But I have a hard time seeing it occuring even in this hypothetical, if only for the status Milwood (supposedly) holds within the organization. Upsetting a vet presence might not be the best decision here.

you likely would also be talking about replacing Holland in the rotation if you were really trying to get a competitive team out there. Those 2 have been dreadful.

then you would consider shutting him down.

If he was a free agent, you’d probably keep him in the rotation, considering that the season is toast. Pitching him gives him a chance to increase his value, which is good for him.

Under the season is toast argument, a better argument could be made for shutting Holland down right now (equally ineffective recently, long-term very important for franchise).

I think the argument for benching Millwood is much stronger if the season is not toast. Since it is, I see it as difficult to bench him.

and make Millwood take a beating for the kids….if money was not in the picture.

getting on board with sitting veteranness that much even under those circumstances. Perhaps the organization forces his hand, but he’d probably balk at having Feldman and McCarthy be the elders in the rotation.

Has signed with Texas

and shut him down? What is the point of letting him go out hter efar another start just so he can reach 180IP?

When the Rangers last had Sosa, they determined it was a good idea to sit him at the end of the season and let Botts show if he was capable. Sosa was a free agent after the season and playing him for the rest of the year made no sense. The same applies for Millwood.

Say Millwood’s swoon was from June to July after a hot April and May. Do you bench him starting in August for the rest of the year? I’m guessing no – he was the opening day starter, highly paid and you just hope he figures it out.

To answer AJM’s question, I think he would make his next start and then let others take his last 2-3 starts.

Anyway Nippert’s behind Hunter, Holland, Feliz, Harrison, McCarthy, and Millwood in the pecking order for next year.

He’s a better reliever, but even there his profile is so flawed they may not bring him back.

Not much left to discover with Dustin Nippert, I find.

but if you shut down Millwood, this would not go good around the campfire. Potential free agents would look down upon the organization and if there is any hope in signing a Lackey, Sheets or some other premier pitcher this off season (hypothetically speaking if we had the $$ to do so), then that would be eliminated with this decision. We have to give Millwood his 180 innings if we want future FA’s to come to Texas. I don’t want Millwood on this team. I have never liked the guy. I just feel this is something that has to be done.

In the real situation, I send him out for his next start, let him pitch 4 1/3 innings so he gets to 180 and gets his $12 million (or pitch longer if he’s doing well for once) and the sit him after that. I think the players know about his vesting option and sending him out there one last time so he gets his payday would play well enough in the room to cancel out any anger over sitting him after that.

I don’t believe that to be the case. GO RANGERS!!!!

IMO, if there’s no Milly-vesting, he goes into next season behind Harrison, Feldman, Hunter, Dutch, McSucky, and possibly even Feliz. And that’s before they sign Ben Sheets or any other FA. At best, he’s a seventh or eighth starter, and a viable long-man.

With Milly and a hypothetical FA, he’s 8 or 9 on the depth chart as a starter, and a viable long-man. He’s proven he belongs in the big leagues, and we’d be foolish not to keep him as a long-man/swing starter.

Church.

Before the season, the general consensus was that if Millwood pitched well enough to make it to 180 innings, we’d want him back anyway and $12 million would be about the going rate. I think Millwood found the only way I can think of for him to get to 180 innings but still make us cringe at the thought of the option vesting, by pitching great for the first 139 innings and pitching like crap for the next 41.

Since there is an option….

I would let Millwood get his start in a home game and as soon as he gets is 4 1/3, I would have Ron walk out there and tell his ass to get off the mound. Basically letting Millwood know that he is only pitching because we HAVE to let him get his 180, not because we WANT to. Let the fans boo his ass, let the media write about him, let the whole team see him being pulled at exactly his 180 innings so that Millwood can completely KNOW that he is not wanted.

Again….embarrass his ass in front of everyone so he can fully understand the situation. Let him know it’s because we have to, not because we want to!!

As a matter of fact, I would pick one of the Tampa Bay games and then announce it to everyone that this is the game that Millwood will get his unfortunate 180. Let it build up in the talk shows, in the papers, among the fans…….for a whole week!! It could end up being some hyped up event and then he would understand!!

Have Adam serve as the arbitrator, and appoint someone to present Kevin Millwood’s case put forth by the player’s association, appoint someone else to present the team’s defense against the alleged grievous actions (I volunteer for this role), have a little back and forth, and then Adam will decide which argument would win.

the 2010 option would only vest at 200 IP and not 180 IP.