The Amazing Arthur Rhodes Joining Texas?

If reports are accurate, the Texas Rangers are going to have two left-handed relievers who are older than 40 years old in their bullpen. But those two left-handers aren't your typical, run of the mill LOOGYs you've come to expect. One may be the Amazing Arthur Rhodes. ESPN.com is reporting the Rangers have reached a deal with the 41 year old pitcher. He'll join the nearly-as-amazing Darren Oliver in the Rangers' pen.

Arthur Rhodes has long been a favorite here at the FanDome. Last year, he helped the Cincinnati Reds reach the playoffs for the first time in a long time with another stellar season. In 69 appearances, Rhodes posted a 2.29 ERA and a 175 ERA+. Even at his age, he still struck out 8.2 batters per nine innings, gave up only four homers all year and compiled a WHIP of 1.018. He only made one appearance in the post season and struck out his only batter. It was the third straight season that Rhodes had an ERA under 2.60 and for three straight seasons, his WHIP has gone down! Not bad for an old guy.

He joins another venerable lefty in Darren Oliver. Oliver is 40 years old and like Rhodes, just seems to get better and better. Oliver appeared in 64 games for the Rangers and posted a 2.48 ERA and a 175 ERA+ (matching Rhodes). It was Oliver's best ERA and ERA+ of his career! And it was the third straight year that his ERA was under 3.00. And another amazing statistic for Oliver was that he struck out 9.5 batters per nine innings in 2010, the highest rate of his career. His 4.33 K/BB ratio was also the best of his career. Oliver struggled against the Bay Rays and the Yankees in the post season, but pitched very well in the World Series against the Giants.

So now, if this report is accurate, you could have two of the most amazing lefty relievers of our time on the same team. That will be very cool indeed.