Rangers lose rather inpercise art of gambling

A fine mess

Brandon Webb is out for the season and will likely require rotator cuff surgery. Sad news for a guy who was probably the best pitcher in Major League Baseball for a couple of years and who had certain unrefined expectations when the Rangers threw $3 million and incentives at him in the off-season.

This was a solid gamble and one I take over and over. Webb's time cost $3 million. That's chump change to the Rangers who just gave a 16-year-old Dominican outfielder $5 million. There was zero risk and high reward for the Rangers. Even if Webb would have met all of his incentives, it still would have been a bargain.

GM Jon Daniels likes investing. Relatively speaking, Webb was low cost and he was here for the immediate future. Giving Eric Gagne or Kenny Lofton $5 million -- considering where the Rangers were as an organization -- were rentals. If they succeeded they were going to be traded. If they flopped, it was still worth the risk.

Those gambles paid off. This one didn't. The only thing you can do is keep playing the game.