Andrus, Rangers agree to 3-year, $14.5 million extension

A source confirmed that the Rangers and shortstop Elvis Andrus have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a three-year contract extension worth approximately $14.5 million. The deal is pending Andrus passing a physical.

The deal wipes out all three of Andrus’ arbitration years but does not include any option years that could prevent him from becoming a free agent before 2015.

Gammons: Allison understands Hamilton’s struggles

Gammo checks in with Jeff Allison…

Jeff Allison got up Friday morning to get ready to go to work at a local baseball facility and coach kids. Then he read the headline about Josh Hamilton.

“It tore me apart,” said Allison. “I know. I’ve been there.”

...“I’m happy,” he says, “and I’m proud of where I am. Do I wish I were in the big leagues? Of course, but once I hurt my elbow and didn’t say anything, my stuff was never the same.”

Allison is the best high school pitcher I’ve ever seen in New England. The night I saw him, he sat 95-97 mph with a hammer curveball. In seven innings, he faced 22 batters and threw 21 first-pitch strikes.

...And now, at 27, he is 62 months clean, trying to find his balance and help kids stay away from his demons. Today, he cares about Hamilton, “Because if you haven’t gone through this, you have no idea how it tears at you. Josh will make it through. He will succeed. He will be great. I say it from a different vantage point than many other people. I’ve been there. I know. And I know that in the end, Josh will win and continue to be a superstar. If I could help him as he helped me, I would, but he may not need anyone else, because he will make it.”

Fraley: Rangers’ Josh Hamilton has relapse with alcohol at area bar

Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, recovering from alcohol and drug addictions, had a relapse this week in his quest to remain sober.

According to individuals familiar with the episode, Hamilton drank alcohol on Monday night in an area bar. The circumstances that led to Hamilton’s use of alcohol could not be determined.

In a statement, the Rangers said they were ``aware of a situation, but we don’t have further comment at this time.’‘

...Hamilton, the American League Most Valuable Player in 2010, can become a free agent after this season and has said he will stop negotiations on an extension when he reports to spring training. It was not known how this incident will affect the Rangers’ desire to work out a long-term extension with Hamilton.

Thanks to HUB.

HBT: Cartwright: Why Oliver Loves Yu

Great pitcher?  Or greatest pitcher?  Cartwright chooses (c) my projection engine messed up.

6.2 WAR, 2.57 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 16-4 W-L, 185 IP, 138 H,  8 HR, 41 BB, 198 K

It looks like Yu broke Oliver. That’s Yu Darvish; Oliver is the engine of The Hardball Times Forecasts. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but when a player so dominates his non-major league competition that that his derived major league true talent exceeds generally accepted norms, it offers an opportunity to examine the system and make some changes for the better.

Ron Washington gets 2-year extension

Well, I’ll let an American League pitcher hit with the bases loaded…

RLYW: Too-Early Marcel 2012 Season Forecast

Crikey, such excitement in the NL West!

This is current through Francisco Cordero signing with Toronto, and assumes Prince Fielder at 1B and Miguel Cabrera playing a terrible version of 3B for Detroit in 70% of their games, and DHing in 25% of them.

Rangers scheduled to meet with Roy Oswalt on Monday

Righthander Roy Oswalt is scheduled to meet with the Rangers on Monday if he remains on the free-agent market that long.

Boston, St. Louis and Houston are also involved in the Oswalt sweepstakes. The Rangers have not made an offer, a person familiar with the situation said.

Hindman: Of Hamilton, Adductors & The Future

Unsettling (for Rangers fans) speculation on Hamilton injury issues:

A couple of weeks ago, Josh Hamilton disclosed that what had originally been reported as a groin pull and / or a sports hernia as he sucked it up and fought through the 2011 post-season in excruciating pain was actually neither a groin pull nor a sports hernia.  Not exactly.  It was far more serious. 

Hamilton disclosed that the adductor muscle group in his inner left thigh had almost completely detached.  Hamilton explained that three of the muscles in this group had completely detached and that the fourth one “was about to pop.”

...

Moreover, it seems clear from the medical research I was able to browse that the abdominal tear that Hamilton also suffered this year is also connected to the athletic pubalgia. It seems not at all uncommon that severe cases of athletic pubalgia indicate a strong possibility of other issues in the core and lower half. 

Hamilton may not be merely unlucky and it may not be as simple as passing his increasing litany of injuries off as a matter of his “style of play.”  This severe injury might quite likely be yet another sign of a body that is literally beginning to deteriorate rather significantly.

Alex Cora announces retirement

Former Nationals utility infielder Alex Cora played winter ball and was the Captain of the Caguas Criollos of Puerto Rico. After the Criollos final game of the season tonight, he announced his retirement from baseball.

Alex Cora, 36, was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round of the 1996 draft. Cora has played all over the infield for seven MLB teams: Dodgers, Blue Jays, Indians, Red Sox, Mets, Rangers and Nationals Maybe he’ll follow in his big brother Joey’s footsteps and coach.

...(Translated by Bing):
MESSAGE from our captain ALEX CORA announcing his retirement: thank you all for the support they gave me for 16 seasons. We enjoy and we suffer, we won and we lost but heart I can tell you that being Creole is the best there is. Now close a chapter in my career and in the bottom of my heart I say that I do with the high front because I am and always will be pure strain Creole! Thank you all.

(confuded) Maybe the Red Sox still have a shot at him!

Baseball America’s Top 10 Prospects: Texas Rangers

(scans list…tosses Tim Maki RC sheet back into pile)

1. Yu Darvish, rhp
2. Jurickson Profar, ss
3. Martin Perez, lhp
4. Mike Olt, 3b
5. Leonys Martin, of
6. Neil Ramirez, rhp
7. Cody Buckel, rhp
8. Jorge Alfaro, c
9. Christian Villanueva, 3b
10. Rougned Odor, 2b

Despite the disappointment at the end of October, there’s no doom and gloom in Arlington. The Rangers remain positioned to extend their run of playoff appearances, thanks to a young core and one of the game’s deepest farm systems. Texas affiliates posted the highest combined winning percentage (.564) of all organization in 2011, and all of the full-season clubs qualified for the playoffs.

Since Jon Daniels took over as GM following the 2005 season, the Rangers have become a model organization for scouting and player development. Interestingly, Texas still hasn’t had many homegrown talents contribute at the big league level, as the bulk of the club’s nucleus—Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz, Josh Hamilton, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, Colby Lewis, Mike Napoli, Alexi Ogando—was plucked from other teams. Ian Kinsler and C.J. Wilson were drafted by the Rangers before the Daniels administration, which did sign Derek Holland and Mitch Moreland

‘Duk: Was that a marijuana leaf t-shirt that Yu Darvish was sporting today in Texas?

The SO-Weed Factor?

Fresh off a long flight from Japan, the newest Texas Rangers pitcher raised more than a few eyebrows in Dallas-Forth Worth on Friday by wearing a t-shirt with a symbol more closely associated with High Times magazine than Major League Baseball.

That’s not exactly the type of thing that the Rangers want to see from a guy they just committed $111 million to, so what gives with the hazy decision? Was the newly-divorced Darvish announcing his intentions to, uh, broaden his horizons? Attempting to make new friends with Tim Lincecum? Playing a pretty good joke on the straight-laced Nolan Ryan?

None of the above, said the 25-year-old righthander, who was quickly asked about the t-shirt at his introductory press conference at Rangers Ballpark. According to several reporters on the scene, Darvish just said he likes to wear shirts with English writing and that he had no idea it signaled an interest in something more.

There was another explanation for the t-shirt, though, and it comes with the explanation that the shirt doesn’t show a pot leaf at all.

According to Konnichiwhoa, reports out of Japan said the shirt depicts a Japanese maple leaf. And the story checks out if you look at this side-by-side illustration of a Japanese maple leaf and a cannabis leaf.

Zettel: Yu Darvish vs. Lefty Grove

Even Sigafoos thinks this is fos!

Like Grove, Darvish enters the Major Leagues at age 25, after a five year professional career in another league. Unlike Grove, Darvish kept his walk totals low, but struck out 1,083 batters in just over 1,020 innings in Japan’s Pacific League. Darvish’s ERAs are extremely low on a year-by-year basis, and not surprisingly, Darvish won approximately 73% of his decisions while playing in Japan. One of the interesting differences between Grove and Darvish is that Grove was also used as a reliever for approximately 10-15 games per season; Darvish, on the other hand, mostly served as a starter during his early professional career.

I know a lot of this is just happenstance, vague suggestions made across eras. But, I thought it would be fun to use the Darvish signing as an opportunity to remember the career of Lefty Grove, one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball. Both pitchers were so talented that they drew remarkable monetary transactions between their previous club and their future MLB team. Both pitchers were extreme winners in their early professional career, winning between 73% and 74% of their decisions before reaching the majors. And of course, they were both strike out machines, fanning more than 1,000 batters in more than 1,000 innings prior to reaching the majors.

It’s also exciting to think of the potential of Darvish dominating the American League. Frankly , I think he can be a valuable contributor to the Rangers, and I think he’ll be a worthwhile acquisition even if he’s an average or slightly above average pitcher. Maybe, just maybe, like another grand purchase, he’ll come to dominate major league batters; in another 50 years, maybe we’ll remember Darvish the way we remember Grove.

Jim Kaat: Will we finally get The Real Deal?

Kaat Said: Orientalism.

A couple of short stories about Asian pitchers and Irabu: I was announcing Yankee games in the mid-90s when I said over the air, “I wonder if we’ll ever see an Oriental position player in the Major Leagues?” Dion James was playing for the Yankees at the time, and told me about an exciting 19-year old named Ichiro Suzuki who had a chance to be the first. We all know that story. Big fan of Bernie Williams from watching Yankee games in Japan. Wears number 51 because of that.

So, I get a letter about a week later from an Asian baseball fan. Not a malicious letter but scolding me gently for referring to Asian players as “Oriental.” He said, “Noodles and rugs are Oriental, not people. We are Asians.” Fortunately for me, he put his phone number in the letter, so I called him.

We had a pleasant conversation and I told him I certainly didn’t intentionally say “Oriental’ as a slur or condescending remark. It was said innocently out of ignorance. He understood. I asked him if he would be watching the next game we televised. He said he would. He was a huge baseball fan and was complimentary of our telecasts on the MSG Network. I asked if he would please watch and listen in the top of the 4th inning. He said he would.  I took the opportunity to clear up the Oriental/Asian situation.

...So, I’lll be keeping a close eye on Yu Darvish and see if he is finally the one to be able to challenge and dominate our bigger, more powerful big league hitters. For his and the Rangers’ sake, I hope he does. It will be good for the game and the Rangers profit and loss statement!

Fox: Morosi: Darvish, Texas agree to six-year deal

Apparently there’s an opt-out for Darvish after the fifth season.  All seems fair enough.

The Texas Rangers and Japanese pitching star Yu Darvish have agreed on a six-year contract, the team announced Wednesday.

The deal is worth close to $60 million, one major-league source confirmed to FOXSports.com. It does not include deferred money.

National writer: If Rangers sign Prince Fielder, he’d be best hitter in baseball ‘by a mile’

Bob Nightengale force wind warning!

USA Today baseball writer Bob Nightengale joined KESN-FM’s Galloway & Co. last week to discuss the Rangers’ meeting with Prince Fielder. Here are some highlights:

On who will sign Prince Fielder:

I think Texas. Texas has never gone away from this thing. I think they want to put a stranglehold on the division and what the Angels just did with C.J. Wilson and Pujols, they answer back with this and once again they’re the favorites and could be the favorites for a long time. And I think if you sign Prince Fielder, you’re guaranteed to get three million fans, as well.

On how good Fielder could be with the Rangers:

The sky’s the limit. I think a minimum of 50 or 60 home runs. Not just in that ballpark, but with the protection in that lineup, surrounded by everybody. And you’ve got money coming off the books too, so it’s really going to help the Rangers when you’ve got Young coming off the books and those types of guys. But I think by pure numbers, he’d be the number one hitter in all of baseball by a mile. I think he would be Juan Gonzalez all over again.

MLB Trade Rumors: Bartolo Colon Agrees to Sign With Unknown Team

Bartolo Colon has agreed to a deal with an unknown club reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter). The right-hander wouldn’t divulge the team because he has not yet passed his physical.

Pretty sure it’s either the All-Stars or the Champs.

How The Greg Reynolds Trade Is More Interesting Than You Think

How could it possibly be more interesting?

We’ll begin with the biggie. Reynolds, of course, was selected second overall by the Rockies in 2006. He was selected right after Luke Hochevar, and right before Evan Longoria. The Rockies’ selection of Reynolds was thought to be a reach, and it took the Rays by surprise. The Rays had another plan, assuming the Rockies would take Longoria. That plan? Andrew Friedman:

We had Evan Longoria first on our board…We thought Longoria was going to go two to Colorado, and we had cut a deal with Tim Lincecum, to take three….

Reynolds’ failures were magnified because the Rockies nearly drafted Long Beach State third baseman Evan Longoria before turning to the Stanford pitcher. At the time, the Rockies felt starting pitching was more of a priority with Garrett Atkins and [Ian] Stewart both in the fold.

Jayson Stark (ESPN): Strange stuff … in the 2011 postseason

The postseason edition of trivia and oddbits that Jayson Stark excels at collecting and presenting…

Here’s one I didn’t know:

All four teams that advanced to the LCS—the Cardinals, Brewers, Rangers and Tigers—got outscored by the teams they played in the Division Series … and won.

ESPN: Yorvit Torrealba suspended in Venezuela

Texas Rangers backup catcher Yorvit Torrealba has been suspended 66 games by the Venezuelan League for striking an umpire, league president Jose Grasso Vecchio announced Monday morning on Twitter.

The suspension covers the rest of this season and all of next season in the Venezuelan League. Penalties in winter ball do not carry over to Major League Baseball.

Have to think MLB or the Rangers will take some action, too.

Yahoo: Passan: Rangers win bidding for Yu Darvish

The Texas Rangers won the rights to negotiate with star Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish by placing a record $51.7 million bid in a posting auction, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Darvish’s team in Japan, the Nippon Ham Fighters, will accept the bid, which means the Rangers have 30 days to negotiate a contract with Darvish. If they cannot work out a deal, Darvish would return to Japan for the 2012 season and the Rangers would be refunded the posting fee.

Boston Red Sox - Red Sox have more competition than ever - The Boston Globe

This week’s Boston Globe Sunday baseball column.

Yahoo Sports: Passan: Darvish bidding process is a cloak and dagger affair

The deadline for bids on Darvish is today at 5 pm (eastern time).  Passan makes the whole process sound like executives have spent several years in Australia bulding up an immunity to iocane powder just for this moment.

The Texas Rangers, for example, have told rivals they’re cash-poor this offseason. A TV deal that will net them $80 million annually doesn’t kick in until 2015. The purchase price of the team for the ownership group – jacked up in an auction by Mark Cuban – wound up tens of millions of dollars higher than expected and sucked up the $90 million signing bonus Fox Sports delivered. And the TV contract itself wasn’t nearly as lucrative as Chuck Greenberg, the club’s deposed CEO, purported it to be.

To which one GM said: “Yeah, right.”

And another executive said: “They’re sandbagging.”

BBTIA: Matschulat: Ian Kinsler’s Next Big Deal

The liberation of Arlington begins now! (oh…wait)

Said Kinsler of his situation: “I want to stay here. I was drafted by the Rangers, and I want to be a Ranger. You never know how long it’s going to take. I think the sooner the better for them, and the sooner the better for me.”

For all of the misled—though slowly disappearing—carping about Kinsler popping up too often and being a terrible baserunner and exhibiting bad body language and (my personal favorite) “not being a team player,” he’s quietly developed into one of the better second basemen of our generation, and could very easily be argued to be one of the three best second basemen in the game at the moment. Only two other second basemen—Chase Utley (25.9 fWAR) and Dustin Pedroia (23.0 fWAR)—have produced more wins above replacement by FanGraphs’ calculations from 2008-present than Kinsler’s 20.8 fWAR ... and by Baseball Reference’s reckoning, Kinsler has produced one of the best age 26-29 windows of any second baseman in baseball history…

...If you pointed a gun to my head right now and demanded that I tell you what I thought a reasonable deal might look like, I’d probably suggest tacking three years onto Kinsler’s existing deal at an average annual value of $17 million, which would handsomely compensate Kinsler while concurrently giving Texas a solid chance of earning some surplus value and, in effect, coming out “ahead” on the deal. Over the last 72 hours, though, I’ve found that my own definition of “reasonable” has been very much at odds with the Rangers’ definition, so perhaps I’m just barking up the wrong tree.

LA Times: Angels, Fox to sign 20-year, $3 billion deal

The Angels have agreed to a new deal with Fox Sports worth at least $3 billion and expected to cover 20 years, two parties familiar with the deal said Thursday. The parties declined to be identified because the deal has yet to be officially announced.

Spokesmen for Fox and the Angels declined to comment.

Moreno last year opted out of a 10-year, $500-million contract with Fox, according to sports media consultant and former NBA TV President Ed Desser.

Desser, testifying Thursday in the Dodgers’ bankruptcy case, said the Angels and Fox agreed at the time to a one-year extension while the parties negotiated a new deal.
...

The Rangers agreed with Fox last year on a new contract worth an average of $80 million per year. The Angels’ deal is expected to top that in average annual rights fees — the rejected Dodgers’ deal had an average annual rights fee of about $85 million — and include an ownership stake in FSW.

The timing of this with the Pujols signing is curious.  I wonder if Arte prodded Fox into upping the rights fees once he had Pujols in the fold.  This would be much cooler if Fox was paying for an investment in the team, than Arte taking his windfall and turning around and spending it.

NMA : Pujols, Wilson sign with Angels

Clearly the angels just needed more dueling practice (Video in link)

Heyman: Wilson signs with angels $75M 5 yrs

That’s, actually, that’s a really fair price.  I think quite a few clubs would have been happy to make that deal for Wilson.

I’d blockquote, but the thread title above contains the entirety of the tweet in question.  An earlier tweet from Joel Sherman was the first report of the deal.

Rangers step up pursuit of left-hander C.J. Wilson

DALLAS—These winter meetings aren’t all about C.J. Wilson for the Texas Rangers. Seriously.

Club brass has hardly left the Hilton Anatole, much less their war-room suite, over the first two days as they hunt down team needs such as a utility infielder and another bullpen piece.

But while a rotation addition isn’t seen as a necessity, the pursuit of a starter, led by Wilson, remains the dominant Rangers storyline.

To that end, general manager Jon Daniels finally met with Wilson’s agent late Tuesday night as the Rangers began to put their best foot forward in their attempt to re-sign Wilson.

...

“He might get an offer he can’t refuse tonight, and vice versa we might get an opportunity we can’t refuse,” Daniels said before the meeting.

Orioles get Teagarden for minor leaguer Henry and a player to be named (Viola designated)

The Orioles have acquired catcher Taylor Teagarden from the Texas Rangers for minor league pitcher Randy Henry and a player to be named, who is also expected to be a low-level minor leaguer.
[...]
The team designated left-hander Pedro Viola for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Teagarden.

Rangers catching prospects: And then there were none.

Greg Maddux joins Rangers

Greg Maddux is leaving the Chicago Cubs again.

Maddux joined the Texas Rangers, where his brother Mike is the pitching coach, as a special assistant.

“Yeah, it’s true. I’m going to go work with my brother in Texas,” Maddux told ESPNChicago.com’s Bruce Levine. “I really enjoyed my time with the Cubs, and I’m going to miss the people over there.

“But I can’t pass on an opportunity to work with my brother and the Texas Rangers.”

Maddux, 45, will work with the pitchers as he did with the Cubs. The team said that he will be in uniform during spring training as an extra instructor for minor league and major league players.

...

“I appreciate the Cubs and how they treated me,” Maddux said. “Now I’ll hopefully help the Rangers out. I’m really not ready to take anything full time anyway because retirement is too good. Whoever said they don’t like retirement probably isn’t doing it right.”

Granillo: A new Bobby Valentine story

I can see Roger Corman getting behind a St. Valentine’s Day Assmacre flick.

But my favorite story about Bobby Valentine may well be a new one told this weekend by Ken Levine. Levine is an ex-broadcaster for the Orioles, Mariners, and Padres, having partnered with the likes of Jon Miller and Dave Niehaus in his time in the booth. He is also a very accomplished television and film writer. His movie credits include the film Volunteeres, and he has worked in a major way on some of television’s biggest shows, including M*A*S*H*, Cheers, and Frasier. Levine also wrote the famous Simpsons episode “Dancin’ Homer”.

On his excellent blog this weekend, Levine was giving hints to would-be writers on how not to pitch a story to writers and executives. Mid-way through the post, this story about Bobby Valentine pops up:

  When I was announcing for the Orioles I once got thrown out of Bobby Valentine’s office for asking tough questions. He was then the manager of the Texas Rangers. Fifteen minutes later I was summoned back, obviously to receive an apology. No. He had heard I was a writer and pitched me a movie. Try not to be an ####### first.

Is there a more perfect Bobby Valentine story than that? Thanks for sharing that, Ken. Just terrific.

I don’t know if Valentine is the right fit for the Red Sox in 2012, but I absolutely hope that they hire him. He makes Major League Baseball a more interesting place everyday he’s around.