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Source says Kinsler, Rangers agree on 5-year, $22M deal

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

Second baseman Ian Kinsler has agreed to a five-year, $22 million contract with the Texas Rangers, according to a baseball source. The deal includes a club option for a sixth year that could increase the overall value of the package to $32 million. The Rangers are expected to make an announcement Tuesday afternoon at their spring training site in Surprise, Arizona.

Kinsler, 25, hit .261 with 20 homers and 23 stolen bases for the Rangers last season. Despite missing almost the entire month of July with a stress fracture in his left foot, he became the sixth player in club history to put up a 20-homer, 20-steal season.

The new contract will take Kinsler through three years of salary arbitration and his first year of free agency — and possibly a second year if the Rangers exercise their $10 million club option.

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Rangers, Broussard agree to $3.85M deal

Monday, January 7th, 2008

Ben Broussard and the Texas Rangers agreed to a $3.85 million, one-year contract on Saturday, avoiding arbitration. The first baseman was acquired in a trade with Seattle last month. The Rangers sent infielder Tug Hulett to the Mariners for Broussard, who hit .275 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs last season.

The 31-year-old Broussard was a second-round draft pick out of McNeese State by the Cincinnati Reds in 1999. He has three career pinch-hit grand slams, tied for the most in major league history.

The Rangers also signed right-hander Jason Davis to a minor league contract Saturday with an invitation to spring training. Davis was 2-0 with a 5.84 ERA in 24 relief appearances for Cleveland and Seattle last year.

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Reds trade OF Hamilton to Rangers

Friday, December 21st, 2007

The Cincinnati Reds agreed Friday to trade outfielder Josh Hamilton to the Texas Rangers for pitcher Edinson Volquez and a minor league pitcher.

The 26-year-old Hamilton batted .292 this year in his first major league season with 19 homers and 47 RBIs in 298 at-bats. His season was interrupted by an inflamed digestive track and a sprained wrist, but he still received 151,000 write-in votes for the All-Star game, the top total in the NL.

Taken by Tampa Bay with the first pick of the 1999 amateur draft, Hamilton didn’t make it above Double-A with the Devil Rays, his career slowed by alcohol and drug addiction.

Volquez, a 24-year-old right-hander, was 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in six starts for the Rangers last season.

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Bradley agrees to deal with Rangers

Sunday, December 9th, 2007

Free-agent outfielder Milton Bradley has reached preliminary agreement on a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers, according to a major-league source. The deal, pending a physical, will give Bradley the chance to serve as a designated hitter early next season if he recovers slowly from reconstructive knee surgery. The contract is reportedly worth $5 million (the Padres reportedly offered Bradley $4 mllion on a one-year deal).

The Padres, who continue to negotiate with Japanese free-agent outfielder Kosuke Fukudome and their own free agent, Mike Cameron, did not make Bradley as strong an offer as the Rangers, the source said.

Bradley was traded from the A’s to the Padres on June 29. He batted a combined .306 with 13 homers and 37 RBIs in 209 at-bats in a season marred by injury and controversy.

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Braves dealing Salty for Rangers Teixeira?

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

The Braves have needs, including pitching. If they could get an impact starter or a package of pitchers for Jarrodd Saltalamacchia, they might pull the trigger. They’ve also talked to the Rangers about first baseman Mark Teixeira, a slugger and Gold Glover who could earn more than $10 million in arbitration next season and then become a free agent. Saltalamacchia hasn’t played much since the Braves signed first baseman Julio Franco, who made his fifth start in six games Tuesday. McCann has gotten healthy and needs few days off. … Saltalamacchia was the Braves’ top-rated prospect before the season and has further elevated his stock with a strong performance in his first stint in the majors. — Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Rangers in talks with several teams about Teixeira

Tuesday, July 24th, 2007

Executives with other teams believe that the Texas Rangers are definitely intent on trading first baseman Mark Teixeira before the July 31 trade deadline, which would make Teixeira the most prominent player dealt.

The rival executives say that the Rangers’ demands for Teixeira have come down bit by bit. In addition, the Rangers feel they can get one or more of the targeted prospects that they can ask for from the targeted teams.

At the outset of the Teixeira trade talks, for example, the Rangers had insisted the Yankees include either Jaba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes, one of the Yankees’ top pitching prospects, and had asked the Dodgers for three top prospects. They had asked the Red Sox for pitcher Clay Buchholz and center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Angels, Braves and Giants are also involved in talks for Teixeira.

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Michael Young signs 5-year, $80M deal with Texas

Friday, March 2nd, 2007

The Rangers, locking up one of their franchise players, have signed All-Star shortstop Michael Young to a five-year, $80 million contract extension. The deal ensures that Young will remain with the Rangers through 2013.

Young, 30, is signed for $3.5 million this season. The Rangers exercised his 2008 option, worth a reported $5 million, as part of his new deal. The extension takes effect in ’09.

A career .300 hitter, Young has put together four straight 200-hit seasons, averaging 65 extra-base hits per year in that span. He has been an All-Star each of the past three seasons and was named Most Valuable Player of last year’s Mid-summer Classic.

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Sosa gets an offer from Rangers

Tuesday, January 16th, 2007

The Rangers’ decision to pursue outfielder Sammy Sosa wasn’t based on his workout for club officials Monday in Arlington, Texas. His actual audition occurred approximately two weeks ago, when Sosa displayed his skills to Rangers scout Don Welke in the Dominican Republic. The Rangers, acting on Welke’s recommendation, invited Sosa to meet with club officials in Texas, then offered him a minor-league contract.

The question with Sosa is how effectively he could be after sitting out a season. The Rangers probably would expect him to be better than he was in his final season with the Orioles (.295 on-base percentage, .376 slugging percentage) but perhaps not as good as he was in 2004, his his final season with the Cubs (.332 OBP, .517 SLG).

During 17 seasons with the Rangers (1989), Chicago White Sox (1989-91), Chicago Cubs (1992-2004) and Baltimore (2005), Sosa is a .274 career hitter with 588 home runs and 1,575 RBIs. He ranks fifth on the career home run list, and he hit more than 60 homers in a season three times.

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Rangers re-sign Hairston to minor league deal

Saturday, January 6th, 2007

The Texas Rangers and utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. agreed to a minor league contract on Friday. Texas acquired the 30-year-old Hairston from the Chicago Cubs last season and he played both infield and outfield for the Rangers. He batted .205 with three doubles and six RBIs in 63 games with Texas. Hairston is a .257 career hitter with 30 homers, 200 RBIs and 107 stolen bases in nine major league seasons. He spent his first seven seasons with Baltimore.

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Rangers set weekend deadline on Zito

Wednesday, December 27th, 2006

The Rangers have let Barry Zito’s agent, Scott Boras, know that they don’t plan to wait around all winter waiting for his response. The Rangers want to hear by this weekend whether or not Zito plans to accept their contract offer.

Rangers owner Tom Hicks wrote via e-mail: “We’ve made a very strong offer. If we don’t have agreement with his agent by this weekend, we will pursue other alternatives.” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels also confirmed that deadline, writing, “That’s accurate. End of the week.”

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