The Rangers have avoided arbitration with Mike Napoli, agreeing to a one-year, $5.8MM contract with the catcher/first baseman, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan (via Twitter). Napoli is represented by Brian Grieper.
The deal concludes a whirlwind eight day stretch for Napoli. He and Juan Rivera were sent to the Blue Jays in exchange for Vernon Wells on January 21, and then four days later was flipped to the Rangers in exchange for Frank Francisco. Napoli submitted a $6.1MM arbitration number to the Angels before the initial trade that was countered by a $5.3MM offer from the Halos, so Napoli's new deal with Texas nets him a bit more than the midpoint. Napoli still has one year of arbitration eligibility left as a Super Two player.
The Rangers' only remaining arbitration-eligible player is the one with the most interesting case: Josh Hamilton. You can get updates on Hamilton's case on the MLBTR ArbTracker.
good luck in texas naps
Angels shoulda kept nap at 5.8….
Lame…
Why is their pitching no longer good? Because they lost Cliff Lee? Lee had a losing record with the Rangers. When they acquired Lee, they were already a first place team.
It hurts to lose Lee but with or without him the Rangers still would have won the division. No reason they can’t repeat.
Exactly! The Rangers were firmly in first place before the Lee trade and it’s stl their division to lose!
what happened to feldman?
Feldman is injured. I think they expect him back somewhere around the end of May. He would probably be 2nd or third option to replace someone in the rotation.