Levine on XM Radio 21 Dec.

so just initial DH

I had not thought about giving AB’s to a rookie in a playoff chase. Certainly makes sense.

the Rangers can provide a unique opportunity for free agents looking for regular playing time.

That sure doesn’t sound like…. we’re gonna get the best run producing bat on the market… Sounds more like… we can’t pay you all that much, but if you want to be a team leader, this is the place for you… Not exactly a position of strength in the FA market.

Also, doesn’t sound like they’re interested in platoon DH. Maybe Tatis really is the best fit for this situation.

you have to have people on base in order to have someone drive them home.

Levine said that there are come coaches and other people who want to see Feliz stay in the pen.

is a reference to long-term outlook, or simply this year’s plan (perhaps because those folks don’t like the idea of transitioning him to starter status during the season)?

why the rage? I could see being upset if Texas mishandles him and ruins his chances as a starter, but isn’t the more likely scenario simply that the Rangers give him plenty of rope as a starter, and his stuff doesn’t play well after a time or two through the order?

They feel after being a reliever since July his stamina may have taken a hit and the only way to be able to quickly stretch him out to a starter midseason is if he comes to camp working as one. If he came to camp working as a reliever and then in June or so they wanted to convert him back to starter it may take 6 weeks or so because he hadn’t pitched as a starter in so long

Extra time to be ready to hold up for more innings. The Feldman example, compressed to less time doi8ng it.

The hosts fed Levine the name Vlad, but Levine just described the player they are looking for; no names were given.

I knew he was intelligent. He was the valedictorian of his alma mater.

But I knew this is what would happen.

indeed. Feliz could spend all of 2010 in the bullpen and it still wouldn’t make me slit my wrists, he can still move to the rotation like many pitchers before him.

He doesn’t expect another move to be made along with this one.

i fluxuate between those depending on how much caffeine is in my system

just wade through it all to find the humor…

and you’ve nailed it.

I think a lot of national commentators just look at the Mariners 85-77 record from last year and assume they are on the cusp of winning 90+ games next season. I could see a lot of national commentators picking Seattle to win like 95+ games this year.

But they had a run differential of -52, meaning their pythagorean expectation was around 75 wins. Even if we use their second or third order win total, they were around a .500 team.

Replacing Bedard/Washburn with Lee, replacing Beltre with Figgins will undoubtedly improve the team next season. I also think adding Wilson was a decent move last season, and Bradley is probably going to be a substantial offensive improvement (to the order of 2 wins or so).

But even if those moves netted the team 5-8 wins, they aren’t the favorites by any stretch; rather that would make them about on par with Texas (around 85-86 expected wins in 2009) and Los Angeles (87 third order wins in 2009).

Given that LA has lost Lackey, Oliver, Figgins, and Guerrero, I think there is a reasonable shot they will regress by a handful of wins next season. Texas will probably add maybe 1 or 2 wins by adding Harden and Oliver. And I think Texas has more improving young talent than either LA or Seattle.

So it looks like this is legitimately a three team race. I think the safe money is on Texas, Seattle, and Los Angeles finishing somewhere between 85 and 92 wins each, and I could see any team conceivably winning the division.

I don’t really see any logical trade targets that would be that much better than Glaus.

I know the Util guy isn’t the most pressing need in the world, but damn I’d hate to have Arias on the roster, so I’d like to see something done to shore that up.

With a decent DH like Glaus or Vlad and adding a little depth to compete for the 24th and 25th spots on the roster, I think this is a pretty good team we’re looking at.

And one question on the LH reliever situation, where do you see Matt Harrison fitting in now? I think he’d be a pretty nice bullpen piece, but there probably isn’t room for him there or in the rotation to start the season. I guess he’s the 6th or 7th starter now?

I’d be excited about the upside, like i’m excited about Rich Harden’s upside, it’s just risky to count on it.

but let it be known I would also, and perhaps rather, take Austin Kearns. I don’t really understand what happened to that kid offensively, but he’s still a RH batter with positive splits who is a solid defender at all three OF positions. And he’s a native Texas. He won’t get more than an NRI this year, so why not take his chances here where he’d fit perfectly as a fifth OF.

As John C. McGinley in Scrubs.

They sniffed around Big Z and were turned down, and are said to be very interested in Sheets.