MAILBAG Tom Verducci will answer select questions from SI.com users in his Baseball Mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

How about some love for the Texas Rangers? They've been playing better than .500 baseball since trading Mark Teixeira. With a Torii Hunter addition in the offseason and a pitcher (Randy Wolf?), how do the Rangers look for 2008?
-- Philip Lyons, College Station, Texas

I really don't put a lot of stock in how teams fare as non-factors in a pennant race, other than it can be a good reflection on the manager for keeping his team focused. A lot of late-season success can be eyewash. (See the 2006 Pirates.) You hinted that the Rangers are going to have to spend some money this winter, and I agree. They're not close to challenging the Angels right now, not with that pitching staff.

I guess you are good friends with Joe Torre. How can you seriously say that Torre doesn't overuse his bullpen? He rarely lets any of his starters go more than seven innings and he has the bullpen up in the fourth at any hint of trouble. To say that he doesn't overuse his bullpen is just showing you have blinders on when it comes to him. I would expect more from one of the few baseball writers out there that still has some credibility.
-- Chris Neese, Harrison, Mich.

Do you actually think that Torre, or any manager, prefers to pull his pitcher before the seventh inning? Come on. Bullpen usage is a direct function of the reliability of starting pitching, plain and simple. Here are the starts of at least seven innings by Yankees pitchers in the Torre era:
1996: 54
1997: 77
1998: 91
1999: 69
2000: 67
2001: 64
2002: 79
2003: 87
2004: 53
2005: 56
2006: 44
2007: 40
Now why weren't you accusing Torre of overusing his bullpen in 2003? Because he could start Clemens, Wells, Pettitte, Mussina, Weaver and Contreras. That's a little better than Matt DeSalvo, Chase Wright and Tyler Clippard. Torre didn't suddenly have a sudden philosophical change and decide to start going to his bullpen earlier. He's the same manager he's always been; it's his starting pitching that changes.

What are the chances that the Reds let Adam Dunn go for two first-round draft picks?
-- B.J., Dayton, Ohio

I don't see it happening. Dunn has an option for $13 million, though it can rise to $16 million based on award bonuses. That's not outrageous money for him, and to cut him loose for draft picks risks alienating even more fans in Cincinnati. He does get a no-trade clause when the option is picked up, but after June 15 next year the Reds can still trade him to one of 11 teams without his permission.

Regarding the question about the humidors in Coors Field: We fans of the TV program, Mythbusters, discovered that MLB has humidors in all stadiums this year. Balls from humidors fly 86 percent as far as dry balls, and home runs are down 16 percent. Sound like a connection? So, if humidors are indeed in all stadiums, then the elevation in Colorado would still be having an effect, right?
-- Charles Jarrell, Brea, Calif.

I, too, like Mythbusters, but I'm afraid they're guilty of perpetuating their own myth. MLB does not have humidors in every ballpark. It asked clubs to better monitor the storage of baseballs, but did not arrange for any uniform machinery or climate-controlled rooms to do so. Some clubs I've talked to about this are actually doing absolutely nothing new with how they store baseballs.