Javier Vazquez has supposedly been traded to the Atlanta Braves, along with Bob Sturm lookalike Boone Logan, for Jo-Jo Reyes, Brent Lillibridge, and another "top prospect."

Vazquez has 2 years left at $23 million on his deal.  He's also had remarkably consistent FIPs the past three years -- 3.86, 3.80, and 3.74 -- which belies his 2006 and 2008 ERAs in the high 4s. 

My initial reaction was that this was a bad deal for Atlanta, but now, I'm thinking otherwise.  It depends on the final prospect, of course -- I can't imagine Jordan Schafer or Tommy Hanson are in this deal, which would change things -- but Reyes is a fairly generic nice lefty pitching prospect and Lillibridge is a guy who hasn't lived up to his statty hype, and looks much more like a future utility guy than a qualify MIF.

One of the things that I was thinking early in the offseason was that the Rangers were going to have some interesting decisions to make in regards to their 2009 pitching staff.

But with the team cutting loose Kam Loe and Wes Littleton, that isn't necessarily the case...in fact, I'm starting to think that, barring injuries, we can probably pretty well identify the 12 man pitching staff right now.

Start with the rotation...Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla are both locks, unless they are traded, which is possible but not probable.  There is a group of pitchers who are considered to be vying for the next three slots, but if everyone is healthy, it seems that Matt Harrison, Brandon McCarthy, and Scott Feldman (who is out of options) will almost certainly end up rounding out the rotation.

In the bullpen, Frankie Francisco, Joaquin Benoit, and C.J. Wilson are locks.  Josh Rupe and Willie Eyre would appear to be near-locks.  Dustin Nippert is out of options, and seems to have impressed enough folks towards the end of last season to get the nod as the long man.

That leaves one spot, probably for a lefty, and that second lefty will probably be either a veteran Guardado-type picked up on a one year deal, or a Rule 5 pick. 

Now, things could end up changing...for example, Padilla or Millwood could get moved.  But I suspect one of those two would be dealt only if the Rangers made another deal for a young pitcher they felt could be plugged into the rotation immediately. 

And someone will end up getting hurt, which would open up a potential rotation spot for Nippert, Eric Hurley, or maybe a dark horse like Tommy Hunter or Derek Holland.  Warner Madrigal could end up sticking in the pen in a setup role, particularly if Eyre, Benoit or Francisco go down.

But overall, the only real mystery, to me, as to the 2009 pitching staff is who the 2nd lefty will be.

In a move that could have implications for the Rangers, the BoSox have offered arbitration to Jason Varitek, and David Pinto says Boston expects Varitek to sign elsewhere.

Milton Bradley was offered arbitration (the only Ranger free agent to be offered arbitration), and the M's have asked for (and been granted) permission to talk to minor league pitching instructor Rick Adair, who is apparently likely to be joining the M's as their new bullpen coach.

The "Masslive" website in Boston has a Q&A with Evan Grant, that includes the fallout over his decision not to include Dustin Pedroia on his ballot and his thoughts on the match between Boston and Texas regarding a catching for pitching swap.

The Rangers have offered arbitration to Milton Bradley.

Not unexpected, I don't think.

Word out of Canada is that the Jays want Bradley, but that he's leaning towards a deal with the D-Rays.

You know that "maybe the Brewers won't offer Ben Sheets arbitration" talk of late?

Well, nevermind.  Milwaukee has offered both Sheets and C.C. Sabathia arbitration, guaranteeing them two draft picks apiece if the pitchers walk.

Meanwhlie, Mike Hampton's enormous contract has finally run out, and he's signed a one year, $2 million deal with the Astros.

Happy birthday to Larry Walker, who turns 42 today.

Walker, you may remember, came thisclose to being a former Ranger.  In 2004, John Hart traded one of my favorite prospects, diminutive RHP Erik Thompson, along with a minor league shortstop who was a late round draft choice in 2003 to the Rockies for Walker.

However, Walker had a no-trade clause, and ended up vetoing the trade.  He ended up being dealt a couple of weeks later to the Cards for three scrubs.

Evan Grant needs questions for his Rangers newsletter.  I want to see good questions answered by Evan in his Rangers newsletter.

So, please send in your questions by clicking here.

T.R. Sullivan has a new mailbag column up.  The most relevant parts:

Injuries have limited Bonderman to a combined 40 starts over the past two seasons, and he went 14-13 with a 4.80 ERA. He signed for $12.5 million for both 2009 and 2010. Given the Rangers' financial situation, it's unlikely that they would pursue him.

For the past couple of years, we've heard about how the Ranger payroll was "player specific" and how they had the financial flexibility to get aggressive with certain free agents.  In particular, they went hard after Dice-K and Barry Zito.

But now, their "financial situation" is such that they apparently are stuck with the payroll they've had the past couple of years.  That is worrisome.

And then there is this:

The Red Sox have made it clear that they are not interested in trading Buchholz under any circumstances.

So...those who believe that the Rangers shouldn't trade a catcher to the BoSox without getting Buchholz can, apparently, scratch the BoSox off the list.

Evan Grant, meanwhile, says that the economy being the way it is, the Rangers may not offer Milton Bradley arbitration, because if he accepts and they cannot trade Hank Blalock or Gerald Laird, that might push them into an area where they feel "uncomfortable."

T.R. Sullivan reports that the Rangers are expected to offer arbitration to Milton Bradley.

Not really a surprise, I don't think...he's not likely to accept, and even if he did, it means he comes back to the Rangers on what should be a fairly reasonable one year deal.  We are past the days of John Hart, who was terrified at the slim possibility of a guy he wanted gone (i.e., Pudge Rodriguez) accepting arbitration, and thus was willing to give up the possibility of getting draft pick compensation. 

Of course, at that time, Hart didn't run the draft anyway, so getting more draft picks probably wasn't much of a priority.

The deadline is 11 p.m. tomorrow.  If Bradley is offered arbitration and signs elsewhere, the Rangers will get a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds in 2009.