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Elvis Andrus signed a 3 year, $14.5 million deal last night, so the possible arbitration players are 
now down to Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli. These two players still have not reached an agreement and it looks unlikely that one will be reached before arbitration gets here. Napoli is asking for $11.5 million, and the Rangers are offering him $8.3 million. The odds that they will come to an agreement is unlikely, but then again, Daniels has pulled off stranger deals that looked dead in the water. I feel that if the Rangers and Nap do not get this resolved, that the Rangers will most likely lose Napoli next season. Also, Nelson Cruz would like to be paid $7.5 million next year, and the Rangers are offering him $5.5 million. This one is closer together and I could see the Rangers doing here what they did with Elvis and give Cruz a longer term deal. At least that is what I hope happens. Napoli’s date is set for Feb. 15 and Cruz is set for Feb. 17. We will have to wait and see what happens.
In other news, the Rangers hired Shayne Kelley to be Josh Hamilton’s personal coach. Kelley has a very extensive background in baseball and can be a help to the club in more areas than just helping Hamilton stay on the straight and narrow. The Rangers have put off anymore talks with Hamilton and his agent until after the 2012 season, per the relapse that Josh went through early last week. Less than two weeks till Spring Training Starts!
