I think Phil Garner is a pretty decent in-game manager, and I also think he does a pretty good job of getting his players ready to play. Every now and then, though, he lets loose with something like:

"Those guys have not had more success," manager Phil Garner says in response to fans who believe the righthanded candidates have better major league track records than Rodriguez. "Wandy's won (19) games in the big leagues. ERA can be deceptive. Some of those guys' ERAs are better. The bottom line is, do you win? If you have a 10 ERA and win more games than you lose, to me that's what counts.

"Yeah, it may put a strain, but something should be said for somebody who wins. In two years, he's won ballgames for us here."

Rodriguez was 9-10 with a 5.64 ERA last season over 24 starts and six relief appearances a year after going 10-10 with a 5.53 ERA.

Ugh.