"In their third try at rescuing the wrecked career of an injured free-agent starting pitcher, the Rangers may have figured out how to produce a performance that exceeds their expectations.

It goes like this: Expect nothing.

And with that we present the Rangers' newest starter: Brandon Webb, whose signing was formally announced Monday after a week in which it was the second-worst kept sports secret in Arlington.

This is not to say the signing of Webb, who will turn 32 in May, was a waste of $3 million. On the contrary, this could be as brilliant a deal as last winter's signings of Colby Lewis and Vladimir Guerrero. There is only one caveat: The Rangers must enter this marriage expecting nothing in return.

After failures with fliers on oft-injured Jason Jennings and then Rich Harden, the Rangers appear to have a better handle on this whole Rehab Roulette.

The Rangers aren't counting on Webb to be the Cy Young winner he was in 2006. They aren't counting on him for 150 innings as they did with Harden last year. They aren't even penciling him into the opening day rotation as they did with Jennings in 2008.

"I think it is all about the individual," general manager Jon Daniels said Monday. "We'd love for him to be ready, but we aren't going to rush anything."

This is the only way to proceed with such cases. Open up a guy's shoulder or elbow and you might as well sentence him to a 12-15 (months) in rehab prison. He's not going to be any good to anybody before that and, if he's ever going to recover his effectiveness, it probably won't happen until sometime after 18 months.

It has been 17 months since Webb's shoulder was reconstructed in Arlington by Rangers team orthopedist Dr. Keith Meister.

He threw some in October, but that was to show people he was pain free and nothing more. His velocity during a four innings of Instructional League outings ranged between 82-85 mph, which didn't wow anybody. His motion wasn't exactly smooth either, but he was pain free.

When he gets up on a mound to prepare for spring training, he'll be right at the 18-month mark. If he's going to make a comeback, the timing is right. "