Don’t Worry, We’ll All Float On

Contract extensions are a tricky thing. Both the team and the player will have a number in mind before they sit down to negotiate. As the process unfolds, it’s up to everyone to find a happy middle ground, something that everybody is satisfied with.

But I’ve been wondering, when was the last time the Rangers actually found that happy middle ground?

Not including the team buying out arbitration years, Ian Kinsler is probably* the last Ranger to get a serious contract extension.

*That’s off the top of my head, so I could be wrong.

Earlier in the offseason, we heard that Kinsler, Mike Napoli, & Derek Holland were all discussing extensions. Josh Hamilton was also mentioned several times before he relapsed last month.

Around the time that Yu Darvish appeared on the scene, all of that talk ended. It was implied in the media that they might pick it back up once Darvish was signed, but so far nothing has been reported.

Question is, at what point do the Rangers actually start locking up the core?

There’s no doubt Napoli and Hamilton are looming large as Spring Training gets underway. The lack of movement on the part of the front office concerns me because,  if you only buy out a player’s arbitration years, you leave the door wide open for some idiot to overpay once that player hits the market.

And make no mistake, some idiot will always overpay.

To the readers:
Which Ranger(s) do you want to see extended beyond the life of their current contract(s)? How much money would you be willing to give them? How many years?

My answer? Ian Kinsler, $80-90 million for 5 years.

Press on, Rangers fans.

(Leave a comment or find me on Twitter @BleacherSeatsTX. As always, thanks to Baseball Reference for their invaluable resources.)