According to ESPN, the Texas Rangers have avoided arbitration with shortstop Elvis Andrus, agreeing Tuesday to a three-year deal worth between $14-15 million.

Andrus, 23, will avoid arbitration for the remainder of his career with Texas thanks to the contract. He batted .279 with five homers and 60 RBIs with 37 stolen bases in 2011.

It was Andrus’ third season in the league as the club’s starting shortstop. He was second in the AL rookie of the year balloting in 2009, hitting .267 with six homers and 40 RBIs with 33 stolen bases. He had a .265 average with no homers and 35 RBIs with 32 stolen bases in 2010.

The Rangers still have two other players who have scheduled arbitration hearings; catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Nelson Cruz.

Cruz, whose eight postseason homers last year included six in the AL Championship Series with a game-ending grand slam in Game 2, is asking for $7.5 million while the Rangers are offering $5.5 million. Cuz made $3.65 million last year, when he hit .263 with 29 homers and 87 RBIs in 124 games.

Napolim who had a career year in 2001, hitting .320 with 30 homers and 75 RBIs in 113 games in his first season with Texas. He is asking for $11.5 million while the Rangers have offered $8.3 million. Napolim made $5.8 million last season.

Texas Rangers OF Josh Hamilton, who has battled drug and alcohol addictions, said he “had a moment of weakness” and drank alcohol on Monday night. Hamilton addressed the media on Friday and explained the details of the incident.

Is a good talk a good talk when you’re talking to Roy Oswalt?  See, here’s what I mean.  He would be a nice (not great, but nice) addition to the Rangers’ roster.  However, didn’t he run up to Philly to win a title?  I thought that was titletown?  I know he’s getting older and he wants to win a World Series, but when you see a guy start chasing like this, you have to wonder how much loyalty he has in him to a team that is very close-knit and very emotional.  The Rangers are more than a team–they’re a family.

So, sure, the Phillies declined his option because he’s hurt.  Wait, he’s hurt and he’s old.  So, you’re going to take him on and do what with him?  Will he be the fifth starter?  What does this signing even mean if it were to take place?  Jon Daniels says that:

“If that were to happen, you’d love to have extra depth.  The flip side we’ve got to consider is what if that doesn’t happen? How does it all fit together? We’ve spent a lot of time and resources developing this younger group where they are ready to maybe take that next step and do we owe it to them? Those are things we’re walking through right now.”

And there it is.  You’ve spent a lot of time and resources working on the younger players.  KEEP DOING THAT!  I’m not saying that you can’t sign older guys, but when your team is so young and you are clearly doing a good job putting together a young roster, you should just stay the course and watch the franchise develop ala the Braves of the 90′s.  That’s much preferable to being a laughingstock or a team that spends too much money on the wrong people, right?

Now that Prince Fielder is off the table with his big nine year contract that he signed with the Tigers, the Rangers cannot speculate about what they would do if they signed him.  So, it seems that the talks they were having with Josh Hamilton had to intensify.  Besides the fact that some of the higher-ups wanted Hamilton, it is pretty much a done deal now.  Josh Hamilton has to remain a Ranger or the Rangers have no help in the hitting department.  Well, they have people, but Hamilton is the help–the cleaner.

Now that they’re getting closer to Spring Training, they want to ensure this isn’t a problem–the contract that is.

Jon Daniels said:

“We both agree we don’t want it to be a distraction.  So unless we’re 90 percent down the line, we both agree, ‘Hey let’s do it right up until we report and then let’s put it aside.’” Hopefully, we’ll have something positive to report.”

“We’d like to keep Josh here for an extended period of time.  It’s got to be a deal that works for both sides. He’s got a unique set of circumstances because of how his career has played out and he’ll reach free agency at a different age than Prince [Fielder] or even Elvis [Andrus]. Josh will look at this, rightfully so, as the one time he hits free agentcy and how does he factor that in with his family and the different opportunities he has. We’re talking to them about this. We love Josh, love what he’s about and we want to keep him here and we’ll continue talking to him and hope we figure something out.”

I agree with Daniels, and I don’t think getting Hamilton to stay will be a problem, but given how much money is out there, I’d want to be a little cautious too.  Maybe this gets done soon–that would be nice.

Oh yeah, someone who’s writing the checks.

Bob Simpson, co-chairman of the board of the Texas Rangers, says that he would rather have Josh Hamilton over Prince Fielder.  Why you ask?  Well, read his comments on the subject:

“We’ve got guys, frankly, like Josh Hamilton that I would love to see re-signed.  My personal preference, at this moment, would be to re-sign him instead of having Fielder. But we could all debate that.”

“Everybody dreams about having both. Sometimes you can’t have both at some level. If they came around to something we’d do, we’d look at him. But we don’t think it’s likely.”

“We’re writing checks to make this stuff happen, but at some point it’s got to sustain itself and we understand that.  Winning comes first and then support comes. You can’t ask fans to come to every game while you’re losing and have them help you increase your revenues. You’re trying to take it to a new level, a sustainable level, where it is a dynasty franchise like the Dallas Cowboys achieved. Then in the off-years, and inevitably you’ll have some, they still support you.”

“Money can’t buy it.  Silly guys get in with big egos and a lot of money and make a mess. I don’t believe that’s going on here. You’ve got thoughtful spending behind superb management. That’s a different model.”

And that last quip.  He knows that you can spend all the money you want, but you’ll end up like Jerry Jones or the Yankees–with little to show for it.  Yeah, the Yankees won five titles since 1996, but when they started spending huge money, they won one.  The Cowboys can’t do anything, and he’s in a town where everything is bigger.  But, he knows he’s can’t just spend money “because.”  He has to have a purpose like Mark Cuban.

Thank you, Bob, for showing me that the Rangers truly do have superb management.  That’s some really well thought-out stuff there.  This is promising.

Yu Darvish has just signed a deal for about $60 million with the Texas Rangers.  He’s coming over from Japan to great fanfare.  However, as we talked yesterday about the young pitchers for the Rangers learning defense from Greg Maddux, we now have to deal with a young pitcher who is just coming across the Pacific.

Remember, the Rangers also paid $51.7 million just to talk to the kid.  So, all in all, that’s $111.7 million in all to talk to this kid and pay him without one shred of proof that he is worth it.  This makes me think of Dice-K up in Boston.  They spent a ton of money to bid for the guy, took him, paid him way too much money, and he hasn’t delivered at all.  So, while Darvish might be great, that does not mean that this deal is great.  I can’t think of any reason to pay over $50 million to talk to someone when you can find young pitchers here in the states that will be able to talk to you for free.

I know that the Rangers, overall, are a well-run team, but I just don’t understand this move.  Paying for the right to talk to someone, all by itself, is wrong on the face of it.  Plus, Darvish has only faced Japanese talent.  What happens when he plays in the highly contentious AL West?

Ultimately, Jon Daniels’ reasoning is not enough:

“We saw a guy that we felt was built to pitch innings and has a classic pitcher’s build.  He has a real commitment to his conditioning and work ethic. We think he can pitch innings at a high caliber for a large amount of time.”

That’s only if he isn’t like Dice-K, and all that has over $100 million hanging in the balance.  That’s too risky for my blood.

Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux is bringing in his brother Greg Maddux to work on defense with the lineup for the Rangers.  It’s a good move for a club that needs to make fine improvements so that it can stay on top and avoid a major letdown after losing two World Series in a row.

This is a good way for Greg Maddux to stay in the game, and it’s a smart way for his brother Mike to use his connections.  With 18 Gold Gloves, Greg is probably the best-fielding pitcher that ever played baseball.  So, pairing him with lots of young pitchers who need to learn the finer points of the game is a good idea.

Greg seems to have an eye for what to do with these guys:

“There is really no program [for defense in spring training.]  You just go out and do it. When you do your PFP’s (pitcher’s fielding practice) in spring training, that’s when you do it. You don’t write up a gameplan. You watch other guys do it. Usually when guys get to big league camp they are pretty good at technique and the fundamentals of PFPs. It’s just a matter of reading the ball correctly off the bat and making the right decisions once you have the ball.”

“Fielding is important.  If you can catch three balls a game, that’s an inning right there. If you pitch seven innings, you get three of them (outs), you’re doing to six. It’s important to be able to catch the ball when it’s hit back to you and make accurate throws to all the bases.”

Honestly, I think this is the first step of many where Greg becomes a pitching coach the likes of his old pitching coach in Atlanta, Leo Mazzone, but, while the Rangers have him, it’s perfect to take advantage of someone who is a no-brainer hall of famer.

Every little bit helps, doesn’t it?

 photo credit: Big C Harvey

Josh Hamilton has, wisely, had an accountability partner with the Rangers to help keep himself on the straight and narrow.  His father-in-law, Michael Dean Chadwick, was going to do that job for the Rangers but he has backed out of the position.

The reason that Chadwick could not take the job was because he would have to leave his family who are in North Carolina and travel with the Rangers all season.  First of all, even considering to do that for someone is really cool, but I can understand why you wouldn’t want to do that, ultimately.

The intentions were good, but I can see Chadwick’s point as he explains why he couldn’t do it:

“It was a tough, tough deal.  I let my heart get away with me. I wanted to go and be there for Josh. But I’ve got a 17-year-old daughter at home that needs me too, and I’m a home builder and have a company here. I sort of put the cart before the horse. It was heartbreaking to call them and say, ‘Guys, I can’t do it.’ ”

Hamilton thinks it’s alright, sort of:

“I feel like I was fine to not have anybody, but at the same time, if it helps confidence with the organization to have somebody or Major League Baseball to have somebody, helps their confidence in me, than I’m all for it.”

I understand the issues with not having someone, and I also get why baseball would have an issue with Hamilton not having someone around.  In the end, this doesn’t really change anything because Hamilton can link up with just about anybody who can help him.

The beauty of this situation is that it can be resolved.  Rangers fans should not worry because, well, this is not something to worry about in the end.

Let’s be honest.  If you wanted to learn how to be a starter in the Majors, you couldn’t go wrong talking to Pedro Martinez.  I know, I know.  Some of you would recommend learning how to get free money, but I think many of us forget that Pedro was just as pivotal in 2004 for the Red Sox as Curt Schilling was.  He made just as many great starts and threw just as many critical games for them.  He just didn’t have the bloody sock.

So, what can Neftali Feliz learn from Pedro?  Everything!  He talked about it this week:

“We talked about being a starter and working hard.  It’s something I have to make an adjustment with my body and my routines. He said it’s going to take me a little bit of time to get ready to be a starter.”

“Coming from a guy like him who I always admired as a kid, I took it very seriously.  He gave me advice about mental things and toughness. He was sincere with me. He said ‘Be patient and don’t get anxious. You’ll get adjusted to it.’”

The best part about this “summit,” if you will, is that the player personnel department of the Rangers set it up.  Feliz didn’t have to go searching for advice (although that is wise.)  His team made the necessary steps to find him as much help as they could get him.  That is how sports should work, especially with younger players.

We have way too many instances where teams don’t work hard enough at developing their players.  Now we see one of the reasons why the Rangers have been to back-to-back World Series.  They work hard on development.

Let’s hope that Feliz can be as effective a starter as we hope that he can be.  He’s just that good, but this won’t happen overnight.

The Rangers do need to get more production out of first base, but does that mean that they need to sign Prince Fielder to do it?  All indications have been that the Rangers would really like to reach a deal with Yu Darvish.  Many people also believe the team can’t afford both guys, but it has been reported that they could structure contracts such that that would be possible.

So, if Fielder somehow lands in Texas, what does that mean for Josh Hamilton?  Does that mean he’s on the way out?  Well, he’ll be a free agent soon, he’s older than Fielder, and he’s a leftie power hitter like Fielder.  So, Hamilton hasn’t made a deal with the Rangers, Fielder could be on the horizon, and Hamilton is aging.  For what it’s worth, I would do everything I could do to keep them both.  I know Hamilton will be expensive, but he is an emotional leader with a really good backstory who can help keep the team going.

I just don’t see Prince Fielder as the kind of leader that would be worth spending all that money on, for this team.  He kind of worked in the land of beer, Milwaukee, but I don’t know if Texas is a place where Fielder can make an impact beyond his paycheck and a few swings of the bat.

The Rangers, for my money, are an emotional team that rides on those emotions all year.  I just have never seen Fielder as a guy who could provide emotion, do anything with emotion, or use emotions to his advantage.  That might be a reason to keep Hamilton around even if Fielder comes.  (And that’s why “Moneyball” never really worked.)

I just think there needs to be more to a team than this one guy.  He’s too much of a risk (like Pujols) to spend all that money on.  And that’s even with the Angels landing big name guys like Wilson and Pujols.

 photo credit: Steve Paluch