352/.525 with 22 HR and 11 SB in 480 AB for Double-A Frisco in 2007. Most notable, however, was his tremendous offensive production against southpaws: in 135 AB against left-handers, Duran hit a whopping .341/.399/.637 with 10 HR.

It is that latter statistical line which undoubtedly has the Rangers intrigued in opening up their 2008 campaign with Duran on the active roster. Texas could certainly use a decent right-handed bat off the bench, and with first baseman Ben Broussard still likely in need of some type of platoon partner (his lifetime .227/.290/.399 batting line in 348 AB vs. LHP is a testament to that fact), Duran would seem to be a perfect candidate to snag some playing time at first base.

The problems with this idea, of course, are twofold: not only has Duran yet to play a single game professionally above Double-A, but he has also yet to play a single game professionally at first base. He has also played just one game at third base, with the remainder of his time in the field being split 75/25 between second base and shortstop. And his less than impressive 5'10" stature would make him one of the shortest (if not the shortest) first basemen in baseball.

Now, does this mean that Duran can't eventually develop into a useful, super-sub type player that can regularly chew up at-bats at every infield position with competent defense? Certainly not. But at the same time, asking Duran to semi-regularly platoon at a position which he has virtually zero experience playing at strikes me as a somewhat risky proposition, at best.

Another area of this team which remains open to debate is the bullpen, though the main core is admittedly beginning to shape into form. C.J. Wilson, Joaquin Benoit, Kazuo Fukumori and Eddie Guardado have locked in four of the seven available relief spots - but the other three jobs remain up in the air, to a large extent, and will almost certainly be filled based on spring training performance.

So, who else will break camp as part of the Rangers' seven-piece bullpen unit? It's still hard to say definitively, but here are some semi-educated guesses:

• RHP Frankie Francisco (80%) - Has the inside track on one of the three remaining spots, according to T.R. Sullivan, but "is not a lock." Struggled with an infuriating lack of control (38 BB in 59.1 IP in 2007) in the wake of April 2005 Tommy John surgery, but his velocity returned to the mid-to-high 90's by late September. Command is usually the last thing to return after elbow surgery, so there's plenty of reason to believe that Frankie is ready to break out.
• LHP John Rheinecker (60%) - Held left-handed batters to a puny .229/.289/.371 batting line in 2007, though he fared much worse against right-handers (.328/.426/.526). Carrying Rheinecker would require rolling with a bullpen consisting of three lefties out of spring training, something which I'm not sure the organization is thrilled about doing - but he's out of options, and would almost certainly be snapped up off waivers by a team in need of a LOOGY if Texas attempted to outright him to the minor leagues. As a result, there's a better than decent chance he'll stick around.
• RHP Jamey Wright (40%) - Ah yes, "The Electrician." Dominant relief work in 2007 (2.05 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 19 K, and just one HR allowed in 30.2 IP) and a possible need for an additional "veteran presence" in the bullpen alongside Guardado could result in Wright being penciled in as a situational middle reliever and regular long reliever.
• RHP Kameron Loe (30%) - Despite now being a four-year Major League veteran, the Rangers still haven't decided whether or not "The Snake" is a starter or reliever; granted, the correct answer is almost certainly the latter at this point. Loe's probably headed for Triple-A Oklahoma out of spring training, but he'll almost certainly be at the top of the Rangers' emergency call-up list due to his versatility - the one positive side effect to be derived from his lack of a definitive role.
• RHP Wes Littleton (25%) - Needs to find a way to strike out more batters (a K/9 ratio of 4.39 simply won't cut it in the big leagues), as his deceptive sidearm delivery will only take him so far. Still, Littleton's a nice pitcher to have lying around for depth purposes - and he still has one option remaining.
• RHP Scott Feldman (15%) - Texas will almost certainly want Feldman to work on his retooled three-quarters delivery in the minor leagues at the onset of the 2008 season. He possesses the stuff to become a serviceable big league reliever, but his command has a long way to go.
• RHP Jason Davis (10%) - Another pitcher with above-average stuff who has underachieved for much of his career. Davis may be just 27, but he needs to finally put it together. He'll make $650,000 guaranteed if he makes the team out of spring training, but he can also ask for his unconditional release if he's not added to the 25-man roster by March 29th; either way, he'll need a big spring to make the team.
• RHP Robinson Tejeda (10%) - How quickly things can change in a year. Now out of options, Tejeda's only chance of breaking camp as part of the Rangers' Opening Day roster is probably to win a job out of the bullpen - and his still mediocre to poor command makes even that possibility remote, at best. Realistically, he'll be designated for assignment sometime before Opening Day at the latest, and perhaps whenever Jennings is added to the 40-man roster at soonest.
• RHP Josh Rupe (10%) - Numerous elbow problems have prevented this once promising sinkerballer from breaking through as a starting pitcher, and have forced the Rangers to permanently relegate him to the bullpen. Rupe simply has to prove that he can stay healthy, once and for all - or his baseball days could well be numbered.
• LHP A.J. Murray (5%) - Murray made 12 appearances out of the Rangers bullpen in 2007, but the organization wants to groom him as a starter. He'll almost certainly head to Triple-A Oklahoma to begin the 2008 season, but injuries to Wilson, Rheinecker or Guardado could force him back into temporary bullpen duties at the big league level.
• RHP Luis Mendoza (5%) - Perhaps the lead candidate to win a rotation spot out of spring training if one of the tentative starting five (Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Brandon McCarthy, Jason Jennings and Kason Gabbard) badly falters or suffers a serious injury. The Rangers appear to be much more interested in what Mendoza can do as a starter than as a reliever, in any event.
• RHP Elizardo Ramirez (2%) - Pinpoint control can only take you so far when you're not good at preventing hits or striking out opposing batters.
• RHP Franklyn German (1%) - The 27-year-old Dominican Republic native has surrendered 106 walks in 137 Major League innings to date, and allowed 46 walks in 59.1 IP with the Redhawks in 2007. Yikes.

Several other local columnists have chimed in with preliminary positional breakdowns; T.R. Sullivan has penned a blog entry at "Postcards from Elysian Fields" which runs down the pitchers currently slated for a trip to Surprise next month, and has also issued his latest piece into MLB.com's "Around the Horn" series, in which Sullivan takes an in-depth look at the Rangers' organizational depth at the middle infield positions.

Along these same lines, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has a piece out examining the Rangers' stability (or lack thereof) at each position, and includes a curious throwaway line suggesting that first baseman Nate Gold might be given a look as Broussard's platoon partner in spring training.

In addition, Baseball Prospectus's Christina Kahrl has also acknowledged the possibility of Nate Gold finally breaking through into the big leagues this coming season:

It's possible that the Rangers might lose Shelton on a waiver claim, but that would hardly be debilitating. They're not going to win the division, and having picked up Ben Broussard as well, it isn't like picking one or the other offers all that much upside. Shelton is cheap, an uncertain proposition, and disposable, even more so with Nate Gold likely to start pushing for playing time at first base at some point early on during the 2008 season. The problem there is that the Rangers' 40-man roster is already fully stocked, and Gold's not yet on it. That should make for some interesting decision-making, certainly.

There's just one teensy, weensy little problem with this idea: despite hitting from the right side of the plate exclusively, Gold batted just .250/.316/.426 in 136 AB against southpaws with Triple-A Oklahoma in 2007.

This could be nothing more than an odd statistical anomaly, a possibility which is difficult to prove or disprove given that Minor League Splits currently has data available for only the most recent season. Nonetheless, this serves as a fairly damning piece of evidence against Gold's case for becoming Broussard's regular platoon partner.

T.R. Sullivan also weighs in on the Gold issue in his latest MLB.com mailbag, with his stance more or less being that the Rangers' apparent reservations towards Gold probably exist for a good reason. Perhaps more significantly, T.R. notes that while the Rangers "could use" Dodgers infielder Nomar Garciaparra, they "aren't going to get him away."

And in the wake of Sullivan's recent Nomar lovefest, that's very encouraging news.

Of course, what T.R. Sullivan mailbag would be complete without an absurd and totally inconceivable fan-engineered trade proposal?

Do you think it would be a good trade for the Rangers if they gave up Michael Young, Josh Hamilton and possibly C.J, Wilson to the Red Sox, in return getting Kevin Youkilis, either Jon Lester or Clay Buchholz, and another prospect?

-- Chris L., Dallas

I'd rather have Young than Youkilis and don't want to give up both a potential cleanup hitter and closer for a highly regarded but unproven starter and an unknown prospect.

Sigh.

Getting back to reality momentarily, Baseball Prospectus's Joe Sheehan has pegged second baseman Ian Kinsler, who is coming off an impressive 20-20 sophomore campaign, as a potential breakout candidate in 2008:

Starting with McLouth, we get into players who aren�t quite as strong candidates. Kinsler made small improvements across the board in �07, hitting more fly balls, walking a bit more, stealing more bases at a better rate and playing better defense. Given a full season�Kinsler has missed 74 games in two seasons�he could put up Dan Uggla�s numbers, with much better defense and a higher OBP.

The Rangers reportedly began discussing a potential five-year contract extension for Kinsler with his representatives, Jay Franklin and Jeff Frye, in early November. But negotiations between Ian's camp and the organization reached a stalemate soon thereafter, with the two sides being alleged to be far apart financially, and there have been no new public developments on this front since mid-November.

I won't claim to have the faintest clue of how much "fiscal security" Ian is purportedly seeking, or how much the Rangers chose to place on the table before negotiations collapsed. However, I will say this: sooner or later, Tom Hicks may come to regret his unwillingness to pony up the necessary cash to lock up Kinsler through the 2012 season.

And if Ian does indeed break out in 2008, perhaps much sooner than later.

Since the last time I chimed in with an full length piece, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News has named Max Ramirez, Neftali Feliz, Julio Borbon, Matt Harrison, German Duran, Fabio Castillo, and Luis Mendoza as the 11th through the 17th best prospects in the Rangers organization.

Both Harrison and Duran seem slightly underrated by Grant relative to some of the other top prospect lists floating around out there, but these things are so tremendously subjective anyway that it's hard to get too riled up.

Mike Hindman of "Rangers Farm Report" has published his evaluation of the 6th through the 10th best outfield prospects in the organization, which seems to speak more about the organization's dearth of quality at that position than anything else. Every player listed by Hindman has some type of major red flag surrounding their respective skill set, from poor strike zone recognition to abhorrent walk rates to below-average defense.

In the case of the Rangers' first round selection of the 2005 MLB Draft, John Mayberry, it's a little of all the above. And that's extremely disturbing.

But if you're desperately hoping for a high note to conclude on, here you go: just 30 days remain until Texas pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Surprise, Arizona.

NEWSFLASH: Rangers Add Fukumori, DFA Shelton

Less than two months after joining the Texas Rangers organization, first baseman Chris Shelton suddenly looks to be headed on his way back out.

According to an early Monday afternoon team press release, the Rangers have finally added Japanese right-hander Kazuo Fukumori to the 40-man roster. To make room for his addition, the club has chosen to designate Shelton for assignment.

Texas acquired the 27-year-old Utah native from the Detroit Tigers on December 5th in exchange for outfielder Freddy Guzman, just hours before Major League Baseball's Rule V Draft was set to take place.

Though it was originally believed that the Rangers may have pulled the trigger on the deal because Guzman's departure would clear a spot on the 40-man roster (thus allowing the club to participate in the Rule V Draft), that turned out not to be the case.

Procedural guru Jamey Newberg pointed out soon after the trade was consummated that because Shelton had not yet cleared waivers, he would immediately fill the roster spot vacated by Guzman. In any event, Texas did not clear another roster spot before the onset of the next morning's draft, and consequently did not make a selection during the major league phase.

Shelton, a lifetime .281/.348/.477 (115 OPS+ and .277 EqA) hitter with 35 HR in 807 big league at-bats, was initially positioned to be the club's starting first baseman come Opening Day. But that plan was subsequently blown up after Texas snatched soon-to-be non-tendered first baseman Ben Broussard from the Seattle Mariners on December 12th in exchange for minor league infielder Tug Hulett Jr.

Despite possessing inferior offensive numbers across the board to that of his counterpart (.267/.328/.458 with a .266 EqA in 2,054 AB), Broussard was almost immediately penciled in as the club's starting first baseman, relegating Shelton to a platoon role - assuming, of course, that he even made it through spring training. Looks like that won't be an issue now.

The Rangers now have 10 days to either attempt to push Shelton through waivers and outright him to the minor leagues, trade him, or release him. It strikes me as rather unlikely that Shelton would go unclaimed if placed on waivers, and releasing him is an utter waste, so it seems probable that Texas will try and deal Chris for the best possible return they can obtain.

Hopefully, the eventual returns exceed the value of the initial investment.

One curious side effect of this roster move is that barring another odd turn of events, Broussard is now set to be the Rangers' everyday first baseman in 2008. That clears the projected 25-man roster spot that Shelton was set to fill as Broussard's platoon partner - and as a result, the odds of either Nelson Cruz or Jason Botts winning a big league job coming out of spring training just skyrocketed.

That may be the one good development to come from all of this. I'd be lying if I said I was particularly thrilled about this set of roster moves.

As for Fukumori, here are the (somewhat) complete financial details of his complicated agreement with the Rangers:

• 2008: Guaranteed base salary of $1.4 million
• 2009: Option year worth $1.6 million, which vests automatically and becomes guaranteed if Fukumori spends less than 30 days on the disabled list in 2008; otherwise, becomes club option with a $200,000 buyout
• 2010: Club option year; financial terms undisclosed

Fukumori's contract also contains a clause that requires the Rangers to pay $50,000 a year for an interpretor, an undisclosed amount for four business class airplane tickets from Japan to the United States for his family each year, and $3,000 for English lessons for his wife.

No wonder it took the Commissioner's Office and the MLBPA over a month to sort this entire mess out.

NEWSFLASH: Rangers Sign Guardado, Wright, Melhuse

After more than two weeks of patient and diligent waiting, the Texas Rangers have finally come to terms with Eddie Guardado.

According to Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News, the Rangers have inked the 37-year-old southpaw to a one year, $2 million contract, which includes incentive clauses that could escalate the value of the deal by another $4 million.

Guardado can earn $1.5 million in performance bonuses based on the number of games he appears in, and another $2.5 million based on the number of games he finishes. Though the organization is likely envisioning an eventual setup role for "Everyday Eddie," Guardado was quick to note his love for the closer's job to the media on Friday:

"I love it," Guardado said. "I love closing. Pitching the seventh and eighth inning is great, but there is something about the ninth that's unbelievable. I enjoy it.

"I like competition, but I don't compete against my teammates. C.J. Wilson is my teammate. I go into Spring Training getting ready for 162 games of Texas Rangers baseball. I compete against the other guys. If C.J. is the closer, I'm still going to be there. I'm going to be ready to pitch whether it's the eighth or ninth inning."

The Rangers are undoubtedly looking for Guardado to serve as a sort of mentor to Wilson, who is more than ten years his junior. Although the acquisition of Eddie is somewhat curious in that C.J.'s seemingly firm grasp on the closer's role heading into spring training has now loosened to a degree, general manager Jon Daniels wasted no time in explaining the club's thought process and intentions behind the signing:

"Where we are headed as an organization, there is some value in having C.J., our own guy who's going to be here, in that role," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "But at the same time, we don't want to hand the job to our young guys. We want them to earn it. It helps set the bar higher by bringing in players that have been there, done that."

[...]

"We were looking for guys who had some experience, guys with a different look with versatility and experience," Daniels said. "Eddie provides all of that. He's pitched in the American League and had a great deal of success both in the setup and closer's role. He's regarded throughout baseball as one of the better competitors and teammates in the game.

"If it turns out that we give C.J. the job -- he pitched well at the end of last year -- then Eddie can contribute in other ways, whether it's in setup or closing on nights when C.J. is not available. We're not making that decision now. That's for the end of March."

In addition to the above transaction, the Rangers also announced on Friday the re-signings of both catcher Adam Melhuse and right-hander Jamey Wright to minor league deals with invitations to spring training.

Melhuse isn't much help at this stage in his career (not that he ever really was, mind you), but Wright's utter dominance out of the bullpen during the second half of the 2007 season (2.05 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 19 K, and just one HR allowed in 30.2 IP) could make him a serious candidate for the long relief job going into spring training.

Just keep him the hell away from the starting rotation.

And finally, recently departed left-handed reliever Bill White has cleared waivers, leading to the Rangers exploring the possibility of re-signing him to a minor league deal.

I may yet have to retract yesterday's "happy trails" remark.

Otsuka Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Jennings To Texas?

Looks like Jon Daniels' fears concerning the long-term health of Akinori Otsuka were more well-founded than I originally thought.

On the heels of a fascinating Thursday morning report from the great Jamey Newberg that included a quote from Daniels, indicating that the soon to be 36-year-old Japanese right-hander was headed towards season-ending elbow surgery, we have now learned from Otsuka himself that he has undergone some type of surgical procedure on his ailing right elbow within the past 48 hours:

''Today (Wednesday, U.S. time) I will have surgery on my right elbow,'' said Otsuka, 35, who injured his elbow last season.

''I have come to this decision after much worry and consideration. I will work hard in rehab so I can definitely make a comeback to the mound,'' he said."

I'll admit to being more than a little skeptical when news of Otsuka being non-tendered originally leaked during the waning hours of December 12th. But as more and more information began to come out, including word of a proposed deal between the White Sox and Rangers that collapsed after Chicago's front office reviewed Otsuka's medical records, it quickly became clear that Aki's rehabilitation effort was not going quite as well as we had thought.

Had the Rangers chosen to tender a contract to Otsuka, who was to enter his second year of salary arbitration, the financial commitment required likely would ranged somewhere between $4.5 million to $5 million. As it so happens, Texas appears to be close to tying up the money they saved from cutting Aki loose into another veteran right-hander, who carries his own burdensome set of well documented medical concerns.

According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, the Rangers are on the verge of completing a deal with free agent starting pitcher Jason Jennings. Terms of the reportedly imminent signing have not yet been disclosed, but regardless of whether or not an agreement is indeed struck, you can be certain that the organization will be conducting an extremely thorough physical examination of the 29-year-old Dallas native.

Jennings battled both elbow and shoulder tendinitis in his pitching arm throughout an injury-marred 2007 campaign with the Houston Astros, during which the 6'2" sinkerballer compiled an abysmal 6.45 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in just 99 innings of work. Jason's season ended in late August, after he underwent successful surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow.

Grant notes that the addition of Jennings could force Brandon McCarthy and Kason Gabbard (both of whom were assumed to be locks for the starting rotation come Opening Day) to compete with Luis Mendoza, Armando Galarraga, and A.J. Murray for two spots at the back of the rotation. I wholeheartedly disagree with that assertion - if anything, this signing probably all but crushes the hopes of the latter three breaking camp as part of the 25-man roster.

Unless, of course, Jennings fails to pass his physical. And while those are usually more of a formality than anything else in Major League Baseball, this case looks to be a major exception to the norm.

Ironically enough, Grant's choice for the 17th best prospect in the Rangers organization is none other than the aforementioned Mendoza, who now appears likely to open up the 2008 season at Triple-A Oklahoma.

Equipped with a nasty low-90's sinker and better than average command, the 24-year-old Veracruz, Mexico native notched a quality 15-4 record, 3.93 ERA and 1.30 WHIP with Double-A Frisco last year. Mendoza impressed after receiving a late-season promotion to the big leagues, surrendering just four earned runs in 16 innings and earning his first Major League win against the Orioles in Arlington on September 21st.

Continuing the Evan Grant extravaganza, we also have his unofficial odds on who the next Ranger to be placed on waivers will be. Not surprisingly, outfielder Nelson Cruz (3:1) tops Evan's list, with right-handers Scott Feldman (4:1) and Robinson Tejeda (6:1) not far behind; outfielder Jason Botts (8:1) and first baseman Chris Shelton (9:1) close out his assessment. No real surprises here, though I think Feldman's a lot more likely to stick around on the 40-man roster than some believe.

According to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers could have a deal completed with veteran reliever Eddie Guardado by Friday. The two sides have reportedly working on the final language contained in his contract, and are attempting to hammer out the details of his incentive clauses.

And finally, the Texas Rangers have released their promotional schedule and ticket information for the 2008 season (available in .pdf format here); shockingly enough, the club has chosen to once again raise ticket prices! Huzzah!

"It's really a supply and demand issue," Rangers vice president for communications Jim Sundberg said. "Most of our seats in the lower bowl inside the dugouts are season ticket holders; what's left, people are willing to pay for those locations."

"The Rangers are still affordable. Five of the six lower- price seating areas � the family seats � stayed at the same price. And the packages we have and the promos we've got, it just adds to making it an affordable, fun night."

Yeah, I guess. Most importantly, the Rangers have slotted their August 17th afternoon game against the Tampa Bay Rays for their annual "Dog Day" promotion, so if you want to ensure the capture of comedy gold as roaming FSN reporter/yuck monkey Jim Knox clumsily dances around with a Great Dane on the Ballpark concourse, you may want to go ahead and set your DVR recorders now.

Gossage Elected To Hall Of Fame; Rangers Close In On Guardado

For one day at least, there will be little talk of Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee here at Baseball Time in Arlington.

If, for some bizarre reason, that breaks your heart - don't worry. There's plenty more to be dug up and uncovered over the coming days and weeks leading up to Opening Day.

That being said, I did want to highlight one particularly interesting observation made by MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan at "Postcards from Elysian Fields" yesterday:

You would get fired at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram if you taped a phone conversation without telling the other person. That seems pretty low and smacked of desperation. If McNamee had said the wrong things contrary to the Clemens position, that phone tape would have been at the bottom of Galveston Bay.

Combine that with the apparent existence (but as of yet non-release) of a tape chronicling a December 12th interview that allegedly took place between McNamee and two private investigators hired by the Rocket's attorneys, and it quickly becomes evident that Clemens has been less than forthcoming with all the evidence in his possession.

Instead, he's subjectively releasing whatever evidence that helps to reinforce his purported pedestal of innocence. We're not getting the whole story.

And it's quite possible we never will.

The Baseball Writers Association of America elected legendary reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, making him the lone member on the 2008 ballot to reach the hallowed grounds of Cooperstown.

Gossage, who notched a 3.01 ERA (126 ERA+) and 1.23 WHIP over the course of a storied 22-year Major League career that included a brief 1991 stop in Arlington, received 85.8% (466 of 543 votes) of the total vote in his ninth appearance on the ballot.

Despite racking up a dominant stretch of seasons in relief between '77 and '85 - including a 0.77 ERA and WHIP with the Yankees in '81, good for an ERA+ of 461 that ranks as the 7th best ever among pitchers who fired at least 40 innings in a single season - Gossage still struck me as a borderline case. I wasn't particularly in favor of Bruce Sutter's election in 2005, either.

Granted, much of that can be attributed to my admittedly futile wishes for a smaller HoF; back on December 31st, I noted that I would have only voted for Bert Blyleven, Mark McGwire and Tim Raines on the current ballot if I possessed a vote (which I obviously don't). Unfortunately, none of the three gained admission to Cooperstown this time around.

We can argue all day and night about whether or not McGwire would have been a HoF-caliber player, had he not taken performance-enhancing substances during a time when they were not deemed illegal by MLB. There's obviously plenty of wiggle room here, and though I personally would have put McGwire in (as it's virtually impossible to know who was "using" and who wasn't), I can sympathize with both sportswriters and fans alike who feel otherwise.

However, for the BBWAA to insist upon the exclusion of both Raines (24.3%), arguably the second best leadoff hitter of all-time, and Blyleven (61.9%), one of the most consistently dominant pitchers of both the 70's and 80's, just doesn't make sense. It's both disappointing and frustrating.

And suffice it to say, I'm not exactly satisfied with T.R. Sullivan's explanation as to why he, once again, refused to cast a vote in Blyleven's direction:

I have seen the numbers. I know he has 287 wins, 60 shutouts and 3,701 strikeouts. I have heard people say that if Don Sutton is in the Hall of Fame then Blyleven should be.

But I just don't believe that Blyleven was ever considered one of the elite pitchers in the game and has the credentials to be considered one of the best pitchers of his time. Here are my arguments.

* In the 1970's, during the prime of his career, he was an All-Star once. That was in 1973 and that was the only year in which he received Cy Young votes. That was the year he won 20 games and had his nine shutouts. One time?

* From 1976-1980, when he was 25-30 years old, he was traded three times. Do elite pitchers get traded that often?

* Everybody said he played for bad teams. That's overblown. The Minnesota Twins were 240-238 in a three-year period between 1972-74. Blyleven was 54-51 in those three years.

* There were 96 20-game winners in the 1970's. That's 9.6 per season. Blyleven, who was a rookie in 1970, did it once. I count 19 of those 20-game winners doing it for a team with a losing record. A pitcher won at least 18 games in a season 156 times in that decade. Blyleven did it once. He did it just once more in the 1980's in a decade in which a pitcher won at least 18 games in a season 87 times. Over a 20-year period, when an average of 12 pitchers per year were winning at least 18 games, Blyleven did it twice.

* Blyleven pitched for the Rangers in 1977 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1978-80. His teams averaged 90 wins a year. He averaged 12 wins a year in that stretch. He was 12-5 in 37 starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates when they won 98 games and a World Series in 1979.

Three quick points, and then I'm moving on:

a) Up until 2003, All-Star pitchers and reserves were selected solely by each league's respective manager. Is it really fair to downgrade Blyleven's HoF qualifications on the basis of some poor decision-making by one person?

The fact that Blyleven received just a pair of All-Star nods over the span of his lengthy Major League career is downright criminal, and to punish him for the faults of others (including the BBWAA, who rarely granted him Cy Young consideration) is ridiculous.

b) As one poster already pointed out to Sullivan directly, yes, elite pitchers do get traded that often. Ferguson Jenkins and Gaylord Perry, both of whom already reside in Cooperstown, were dealt at least three times during the primes of their careers. This is an irrelevant point.

c) Wins and losses are a miserable evaluator of individual performance, because they rely so heavily on the abilities of a pitcher's offense and bullpen. I'm sure nobody who regularly reads this space requires a reminder of one classic example: Rick Helling, who logged an above-average but hardly dominant 4.41 ERA (109 ERA+) and 1.33 WHIP over 216.1 IP with the Rangers in 1998.

Nonetheless, his final record registered at 20-7, thanks to a high-flying offensive attack that put 940 runs on the board for the season - or 5.80 runs per game. Wins aren't a completely useless metric to use in determining the value of a pitcher to his team, but they're pretty damn close.

In any case, I certainly hope T.R. continues to revisit his stance on the merits of Blyleven's Hall of Fame candidacy. Despite once again falling short, there remains some reason for optimism: Bert's hopes of someday reaching Cooperstown have benefited enormously from a healthy groundswell of support in his favor over the last 12 months, a fact which is evidenced by a prodigious 14.2% rise (47.7% to 61.9%) in his voting numbers between this year's and last year's ballot.

With any luck, Blyleven could be poised within the next couple of years to finally snag his hard-earned and long-deserved spot alongside baseball's other immortals.

But time is running out. And as long as there remain sportswriters who, for whatever reason, just cannot bring themselves to check that little box next to Blyleven's name on the ballot, the debate will rage on.

Now, on to assorted Rangers stuff:

? According to an MLB.com update published by T.R. Sullivan on Tuesday night, the Texas Rangers expect to come to terms with free agent left-hander Eddie Guardado on a Major League contract by the end of the week. Guardado's agent, Kevin Kohler, discussed the imminent signing with the media via telephone earlier in the day:

"There are just a few things we need to work out," Kevin Kohler said by phone. "I feel comfortable that we'll be able to get it done and have something worked out by the end of the week."

Kohler also said that the Rangers and Reds were among a group of four teams that made "solid" offers for Guardado's services. The 37-year-old reliever, now 16 months removed from successful Tommy John surgery, stopped throwing at the end of the 2007 season, but resumed shortly after Christmas and should be ready to go once pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Surprise, Arizona on February 15th.

? Additionally, T.R. noted that the Rangers are still attempting to add depth at the back of their starting rotation, and remain focused on four free agent possibilities: right-handers Jason Jennings and Bartolo Colon, and left-handers Mike Maroth and Mark Hendrickson.

Colon's recent injury woes and worrisome lack of velocity in the Dominican Winter League now have me thoroughly concerned about the status of his health going forward; conversely, Hendrickson's and Maroth's greatest problems lie not within their fragility, but rather their more alarming lack of talent. And Jennings shares some of the worst of both worlds, as he's not a particularly great pitcher even when healthy - and let's just say I'm not entirely convinced of that, either.

Honestly, I'm pretty turned off to this entire quartet of misfits right now. At this point, it wouldn't break my heart if the Rangers decided to just say "screw it," and began the season by rolling out Luis Mendoza every fifth day.

? The addition of Guardado isn't the only upcoming alteration to the Rangers' 40-man roster, as right-hander Kazuo Fukumori will also reportedly be added by the end of the week. Texas finalized a two year, $3 million deal with Fukumori on December 14th, but unspecified hangups concerning the technical language in his contract have apparently prevented the Commissioner's Office or MLBPA from being able to officially approve his signing until now.

? T.R. Sullivan touched on the Rangers' corner infield situation as part of his latest installment into MLB.com's "Around the Horn" series, which examines each team's positional breakdown. Sullivan prominently spotlights Ben Broussard's childhood love for the Rangers, and includes a boatload of quotes from the 31-year-old Beaumont native, who is expected to be one-half of a first base platoon with Chris Shelton come Opening Day.

Broussard also heaps some praise upon Mariners GM Bill Bavasi for his classiness in choosing to deal him to his home state, and makes it fully known that he's not a fan of coming off the bench:

"When I got out there, it would be against a No. 1 starter. Or if I pinch-hit, it would be against the closer. I was getting in there in tough situations, but I had to gut it up and do my job. It was hard to do and it was totally different. I'll never look at playing every day the same again. It was really frustrating."

[...]

"I don't want to be labeled as a bench player," Broussard said. "This year is a big year for me but every year is big. Baseball is so competitive and there are so many talented guys out there, there is always somebody out there trying to take your job. I just want to be healthy, play hard and do my job. I just want to come into Spring Training in the best possible shape and be ready when the season starts."

? Make sure to check out right-hander Blake Beavan's lengthy in-studio Tuesday afternoon interview with the Ticket's Bob Sturm (who graciously linked to me as part of his Tuesday morning blog entry - thanks Bob!) and Dan McDowell on BaD Radio, if you happened to miss it:

Among other things, Beavan discussed his improving pitching repertoire, his relationship with the Hendricks Brothers (who currently represent him), and his reputed maturation since last summer's fiasco regarding his "cocky" remarks to the local press.

And, of course, if you have neither the time nor the patience to sit and listen to a 30-plus minute interview, Lone Star Ball's "shroomer" has an excellent recap worthy of your perusal.

? Baseball America's Jim Callis weighed in on - surprise, surprise! - the Josh Hamilton trade on Tuesday, though more from the Reds' perspective than anything else:

Is it fair to assume that Edinson Volquez (if he still qualified as a prospect) wouldn't have been ranked among the Reds' Big Four prospects (Jay Bruce, Homer Bailey, Joey Votto, Johnny Cueto) but ahead of Drew Stubbs? Would Volquez be a viable candidate for the Top 100 Prospects list?

Erick Metzger (Columbus, Ohio)

Volquez has exceeded 50 major league innings, so he's no longer a prospect in our book. He definitely wouldn't have ranked ahead of Bruce, Bailey, Votto or Cueto, arguably the best foursome of prospects in any farm system right now. He probably would have settled in at No. 5, ahead of Stubbs, though I'm not the biggest Volquez fan in the world. I wouldn't have advocated him making the Top 100.

Volquez throws hard and has a nice changeup, but he never has shown a reliable curveball in the big leagues and his control and command always have been spotty. I see him more as a classic tease, a guy who can light up radar guns but never will be the frontline starter his velocity suggests he might become.

Trading Josh Hamilton to get Volquez made sense for the Reds, however. They had the second-worst ERA in the National League last year and more outfielders than they knew what to do with. Now Cincinnati has an opening for Bruce to play in the majors and another candidate for its rotation.

Considering that the Rangers have been on a perpetual search for pitching, however, shouldn't it tell us something that they were willing to part with Volquez?

? Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News has named third baseman Johnny Whittleman and right-hander Wilmer Font as the 18th and 19th best overall prospects in the Rangers' organization, respectively. Back on December 9th, Mike Hindman of "Rangers Farm Report" pegged Font as the club's 9th best pitching prospect, while I penned the following:

Font doesn�t turn 18 until May 24th, but notched 12.02 strikeouts per nine innings for the Rangers� Arizona Rookie League squad in 2007, good for second in the league.

Font�s fastball reportedly sits at 95 MPH with regularity, and can be dialed up to 98 MPH when needed, which the 6?4?, 210 pound currently pairs with an improving changeup and raw breaking ball. Needless to say, Font�s devastating velocity alone could make him a deadly late-inning weapon for Texas in three to four years - or a front-line starter, if enough breaks fall the Rangers� way.

Whittleman, who turns 21 on February 11th, was the Rangers' second round selection (67th overall) in the 2005 MLB Draft. Though he came out of Houston's Kingwood High School with the notable distinction of possessing perhaps the best bat among all Texas high school infielders for his draft class, Whittleman's ascension through the minor league ranks has been anything but speedy.

After a miserable 2006 campaign at Single-A Clinton which found the 6'2", 195 pound third baseman struggling to keep his batting average above the Mendoza line (.227/.313/.343 in 466 AB), Whittleman bounced back with a strong start to his 2007 season, batting .271/.382/.476 through 336 AB and receiving a mid-season promotion to High-A Bakersfield.

However, according to Evan Grant, Whittleman hit some type of wall - possibly physical or mental fatigue, or outright frustration in his promotion being delayed - and batted just .154/.264/.179 during the month of July. Though he still began August as part of the Blaze, he failed to maintain his early season clip, hitting .240/.372/.413 in 104 AB leading up through the end of the California League schedule.

Johnny's superb plate discipline (which earned him "Best Strike Zone" honors in Baseball America's survey of Midwest League managers, per Grant) and aggressive, compact swing still have him positioned as a possible breakout candidate going into the 2008 season.

That being said, he really can't afford to put up too many more sub-.500 OPS months on his journey to the big leagues - and until he successfully makes the leap from A-ball to AA-ball (which is widely considered to be the most difficult jump in professional baseball), concerns about the ceiling of his offensive potential will linger.

? Finally, the Texas Rangers winter caravan is set to launch forth on January 10th, and will feature five major stops throughout Texas and Oklahoma. Caravan tour locations include Oklahoma City (Jan. 11-12), Waco (Jan. 14), Wichita Falls (Jan. 15), Tyler (Jan. 17) and Abilene (Jan. 22), as well as various spots throughout the greater Metroplex area.

After all, who would want to pass up the opportunity to attend Happy Hour on January 24th with Josh Lewin at Shady Oaks Barbeque in Fort Worth?

NEWSFLASH: Rangers Place White On Waivers

At long last, the Rangers have pulled the trigger on a roster move.

According to Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News, the Texas Rangers have placed left-hander Bill White on waivers for the purpose of granting him his unconditional release.

The transaction trims the club's 40-man roster to just 39 players, and creates room for the addition of either left-hander Eddie Guardado, who is expected to come to terms shortly with the Rangers, or right-hander Kazuo Fukumori, who was signed by the organization nearly a month ago, but whose contract has not yet been officially approved by the Commissioner's Office or the MLBPA.

White, who celebrated his 29th birthday on November 20th, went 2-0 with a 4.82 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in just 9.1 IP for the Rangers in 2007. He spent the remainder of his season toiling between Double-A Frisco (2-0, 4.44 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in 48.2 IP) and Triple-A Oklahoma (0-0, 0.00 ERA and 2.40 WHIP in 1.2 IP).

During his time with the organization, the veteran southpaw was noted for his above-average stuff, including a sharp low to mid-90's fastball and a decent low-80's secondary offering, and his impressive strikeout rates (8.92 K/9 ratio over 446 professional innings split between the minor and major leagues).

However, a horrendous lack of control (5.34 BB/9 ratio over that same span) has prevented White from being able to evolve into much more than a journeyman reliever, a label which he'll likely retain through the remainder of his baseball days unless he can finally figure out a way to harness his quality stuff.

Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram believes that the Rangers are interested in signing White to a minor league deal, but Rotoworld's baseball editors seem to be less than convinced. Regardless of what Bill's immediate future holds, his eventual departure seemed a foregone conclusion as far back as late December.

The immediate focus now turns to the other upcoming and inevitable removal from the 40-man roster; outfielders Nelson Cruz and Jason Botts, and right-handers Scott Feldman and Robinson Tejeda, make up a pool of the most likely casualties. Once all the dust settles, however, I'm still betting on Cruz being the first to go.

Happy trails, Bill.

The Clemens Quandary; Rangers Pursuing Nomar?

Alright, it's official: Roger Clemens tiredhead has thoroughly set in.

By now, most of us have had the opportunity to review and partially digest Roger's widely anticipated Sunday night visit with veteran CBS correspondent Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes," during which Clemens vehemently denied ever using any type of performance-enhancing substances.

Never mind that Wallace, a friend of Clemens and long-time fan of the New York Yankees, was handpicked by Roger's camp to conduct the interview. Never mind that the 89-year-old Wallace, when presented with multiple opportunities to go for the jugular on a seemingly vulnerable Clemens, passed in favor of less than demanding questions - or chose to change the subject entirely.

Heck, we can even attempt to break down and meticulously analyze the Rocket's body language, including his noticeable lack of eye contact with Wallace at several points during the 14-minute broadcast. In the end, it all boils down to one critically important question surrounding this entire debacle - a question that was presented by Wallace, but was left largely unanswered by Clemens.

Why, precisely, would trainer Brian McNamee choose to tell the truth about Andy Pettitte's previous usage of performance-enhancing substances, but lie about Roger's involvement? Especially with the possibility of criminal charges and potential prison time staring him in the face, if he was less than honest with federal investigators?

Clemens, for all his quick denials and fast talking, failed to come up with a satisfactory answer. That is, unless you consider totally avoiding a question posed to you a satisfactory response:

"Andy's case is totally separate. I was shocked to learn about Andy's situation. Had no idea about it," Clemens says.

Yeah, right. Roger is expecting us to believe that him and Pettitte, already known to be very close friends, had absolutely no knowledge of each other's alleged usage of performance-enhancing substances (which Pettitte, for his part, already confessed to being true) - despite being frequent workout partners, and sharing the same trainer in McNamee.

For whatever reason, that line of reasoning just doesn't strike me as entirely plausible.

The Clemens media circus stretched into the early morning hours of Monday, as news broke of the seven-time Cy Young award winner filing a defamation of character lawsuit against McNamee and his well-armed legal team. Shortly thereafter, Roger staged a press conference in Houston that featured the release of a secretly recorded 17-minute phone conversation between Clemens and McNamee, which reportedly took place last Friday.

If Rusty Hardin, Roger's lawyer, was hoping that the tape's release would help to somewhat exonerate his 45-year-old client in the court of public opinion, he couldn't have been more off base. In fact, the phone conversation - which included numerous pleas from McNamee to Clemens, asking "What do you want me to do?" - may have raised more questions than answers.

For instance, when McNamee repeatedly implored for Clemens to tell him what course of action to take next, why didn't Roger immediately and flatly demand that his long-time trainer quit lying and tell the truth? Instead, Roger repeatedly issued a half-hearted, exasperated response, which went something along the lines of "I just want the truth to come out."

Now, tell me: do those strike you as the words of somebody who is completely and wholly innocent of the allegations being levied against them? If your answer is no, you're not alone.

I could probably ramble on and on about the entire Clemens fiasco and the ongoing fallout, but I'll spare you all the pain of listening to that. The fact of the matter is, the whole thing is becoming increasingly tiresome - and with both Clemens and McNamee being asked to testify as part of a congressional committee meeting on January 16th, the driving force behind this story isn't about to die out anytime soon.

And that's unfortunate, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, because we're all beginning to lose sight of the real objective here: that is, erasing performance-enhancing drugs in sports. Instead, the primary focus seems to be evolving (or already has evolved) into a witch hunt, sparked primarily by the release of a largely unimpressive but now infamous 409-page document back on December 13th.

Then again, I've grown so incredibly cynical to baseball's whole "steroids scandal" and the Mitchell Report that I don't really care anymore who took what at what time, or whether or not it continues to go on - in fact, the lone reason I'm so fired up over the Clemens situation is not because he might have actually taken steroids, but because I absolutely detest the idea of being lied to.

That may sound like an odd viewpoint coming from someone who just penned over 500 words on the subject, but that's my honest take on the matter.

And as to the actual question of whether or not Clemens and/or McNamee or lying? The jury may still be out, but I'm definitely beginning to smell a rat.

A rat with 354 career victories and 4,672 strikeouts to his credit.

Meanwhile, former DMN Rangers beat writer Gerry Fraley has resurfaced as part of the Sporting News's editorial team, and has written a bizarre piece in which he calls Joe Torre's refusal to comment on Clemens's alleged PED usage "the most telling moment in the mushrooming Roger Clemens saga."

Huh? The Rocket may indeed be guilty of what he is being accused, but this strikes me as an incredibly asinine line of reasoning - one that was both humorously and succinctly summed up by a poster at Baseball Think Factory:

"Clemens is guilty because Torre wouldn't comment."

I know I'm convinced.

Hell, can you blame Torre for not wanting to get involved in this entire mess? Fraley is really grasping for straws if this is the best evidence behind Roger's possible guilt that he can come up with.

This also serves as an excellent reminder as to why we should consider ourselves fortunate that the Dallas Morning News bought out Fraley's contract in late 2006: namely, so that we no longer have to read his drivel on a regular basis.

T.R. Sullivan's latest MLB.com mailbag is out, which means that it's time for a brand new round of inane and absurd fan-engineered trade proposals!

How about this: The Rangers trade Hank Blalock for the Dodgers' Andy LaRoche and Clayton Kershaw? Sounds good to me.

-- Sarah C., Fort Worth

Maybe the old Blalock, but the Dodgers aren't interested in giving up a big-time pitching prospect for someone who had serious health issues in 2007.

[...]

What about trading Tejeda, Josh Rupe and Kameron Loe to the Red Sox for pitchers Jon Lester, Craig Hansen and Craig Breslow?

-- Benjamin P., Midland, Texas

I'd make the Red Sox include Clay Buchholz as well.

You've gotta love T.R.'s sarcastic reply to the latter proposal. Even he appears to be tiring of this silly game.

Sullivan also fields questions on (what else?) the Josh Hamilton trade, the importance of on-base percentage in constructing the club's 25-man roster, and the unlikely possibility of the Rangers still saddling up and making a run at free agent outfielder Barry Bonds.

Most curious, however, is T.R.'s response to a pair of questions concerning the Rangers' reputed need for another right-handed bat:

What is the strategy, if any, behind adding so many left-handed and switch-hitters to the lineup? By my count, on most days the Rangers will bat seven from the left side.

-- Corky H., Sherman, Texas

Obviously, the Ballpark in Arlington is suited better for left-handed hitters, and the majority of starting pitchers are right-handed. But the Rangers could use another right-handed bat. It will be interesting to see how Edgardo Alfonzo looks in Spring Training. He used to be a solid right-handed hitter, but it has been a few years. A guy who would be perfect for the Rangers is Nomar Garciaparra, who can play first, third and DH. He might even be able to help out in the middle in an emergency.

[...]

What about Mike Piazza as our right-handed DH?

-- Miguel S., San Antonio

The Rangers use a seven-man bullpen, and that limits them to a four-man bench. That must include a backup catcher, a utility infielder and a fourth outfielder. The last guy almost has to be a right-handed hitter, but the Rangers want someone with versatility who can play multiple positions. Someone like Garciaparra. If you had just six relievers, then you could go with a big right-handed bat who platoons at DH. But it's tough with just four bench spots.

This certainly wouldn't be the first time Nomar's name had been linked with the Rangers; in fact, the almost-blockbuster trade that would have shipped A-Rod to Boston in exchange for outfielder Manny Ramirez in December 2003 was initially discussed as a Rodriguez-for-Garciaparra swap. Of course, we all know how that turned out.

Since Sullivan usually has a firm grasp on the inner mechanisms of this team, it's probably no accident that he name-dropped Garciaparra twice in this piece. After all, where there's smoke, there's fire - and though this might be just mere speculation and wishful thinking on T.R.'s part, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Rangers weren't somehow trying to acquire Nomar.

There are several key dynamics to consider when thinking about a potential Garciaparra-to-Texas deal, however:

a) He's 34 years old, and will be 35 on July 23rd.

Eh, not a huge deal, but a little worrisome.

b) He's owed $8.5 million in 2008.

A bit more disconcerting, but the Rangers have plenty of payroll room to spare anyway.

c) He hit just .283/.328/.371 (78 OPS+) with 7 HR in 431 AB for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007, and compiled an EqA of just .242.

Alright, now I'm starting to get concerned. Can this get much worse?

d) He hit just .213/.282/.330 in 94 AB vs. southpaws in 2007, against whom I'm assuming he would receive the vast majority of his at-bats if he were to be dealt to Texas.

Yes, apparently it can.

e) Pitcher-friendly Chavez Ravine wasn't the driving force behind his awful offensive numbers in 2007 - in fact, he hit .325/.385/.450 there. In 222 AB on the road, however, he batted an abysmal .243/.272/.297.

Now I just wanna die.

f) He�s limited to either first base, third base or DH, as his range at shortstop now ranks slightly better than that of an 800-pound boulder.

*flings self off nearest available overpass*

There you have it: six concise reasons as to why this is a simply awful idea. Don't even get me started on the fact that acquiring Garciaparra would only further reduce the odds of Jason Botts or Nelson Cruz being able to make the team out of spring training.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels expects that the club will be able to strike deals with their two remaining arbitration-eligible players (outfielder Marlon Byrd and catcher Gerald Laird) without actually having to resort to salary arbitration proceedings.

The Rangers haven't gone to arbitration with one of their players since 2000, and most recently wrapped up a one-year deal worth $3.85 million with first baseman Ben Broussard, thereby knocking out one of their three possible arbitration cases. Expect the final two dominoes to fall in fairly short order.

Mike Hindman has named his top five relief prospects in the Texas organization over at "Rangers Farm Report," while Evan Grant has pegged left-hander Zach Phillips as the organization's 20th best prospect in the first piece of a new series entitled "The 20 Days of Rangers Prospects." I'll probably get my own top prospects list up and firing at some point within the next month.

Hindman's inclusion of 25-year-old southpaw A.J. Murray at the top spot in his rankings does seem rather curious, at first glance. For instance, he touts Murray's "added fastball velocity and improved breaking ball" - but wasn't this the same guy who struggled to top 90 MPH during his brief audition late last season?

Admittedly, I know little about how A.J.'s velocity fared at Triple-A Oklahoma earlier in the year, or before his shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum in 2004; until I can obtain some clarification on this matter direct from Hindman, I'll gladly defer to his superior knowledge of the farm system.

Looking for reason for optimism from last Thursday's low-key signing of right-hander Jason Davis? Over his final 17 appearances out of the Indians bullpen in 2006, Davis compiled a sparkling 1.14 ERA on 24 hits and just six walks in 23.2 IP, while allowing no home runs.

Also worth noting: Davis had recorded a 4.23 ERA through his first 27.2 innings of last season (split between Cleveland and Seattle), before imploding to allow 11 earned runs over the span of just 9.1 IP. However, this is one of those instances where a closer look at the context of the situation is in order.

Davis surrendered seven earned runs in three innings against Cincinnati on June 22nd, and coughed up four more in 4.1 innings at Kansas City on July 3rd. But in both cases, the Mariners were already losing - by at least nine runs. Under those circumstances, it's kind of hard to exactly fault Jason for failing to get pumped up and bring his best stuff to the mound.

And finally, remember last week's report that suggested free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon had failed to register 90 MPH or higher on the radar gun thus far in the Dominican Winter League? It turns out that Colon, who will be 35 on May 24th, hasn't pitched for Aguilas Cibaenas since December 22nd.

Furthermore, a Dominican news organization called Impacto Deportivo is reporting that Bartolo is suffering from an undisclosed ailment; though it's believed to be nothing more than simple neck soreness, it might yet turn out to be something more serious. Colon had once been on the Rangers' radar, but it's beginning to appear he's a lot less healthy than I first surmised.

Hopefully, the coming days hold something a bit more substantive worth discussing than the imminent legal battle that's set to take place between Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee.

The Rangers announcing the long-awaited addition of Kazuo Fukumori to the 40-man roster would be a nice step in the right direction.

Saturday Morning Rangers Notes

Quick hits, ahoy!

? T.R. Sullivan's latest MLB.com piece investigates the Rangers' muddled situation at catcher, and examines which direction the club is likely going to go with Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Gerald Laird out of spring training (Hint: reading between the lines, it still sounds as though the organization is fully committed to Jarrod as their everyday big league catcher in 2008).

Sullivan also notes that Texas quietly signed 19-year-old Mexican amateur free agent Felix Perez at some point this off-season, though he is unspecific as to when exactly the deal was consummated. There's absolutely no background information available on Perez right now - in fact, all we do know about him is that he's a catcher and is reportedly "extremely talented with tremendous upside potential." Sounds good to me.

? Texas inked free agent right-hander Jason Davis to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league spring training on Thursday. Now 27, the one-time blue chip pitching prospect for the Cleveland Indians has gone 20-22 with a 4.78 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 427 IP over the span of his six-year Major League career.

His role at the big league level has been relegated to that of a full-time reliever, as Davis hasn't started a Major League game since July 4th, 2005 - curiously enough, a contest where he fired six brilliant shutout innings in a home Independence Day victory over the Detroit Tigers at Jacobs Field.

Davis has always generated a healthy dose of ground ball outs, but less than stellar command and middling strikeout rates have prevented him from taking that next critical step in his development. Still, this is the kind of under the radar, low-risk signing that we've come to expect from Jon Daniels - one that's irrelevant in the grand scheme of things if Davis doesn't pan out, but potentially decent to very good if he does.

According to T.R. Sullivan, Jason will receive a $650,000 base salary if he makes the team out of spring training, and can earn another $200,000 in incentives, based on the number of appearances he makes (up to 65). He can also ask for his unconditional release if he's not added to the 25-man roster by March 29th, which certainly complicates matters a bit.

Essentially, whether or not he makes the club will depend almost entirely on his performance in Surprise this coming spring. The Rangers currently have C.J. Wilson, Joaquin Benoit, Kazuo Fukumori and Eddie Guardado locked into their 2008 bullpen unit, with Frankie Francisco, Scott Feldman, Kameron Loe, John Rheinecker, Wes Littleton and now Jason Davis all vying for the final three available slots.

? Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News released the latest edition of his now monthly "Inside the Rangers" newsletter on Wednesday morning, which includes plenty of discussion on the Josh Hamilton trade and its ongoing ramifications.

Grant also throws out his prediction of what the club's 25-man roster will look like coming out of spring training, and divulges some new insight on the organization's thought process in deciding to non-tender right-hander Akinori Otsuka back on December 12th:

Q: How bad do the Rangers think Akinori Otsuka�s right elbow is? Was that the biggest reason they non-tendered him?

Todd Kaufmann, Irvine, Calif.

GRANT: Bad isn�t the right word. Scary is probably better. It�s not like the ligament in the elbow is torn, but I�ve been told that there was a lot of concern over the wear and tear. Until the ligament tears, surgery is not prescribed, but a pitcher must be able to tolerate pain to pitch. It�s clear the pain reached the point where it was intolerable for Otsuka last year and no amount of rest seemed to get it right.

The Rangers were concerned that either he wouldn�t be able to pitch through the pain or that if he did, he�d rip the ligament. Either way, they would then be stuck with a $4.5-5 million bill and no pitcher to show for it. They would have preferred to keep him, but the elbow was the sole reason they didn�t.

Don�t think that Otsuka�s recommendation of San Diego to Kosuke Fukudome played a part in the decision. First, it�s clear Otsuka wasn�t terribly persuasive since Fukudome ended up signing with the Chicago Cubs. Second, if I was from another country and I spoke to a friend in the U.S. about a place to live and work, I�d hope he�d recommend San Diego, too. I like San Diego. How could you not?

Wow. Hard to fault the Rangers for their decision, if this was indeed the case.

Something still puzzles me, though: if the organization was so concerned about Otsuka being unable to pitch through the pain, why does that conflict entirely with a December 2nd report published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which indicated that Aki's rehabilitation program was going exceedingly well and that he had been throwing pain-free for a month without experiencing any setbacks?

The timeline just doesn't add up here. And it probably never will.

? If you were unable to listen to Josh Hamilton's lengthy Thursday morning radio interview with the Ticket's Norm Hitzges, here's your chance to catch up on what you missed:

Josh may not be the most articulate guy out there, but whatever he might lack in eloquence is made up for in spades by his refreshing humility - and most importantly, his brutal honesty.

? By that same token, it's too bad so many Ranger fans apparently hate the Hamilton trade. Or at least that's the vibe I'm getting from T.R. Sullivan's latest MLB.com mailbag.

? Make sure to check out Jamey Newberg's assessment of the top 72 prospects in the Rangers organization, and T.R. Sullivan's follow-up blog entry at "Postcards from Elysian Fields," if you haven't done so already.

Newberg places Chris Davis, Eric Hurley, Taylor Teagarden, Elvis Andrus and Kasey Kiker in his top five; all five also made the cut in my own preliminary rankings, though with some slight alterations among the top four.

? Along those same lines, Mike Hindman of "Rangers Farm Report" has completed his rundown of the top pitching prospects in the organization, with right-hander Michael Main topping his own rankings. Definitely worth checking out.

? According to Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Rangers have signed free agent catcher Patrick Arlis to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

The 27-year-old backstop had spent the entirety of his professional career in the Florida Marlins organization, and most recently signed on with the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent Northern League before Texas came calling. Arlis possesses a lifetime minor league batting line of just .225/.303/.308, spread out over 1171 AB.

Arlis has no chance of making the 25-man roster out of spring training - most likely, he'll either hang around for a while in the minor leagues as a backup catcher, or will be cut entirely come the end of March. In other words, organizational fodder.

? More from Andro, regarding the Rangers' upcoming arbitration situation:

Saturday marks the first day players can file for arbitration. There are only three Rangers eligible: Marlon Byrd, Gerald Laird and Ben Broussard. The players have until Jan. 15 to file. Players and teams can begin exchanging figures Jan. 18. If they are unable to come to an agreement, hearings are set for Feb. 1-21 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Byrd made just over $500,000 in 2007 while Laird was paid $400,000. Broussard avoided arbitration last year while with Seattle and made $3.5 million.

Gerald Laird is entering his first year of salary arbitration, with Marlon Byrd and Ben Broussard entering their second and third years, respectively. Laird could be in line for a raise to the $750,000 to $800,000 range, while the Rangers might think long and hard about potentially striking a multi-year deal with Byrd. Broussard's 2008 salary could exceed the $4 million mark.

UPDATE: Texas signed Broussard to a one-year deal worth $3.85 million on Saturday, thereby completely avoiding the arbitration process. He can also earn up to $150,000 in performance bonuses, based on the number of plate appearances he receives in 2008.

? Free agent right-hander Josh Towers has signed a one-year deal with the Colorado Rockies, and the Kansas City Royals are reportedly closing in Bartolo Colon, meaning that the Rangers are beginning to run out of viable options in their search for another veteran starter to compete with the youngsters in spring training.

Then again, seeing as how Colon has yet to hit 90 MPH on the radar gun in the Dominican Winter League, this may not be such a bad thing. Perhaps his rotator cuff is more fried than I thought.

? Finally, Baseball Think Factory's Dan Szymborski isn't a big fan of Thursday's mini-blockbuster deal that sent outfielder (and popular Vicente Padilla batting practice target) Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for a trio of players - including, most notably, top pitching prospects Gio Gonzalez and Faustino de los Santos.

It's a tremendously bold move on the part of A's GM Billy Beane, whose love for Swisher was well documented in Michael Lewis's "Moneyball." But while Oakland's farm system now undoubtedly ranks among the best in baseball, any hopes the big league squad may have had of competing in the near future have now all but evaporated.

And that's just fine with me.