Kevin Millwood Is Eight Innings Away From $12 Million

In a letter to his mailbag on Thursday morning, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram fielded a question from a reader who hoped the Rangers would sit Kevin Millwood down for the rest of the regular season to save $12 million. The question came from Bob from Plano, Texas, who is either not a Rangers fan or a pseudonym for team owner Tom Hicks.

There's not much other explanation for why you'd want Millwood to finish short of the 180-inning mark that triggers his option for the 2010 season. The team is two games behind the Red Sox for the wild card and Millwood is one of their five best starters. You don't play games in that situation, and the Rangers said Thursday that they weren't considering turfing Millwood.

"We don't let clauses in contracts determine who is in the starting lineup or in the rotation," general manager Jon Daniels said. "We don't make decisions like that. It hasn't even been discussed. The only thing being discussed is what can we do to get him back on track."

It's true that Millwood hasn't been turning in very good work over the second half, but is there anyone who would really rather see Brandon McCarthy or Derek Holland on the mound in a must-win late-September game?

It's also true that the Rangers are in pretty miserable financial shape, as illustrated by the $15 million loan they took from Major League Baseball. Their financial shape isn't going to get any better by telling fans that winning isn't something that interests them because that message would send their base of ticket buyers directly to other forms of entertainment.

It would also send a wonderful message to the other players in the organization about how much the team respects them and their service. And, to just throw some more fun into the mix, they might end up spending the money anyway if they lost a grievance that the MLB Players Association would file the second Millwood was taken out of the rotation.

The Rangers made their bed when they signed Millwood and they'd get to wriggle out of it if they were out of contention or safely in the playoffs. But they aren't, and any justification for dumping Millwood for cause would fail based on the other available options. Come next April they'll be in a tough spot with Holland and Neftali Feliz, but right now they're making the only sensible choice.