Jim Reeves was all over it. He had the sources and he was the one who broke the story that Chiles was selling to George Bush.

The night he broke the story we were supposed to have dinner at Barnacle Bill's on Englewood Beach. Revo, James Walker, Mike Perry and I. Revo loved his stone crabs.

But he loved breaking news more and he stayed behind to work the story. Still remember him screaming at a source through the phone.

"I want this story and I deserve this story!" he screamed.

He got the story while I drove Walker and Perry to Barnacle Bills.

"There are great baseball writers and great reporters," Walker opined from the back seat. "Revo is a great reporter. I'll take a great reporter every time."

Jim Reeves, who is retiring from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, was a great writer and a great reporter for 40 years. They refer to the sports section as the toy department at the newspaper but it's still news and Revo broke more news than any of us.

Here was his lead the night the ball went through Bill Buckner's legs and the Mets beat the Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

"Hold on to your hats and take your seats, the Red Sox just grabbed their throats. The World Series is going to a Seventh Game."

He covered the Rangers for 11 years. He was at the end of his run when I showed up from Denison in 1985. Four years later he was a columnist when they put me on the Rangers beat.

We did the World Series together in 1989. Giants-Athletics. We were back in my adopted hometown of San Francisco and sitting in the upper deck at Candlestick Park before Game 3. It was a gentle roar at first and then a giant concrete bowl filled with 60,000 people started rocking violently in the second worst earthquake to ever hit the city.

Revo had one of those battery operated television sets and he was watching the news. Our nerves were all still on fire with aftershocks when he uttered those words that I will never forget as long as I live.

"The Bay Bridge has collapsed."

We covered that story together and at least a thousand more over the next 17 years. He was the columnist, I was the beat writer. There were many others with us. Tony DeMarco, Simon Gonzalez, Jennifer Briggs, Roger B. Brown, Gil LeBreton, Galyn Wilkins, Randy Galloway, Johnny Paul, Mac Engel, Carlos Mendez, Jesse Sanchez and Kathleen O'Brien. And many others.

The one thing we did better than anybody else at the Star-Telegram was we worked as a team in the true sense of the word. Revo was our leader.

We were successful for one simple reason. Bylines didn't matter. We didn't care who got credit. To this day I still hate those taglines at the bottom of the story that say: "T.R. Sullivan contributed to this story."

Who cares? That's the job. Just get the story. Two things are true...

1. There were a number of news stories that I got credit for breaking that emanated from information that Revo originally gathered. They were really his scoops but they were under my byline.

2. Revo wrote a number of great columns that were originally my idea. I fed them to him for a reason. I knew what was going on the Rangers beat, I knew exactly what needed to be written and I knew exactly what stories Revo would hit out of the ballpark. He always did.

We did our best work in Spring Training. Revo loved Spring Training. I'm not overly fond of it. I love 162. He only had to write one story a day. I had to write two or three. Give Revo one story to work on and give him all day to do it and he was going to take one deep.

Still remember the time in Surprise when Garth Brooks was working out with the Royals and Charley Pride was with the Rangers. Revo got the two country legends together in the dugout to talk baseball, music and life. Revo wrote about it and it was one of his best. A grand slam.

We went to dinner at Padre Murphy's that night with Kathleen. We were waiting on Revo and I told Kathleen, "Heads up, Revo is fired up about his column and he's going to talk about it non-stop all night."

He did, but not from egotism. Revo loved the newspaper business and he loved a great story. He is a dear friend but he is the best newspaper reporter I ever worked with.

So, how is Hurdle going to do?

Apparently Bill James already has an answer for that in his Bill James 2010 Handbook. Here is what James projects for four Rangers players and Justin Smoak as well:

Key Rangers Hitters (by OPS)
Player                                    AB     R   HR  RBI SB   Avg.    OPS
Nelson Cruz                           542     89   36  98    21  .284     .895
Chris Davis                             494     80   30   91    2   .285     .877
Josh Hamilton                         501     75   23   91   11   .293    .860
Ian Kinsler                              575    106   27  84   28   .275     .837
Justin Smoak                         365      48    10  45    0   .274     .793

Bet the Rangers will take that right now from Cruz, Davis, Hamilton and Kinsler right now.

This from the press release:

 "In any season, the vast majority of players play in a manner that seems a natural extension of what they had done before," James says in his new book. "When that happens, our projection should be reasonably accurate."
 
Although he's been in the projection business for almost twenty years, one thing James has no control over is playing time. "It is always my argument that we have no chance of figuring out, in October 2009, who will get playing time in 2010," James says. "But what we should do is try to answer this question: If this player plays, how will he play?"

Club officials aren't expecting it to happen but it's something club officials are definitely talking about as they try to figure out a way to repair an offense that scored 115 less runs in 2009 than in 2008.

A month ago, it seemed impossible that the Rangers would bring back Bradley. Now there seems some hemming and hawing.

The Rangers know that the Cubs are eager to unload Bradley, who has two years and $20 million left on his contract. They know there is a possibility the Cubs could pick up a sizable portion of that contract, a must if the Rangers are going to get involved.

The Rangers know that Bradley had a big impact on their lineup in 2008 when he hit .321 and set a club record with a .436 on-base percentage and a .563 slugging percentage. They know he's the kind of hitter they need in their lineup and they remember how productive Josh Hamilton was with Bradley hitting behind him.

They also know that he only played in 124 games because of physical issues and his 414 at-bats were only the second highest of his career. They also know that Bradley is high-maintenance, even for manager Ron Washington.

But if the Rangers can get him cheaply...

The Rangers are interviewing four hitting coach candidates today: Rusty Greer, Gerald Perry, Thad Bosley and Clint Hurdle. Bet Bradley is a topic of discussion during the process. Perry worked with him in both Oakland and Chicago.

Makes you wonder how much that was a consideration...

Rounding up the usual questions while getting the blog going for the winter. Sorry October was slow but needed a little down time... We are up and running again

1. Would you want Milton Bradley back with the Rangers?

2. Do you think Rusty Greer would make a good hitting coach?

3. Which of the other three candidates stand out for you:

4. Are you surprised that the DFW market has one of the lowest TV ratings in the country when it comes to watching the World Series?

5. How do you think you'll feel when you see Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez celebrating a World Series title?

More on the website later.

Grilli was 2-2 with a 4.78 ERA in 30 games with the Rangers after being acquired from the Rockies in June. He had a 2.00 ERA in June and July but it ballooned to 13.50 in August and 9.64 in September after he missed three weeks with inflammation in his elbow.

The Rangers also took catcher Kevin Richardson off the 40-man roster but are trying to resign him to a Minor League contract. He was 3-for-6 in limited time with the Rangers in August and September.

The Rangers now have 38 players in their 40-man roster

Kikuchi is an 18-year-old left-handed pitcher is apparently trying to avoid the Japanese Draft and come to the United States to pitch. Word is he is the equivalent of a late-first round pick here in the United States.

Holland joined Jim Colborn, the Rangers Pacific Rim Scouting Director, and A.J. Preller, the club's head of amateur scouting, in Japan to talk with Kikuchi.

Here is what Jamey Newberg wrote on the subject on Monday:.

Kikuchi, who boasts a fastball that has been touches 96 miles per hour, faces a Wednesday deadline to declare for Japan's October 29 amateur draft, in which he's certain to be the top selection. 
 
If drafted by a Japanese club, he can still sign with a major league franchise but, if he does so, he'd be banned from pitching in Japan for three years if he were ever to seek re-eligibility.  (Non-issue.) 
 
But if he signs to pitch in Japan, the only way he can pitch in the United States is to wait nine years for free agency or have his club choose to post him for MLB negotiating rights.
 
Kikuchi conducted meetings with each of the 12 Japanese clubs on Friday and Saturday, which might seem unusual for a consensus number one overall pick if not for the crazy Nippon Professional Baseball rule that a player may be drafted by more than one team.  In the event that Kikuchi submits to the NPB draft and multiple clubs select him - Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker speculates that as many as 10 clubs could use their first-round pick on the lefthander - there will be a drawing to determine which of those clubs has the right to negotiate with him.
 
It's worth noting that Japanese clubs are restricted to a maximum signing bonus of $1 million, plus salary and incentives that could bring a total package to about $1.65 million, an amount that is expected to be dwarfed by the offers coming from the interested major league clubs.  The noted former big league scout Ray Poitevint compares Kikuchi's stuff to Clayton Kershaw's and suggested he'd be a top-five pick if eligible for the MLB draft. 
 
The $5.1 deal (including a $1.3 million bonus) that Boston gave 22-year-old righthander Junichi Tazawa in November - which was short of the $7 million offer the Rangers reportedly made - could be a baseline for what Kikuchi seeks.

By the way...covering the National League Championship Series and then taking some time off. The blog will pick back up in November. We were the seventh most read blog on MLB.Com this season. Thank you very much.

More on the website later.

Minasian has been with the Rangers for 21 years as the visiting clubhouse manager and the Rangers equipment manager. He moved from the visiting clubhouse to equipment manager in 1995.

Didier has been in baseball for over 60 years including the last six with the Rangers. He helped build World Championship teams with the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks.

Robertson has been with the Rangers in 2001 and came over with general manager John Hart from the Indians.

Sorry, don't do schoolboy grades. Mine were bad enough. Feel free to add your own

Starters

Kevin Millwood - Manager has already said he is the Opening Day pitcher in 2010
Scott Feldman - What an amazing season.
Derek Holland - This kid is going to be fine. Can't wait for his next start.
Tommy Hunter - Tommy, meet Nolan Ryan, the resident conditioning fanatic.
Brandon McCarthy - The Big Tease. He has talent but at what point do the Rangers say uncle?
Matt Harrison - He was pretty good before he got hurt
Neftali Feliz - The Rangers will try him in the rotation. Bet he makes it
Dustin Nippert - His numbers will work every year
Guillermo Moscoso - Should be Opening Day pitcher at Oklahoma City

Relievers

Frank Francisco - Needs warning label: handle with care.
C.J. Wilson - Most Valuable Reliever
Darren O'Day - Transaction of the Year
Jason Grilli - Wasn't the same after he got hurt
Doug Mathis - Can he fill middle relief role?
Eddie Guardado - No finer person in baseball
Pedro Strop - Needs more time. Just not ready
Willie Eyre - Taking long road back from injuries

Catchers

Jarrod Saltalamacchia - Should still be No. 1 on depth chart
Ivan Rodriguez - Would you give him $4 million for two years?
Taylor Teagarden - Should have been in Triple A
Kevin Richardson - He is from Seattle area. He should have started one game this weekend.

Infielders

Chris Davis - Only one other player is a bigger key for Rangers in 2010.
Ian Kinsler - Absolutely nothing wrong with 101 runs and 86 RBI.
Elvis Andrus - He lived up to it all
Michael Young - Turns out he can still hit...and play third.
Omar Vizquel - He has one definite vote for the Hall of Fame.
Esteban German - A nice fifth player if the Rangers had the room
Hank Blalock - Hank's Homies bid you adieu. It was fun while it lasted.

Outfielders

Josh Hamilton - Obviously the biggest key for the Rangers in 2010
David Murphy - Forget Rusty Greer all right? Anybody think he can be Paul O'Neill?
Julio Borbon - Definitely the kind of player the Rangers desperately need
Nelson Cruz - He is a good player. Can he be a great one or is this enough?
Marlon Byrd - Loved watching him tell the rookies to turn off the football game on Sunday and turn on baseball.
Andruw Jones - Next.
Craig Gentry - Off to Triple A to bide his time.

They are three of the best defensive players in the history of the game. They have won 34 Gold Gloves between them and have filled up plenty of highlight reels with their spectacular plays.

Their lockers are side-by-side in the visitor's clubhouse at Safeco Field in Seattle, forming a three-man Mount Rushmore of defensive brilliance: catcher Ivan Rodriguez, infielder Omar Vizquel and outfielder Andruw Jones.

Now, after a combined 54 seasons and 7,101 games played, the three of them made one thing clear on Saturday.

All three want and expect to play again in 2010.

Ivan Rodriguez

Rodriguez met with general manager Jon Daniels on Friday here in Seattle. Daniels told Rodriguez that the Rangers have interest in re-signing him for 2010.

"I'm sure they'll make a decision," Rodriguez said. "I talked to Jon and he said he would get back to me in the off-season. I told him I wanted to come back. I want to finish my career here and still want to play a few more years.

"This club needs to stay together for next season. Winning 87 games is a great season. We wanted to make the playoffs but we need to take some positives out of this and a positive is 87 wins. I think next season will be better."

Rodriguez, who turns 38 in November, was re-acquired from the Astros on Aug. 18 and is hitting .245 with two home runs eight doubles, 14 runs scored and 13 RBI in 28 games.

"Physically I have no problems other than I'm sick right now," said Rodriguez, one of several Rangers fighting the flu in Seattle. "My legs and body feel great. I know how to take care of myself. I work very hard to keep myself in good shape."

The Rangers have two young catchers in Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden. Rodriguez understands that and understands that his playing time could be limited. He still accepts that.

"Teagarden has a great future," Rodriguez said. "Saltalamacchia has a great future. I have to be realistic. It's hard for me to play every day. If I play two or three times a week, one or two times a week, whatever, and help the kids, that would be okay. It would be a good thing to stay here and help the kids.

"I don't know what they'll do but I hope we work something out. If not, we'll see what happens."

Andruw Jones

Jones is ending the season as the Rangers first baseman. He was in the lineup on Saturday at first base for the third game in a row. Hank Blalock remains sidelined after suffering a mild concussion Wednesday night and Chris Davis is limited to designated hitter duty because of his hamstring.

Jones went into Saturday's game hitting .209 with 17 home runs and 43 RBI in 81 games and 278 at-bats. It's an improvement over last year when he hit .158 with three home runs and 14 RBI in 75 games for the Dodgers. But he was hoping for better.

"It was kind of okay," Jones said. "Well, not really. It's not the way I wanted to go. Power-wise the numbers were good. Average-wise not so good. Lack of consistency...I knew the situation coming in but I wasn't getting consistent at-bats like I did early in the season. I knew I was going to play every day but I thought I'd get more consistent at-bats like I did early in the season."

Jones is only 32. He expects to keep playing next year for somebody. It won't be for the Rangers. Club officials have made it clear he's not expected back in 2010. He'll try for somebody.

"I still feel I can play," Jones said. "I still feel I can play the outfield. I don't know if I can play center field but I can help a team in the corners and I can play first base too. We'll see.

"I'm not done yet."

Omar Vizquel

Vizquel is 42.

So what?

Anybody who watched him play this year can tell that he can still field a baseball and he can field it at any position. How about the night Michael Young had to leave the game against the Blue Jays with a strained left hamstring?

Vizquel went into the game, playing the position for only the ninth time in his career. He then made a spectacular play, diving to his right and throwing from his knee to get the out at first base.

Vizquel may no longer be a front-line everyday shortstop but he proved he could be a valuable utility infielder. He does not have an error this season.

"That is something I surprised myself with," Vizquel said. "I had never played any other position but shortstop. I didn't get many chances at second and third but I was able to handle it."

The Rangers have interest in Vizquel returning. He said he would be interested in coming back but wants to see what else is out there. Vizquel suggests in a roundabout way that he never expected Elvis Andrus to be this good this fast and he thought he would play more than he did this season.

"I didn't know Elvis and the kind of player he was," Vizquel said. "He slowly improved in every department. I was surprised he took to the challenge of playing every day. They told me he was 20 and I thought that was young. But he showed he can be one of the best shortstops in the game, not only to me but everybody."

As for 2010, Vizquel made it clear...

"I'm going to get ready to play another year," Vizquel said.

There is still some doubt about hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, who is finishing his 15th season with the Rangers.

Jaramillo's current two-year contract runs only through this season and at some point after the World Series, he will be free to talk to any teams. Jaramillo remains one of the most respected hitting coaches in the game and it's likely that he will draw significant interest once he is free to talk to other clubs.

"When you're talking about free agents and anybody not under contract, that's always a possibility," Daniels said.

Jaramillo is from Dallas and still lives there. He said he wants to stay with the Rangers and doesn't want to leave on a sour note. The Rangers had scored 773 runs going into Friday's game with the Mariners and the possibility exists they could score less than 800 runs for the first time since 1995.

Daniels said he will meet with Washington and club president Nolan Ryan after the season to discuss the coaching staff. Jaramillo will likely be a prime topic of discussion.

"We're going to sit down at the end of the year, hear Ron's thoughts, sit down with Nolan, myself, ownership, and see where we are," Daniels said.

The Rangers made four changes in the coaching staff last season. They hired Mike Maddux as pitching coach, Jackie Moore as bench coach and Dave Anderson as the third base coach, and moved Andy Hawkins to the bullpen. Gary Pettis, the Rangers first base/outfield coach, came with Washington after the 2006 season.

Washington said having some continuity this off-season is important.

"It's quite important," Washington said. "I think my coaching staff has done an outstanding job. We brought a lot of young kids in here and they helped show them they can play at the Major League level. I give a lot of kudos to our coaching staff. They are a big part of getting us to where we are."

Nelson Cruz is likely done for what's left of the season. He has a sprained left ankle and it's not showing enough improvement to give the Rangers much hope of getting back in the lineup soon.

"I don't look for him to be ready before the season is over," Washington said.

Hank Blalock also remains sidelined with some lingering pain in his head after getting kneed by Derek Holland in Wednesday's game against the Angels.

"There is a little slight ache," Washington said. "We have to wait until there is no ache."

Eddie Guardado turned 39 on Friday and the Rangers celebrated it by roasting him in a pre-game meeting. Guardado has pitched in 908 games, fourth most among active pitchers and 21st in baseball history.

* Angels manager Mike Scioscia on the Rangers: "They had an incredible season. You could see it brewing. They play the game the right way and are going to be a force for a long time. I can't say enough about what Ron Washington did. He got my vote for [AL] Manager of the Year. They had an incredible year."

* The Rangers are not interested in Milton Bradley. Sources have made that clear. He is not coming back. So stop it

* Rangers manager Ron Washington on the A.L. West getting tougher next season: "I think it will. I've always said Seattle will be a challenge. They've got talent over there that can play baseball. Oakland has certainly improved and they've got some good young pitchers. Obviously we've improved and the Angels are always going to be steady. If they were ever vulnerable, this was the year and we just couldn't quite finish it off."

* Washington on suggestions the Angels have mortgaged their future for the present: "Whatever it takes to win, they're going to try and do it. That's what winning organizations do. Believe me, whatever pieces they have to put back together, they're going to try and do it. They have established to their fans that they want to win, they've established to their organization they want to win and their players have proved they are winners."

* Andruw Jones did not hit a home run in August or September. His last home run was on July 29 against the Tigers.

* Roving hitting instructor Mike Boulanger said the one guy to watch that nobody has talked about is Chad Tracy, who hit .279 with 26 home runs and 107 RBI. Said Boulander, "This guy can flat-out hit."

* In case you are wondering, Doug Mathis has pitched 1772/3 innings over the past two years combined at Triple A Oklahoma City and in the Major Leagues. He has a 3.59 ERA.

* Elvis Andrus on his defense: "The biggest thing for me is concentration and focus. That's the thing I've learned the most in the Major Leagues. Every day you have to stay focused. You can't let up for one minute."

* You know that Golden Tee video machine? Michael Young loves playing it.

* Just for the heck of it: Kevin Kennedy.

* Angels pitcher John :Lackey has a luxury suite at the Cowboys new stadium.

* Brian Roberts on tying the record for most doubles by a switch-hitter in a season: "I mean, I didn't break Barry Bonds' homer record or anything, but you've got to take what you do and look at it in perspective."

* It's only happened once since 1900. On this date in 1920, the Reds took two from the Pirates, 13-4 and 7-3. Then the Pirates won, 6-0. Yes, it's the only tripleheader in modern baseball history.

* Former Rangers pitcher Mitch Williams and former Red Sox infielder Rico Petrocelli will team up to host a new weekly show on SIRIUS XM Radio.  Remember When will debut Saturday at 7 p.m. and be on every Saturday throughout the year exclusively on MLB Home Plate, available nationwide on XM channel 175 and SIRIUS channel 210.

* Cal Ripken on the highest payroll clubs making the playoffs: "That's the argument made about the Yankees. You look at how important (CC) Sabathia is and (A.J) Burnett to the success of the team. In the end you have the other models. The Twins play really good team baseball and tend to over-achieve all the time. In the end, it's about the baseball judgments and decisions. But it is nice to have extra money in case something doesn't work out, or you have an injury or two.. It is an advantage in many ways that you can cover up your mistakes, but you still can compete with the big guys with good baseball decisions and team play."

He was replaced by Craig Gentry in center field.

Byrd is listed as "day-today" but the Rangers only have five games left. The possibility exists that Byrd could watch the next five sitting next to Josh Hamilton but that is still unknown.

Hamilton, who has played in just two games since Sept. 2, has a pinched nerve in his lower back and will not play again this season. The Rangers came to that decision after a meeting between Hamilton, manager Ron Washington and assistant trainer Jamie Reed on Tuesday afternoon.

* Morning Mass at local Catholic Church.

* Drove to Fox Sports Grill to watch San Francisco 49ers play Minnesota

* Calculated the possibilities for the Rangers. If Angels lose and Rangers win, four games back. If both win or both lose, five back. If Angels win and Rangers lose, six back. Four possible outcomes. One really bad.

* 49ers lose Frank Gore and can't move ball.

* 49ers block field goal and miraculously lead 14-13 at halftime. Day is looking up

* 49ers lead 24-20 late in game. Vikings fans looking despondent. Tell them: "I wish we had Brett Farve."

* Said quarterback throws game-winning touchdown with two seconds left. Hometown team loses. Pay bill and leave.

* Turn car radio to Rangers game. Rangers leading 5-0 in the sixth and Brandon McCarthy appears to be cruising.

* Take Toby for a walk.

* Check Rangers score... 5-3 in the eighth.

* Take Helen to Memphis Red Hot & Blue. Stop at Barnes & Noble on the way home.

* Check Rangers score. They lose, 7-6.

* Take annoying dog for second walk. Don Meredith is singing inside my head...

1. Do you think the Rangers bullpen ran out of gas in the end?

2. What's your take on Julio Borbon's future with the Rangers?

3. Should Michael Young and/or Josh Hamilton play again this season?

4. Was Sunday the worst loss of the season for the Rangers?

5. Would you consider the four-game series with the Angels as meaningful games?