Napoli is now officially official. Wearing number 5.

ahem..now it's office

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Rangers Communications
Thursday, February 16, 2017 817.273.5203

RANGERS SIGN FREE AGENT 1B/DH MIKE NAPOLI TO ONE-YEAR CONTRACT
WITH CLUB OPTION FOR 2018
Veteran returns for third stint with Texas; Set career highs in HR and RBI in 2016 with Cleveland

Surprise, Ariz. The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has signed free agent first baseman/designated hitter Mike Napoli (#5) to a one-year contract for the 2017 season, with a club option for 2018. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Napoli, 35, is coming off a 2016 season in which he batted .239 with 34 home runs and 101 RBI over 150 games for the American League champion Cleveland Indians. He established career highs last year in hits (133), home runs, and RBI. He made 149 total starts at first base (98) and designated hitter (51), serving as Cleveland's primary cleanup batter with 140 games in that lineup slot.

Napoli has played in 256 games over two-plus seasons with Texas in 2011-12 and 2015, landing his lone career All-Star selection with the Rangers in 2012. He has a career slash line of .277/.381/.548/.929 for Texas, and the Rangers have reached the playoffs in each of Napoli's three seasons with the club. He would join Bill Haselman, Kenny Rogers, Ruben Sierra, and Darren Oliver as the only players to spend three separate tours of major league duty with the organization.

He enters 2017 with a career rate of 4.37 pitches seen per plate appearance, a figure which rates second all-time since the stat was first tracked in 1988 (credit STATS LLC), trailing only Jayson Werth (4.40) among players with at least 3000 plate appearances. Napoli owns a career .903 OPS figure against left-handed pitching. He joins Toronto's Russell Martin as the only big league players to have appeared in the postseason in 8 of the last 10 seasons (2007-09, 2011-13, 2015-16). Napoli also leads all active players with 15 RBI in 19 career World Series games.

With the signing of Napoli, the Rangers are now at the 40-player limit on the major league roster, along with two players (Jake Diekman and Prince Fielder) on the 60-day disabled list.

RANGERS

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I read an article that said Prince was doing a cooking show and having some former players come on as guest starts. It was something he wanted to do when he retired, he just didn't know it would be this soon. It sounded like he wanted to take some time away from the game, but I would like to see him with us down the road in some capacity.

Don't go giving me the side eye just cause you were late.

These home plate seats aren't gonna sell themselves!

free_mhayden said:

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It's not even that i can't stand Raymond -- it's like he's not even there... Rangers hit a walk-off single and Raymond described it with zero inflection, matter-of-factly... A casual listener wouldn't have been able to discern that hit from a 2nd inning 2-out single with nobody on.

Now compare that to this:

https://vimeo.com/6733651


Even crazier to think that, at the time, that was probably one of the biggest wins in franchise history. (laugh emoji)

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I love that clip!

Annnnnd SOLD!

Anybody else find this update a little odd. Seems like they would have told him ahead of time about what position he would be playing. Seems like he may no longer be that high on the priority list for the Rangers. Maybe he'll jack a few bombs during spring training to up his value and we can get a decent trade for him. Starting to think he may not be long for the Rangers organization. Article link: http://m.rangers.mlb.com/news/article/216214138/shin-soo-choo-may-be-main-dh-for-rangers/



Joey Gallo is no longer a candidate to play first base. He may get time in left field but his primary spot will be third base.

"For a second, I thought I had a shot at playing first base this spring and battling for the position," Gallo said. "I was working all offseason at first base. I wish somebody had told me. I have no problem playing third base. I've played there my whole life."

He needed to be told? It was no secret they were after a first baseman. If this came as a shock to him he's not very bright.

Whoever is the agent for that kid needs to start advising him on how to handle the media.

I cannot believe how far Gallo's stock has fallen. His window as a top prospect is disappearing, if it is not already closed all together. I would hate to trade him for far below what his value was a year ago and then see him tear it up and put it all together with another club.

And now Beltre has a Grade 1 strain in his left calf. Might work out better that he misses the WBC though. No risk of further injury.

I'd be fine with every Ranger participating coming up with some nagging injury that kept them out of it.

very good point. Although I did see Profar will be playing some LF with the Netherlands. It will be interesting to see how he does there. Hopefully he can play about half the games in LF to alleviate Choo and have him be DH for a significant number of games. Plus, I think Profar could be a better defensive OF than Choo with just a little bit of training and playing time.

rwhitlock3 said:

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And now Beltre has a Grade 1 strain in his left calf. Might work out better that he misses the WBC though. No risk of further injury.

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Just because I know everyone is wondering.... (link )


A calf muscle tear is graded from 1 to 3, with grade 3 being the most severe. A grade 1 will not normally need professional treatment whereas grade 2 or 3 injuries, depending on their severity, may require more specialist treatment and rehabilitation advice from a sports injury professional.

Grade 1 symptoms
A Grade 1 calf strain is a minor tear with up to 25% of the muscle fibres affected. The athlete may feel either a twinge of pain in the back of the lower leg or a feeling of "tightness". They may be able to carry on playing or competing without pain or with only mild discomfort in the calf. However, after exercises finishes there is likely to be "tightness" and/or aching in the calf muscles which can take up to 24 hours to develop.

KT 90 said:

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Anybody else find this update a little odd. Seems like they would have told him ahead of time about what position he would be playing. Seems like he may no longer be that high on the priority list for the Rangers. Maybe he'll jack a few bombs during spring training to up his value and we can get a decent trade for him. Starting to think he may not be long for the Rangers organization. Article link: http://m.rangers.mlb.com/news/article/216214138/shin-soo-choo-may-be-main-dh-for-rangers/



Joey Gallo is no longer a candidate to play first base. He may get time in left field but his primary spot will be third base.

"For a second, I thought I had a shot at playing first base this spring and battling for the position," Gallo said. "I was working all offseason at first base. I wish somebody had told me. I have no problem playing third base. I've played there my whole life."

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The team either instructed him to practice at 1st or they didn't. He doesn't indicate that he was playing 1st because that was where the team told him to focus. He played 3 Games in Winter League ball, before hurting his hammy.

Here was a good read from last month on him. I'd be interested to know if there is tension between he and the club, or it is just perception.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/213840682/rangers-joey-gallo-on-preparing-for-2017/

grapespda2525 said:

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I'm glad Jim Knox is finally gone. I'd just pause and go to the restroom when that guy was on and I boycotted Rangers live because of his stupid crowd segment.

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But Dawn!!!!!

rwhitlock3 said:

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And now Beltre has a Grade 1 strain in his left calf. Might work out better that he misses the WBC though. No risk of further injury.

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I heard on the radio today that he reported in "mid-season form".

MooreTrucker said:

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rwhitlock3 said:

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And now Beltre has a Grade 1 strain in his left calf. Might work out better that he misses the WBC though. No risk of further injury.

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I heard on the radio today that he reported in "mid-season form".

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Normally mid-season form is a hammy, no?!

How many more years do we have Adrian signed?

AgBQ-00 said:

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How many more years do we have Adrian signed?

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This year and next year.

Rangers Yearly Payroll

Me too. From the interview I heard a few weeks ago he wants to be ranger until he is done

Anyone expecting Gee to get the 5th spot? Was a golf team teammate and graduated a year ahead of me in Cleburne

The Shank Ag said:

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Anyone expecting Gee to get the 5th spot? Was a golf team teammate and graduated a year ahead of me in Cleburne

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He hasn't been on my radar. Is he going to be a SP or RP?!

His friends and family at least believe he'd stay at the sp role and do better in an AL format than his 44-42 record indicates.

I think at this point if he makes the big league roster he projects at-best to be an innings-eater out of the bullpen that can make a spot start every so often when needed. If he's competing for a rotation spot then it's likely Texas is in a world of hurt.

TEAMS
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West Notes: Rangers, Rockies, Holland, Jenkins
February 20th, 2017 at 2:31pm CST By Charlie Wilmoth
The Rangers' open tryouts today have unearthed a number of interesting names, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes (Twitter links). Among those trying out today are three hurlers who've pitched in the Rangers' system Kameron Loe (who was a starter and reliever for the Rangers from 2004-2008 and pitched last season with the White Sox' Triple-A affiliate), Mark Hamburger (who made five relief appearances with the 2011 Rangers) and Blake Beavan (who was the Rangers' first-round pick in 2007 and who pitched parts of four seasons in the big leagues with the Mariners). Also appearing today are Justin Masterson (who recently pitched a showcase after appearing the Pirates' minor-league system last year), Kyle Drabek (the former Blue Jays top prospect, who pitched briefly for the Diamondbacks in 2016) and Jose Veras (the veteran bullpen righty, who pitched last year in independent ball).


I guess Tom Heinke and Eddie Guardado were not available

I've never really been a baseball follower, but I love watching it. I would, however, like to get into it. Being a Texas native (San Antonio born and raised), I think the Rangers will probably be my choice. Looking forward to it

Lord_TyTy said:

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I've never really been a baseball follower, but I love watching it. I would, however, like to get into it. Being a Texas native (San Antonio born and raised), I think the Rangers will probably be my choice. Looking forward to it

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The Astros are not a bad team to follow either, except that they're in the same division. And on TexAgs, you MUST pick between the DFW team and the Houston team.

MooreTrucker said:

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Lord_TyTy said:

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I've never really been a baseball follower, but I love watching it. I would, however, like to get into it. Being a Texas native (San Antonio born and raised), I think the Rangers will probably be my choice. Looking forward to it

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The Astros are not a bad team to follow either, except that they're in the same division. And on TexAgs, you MUST pick between the DFW team and the Houston team.

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I think letting him venture over to the Astros thread for a week should make his decision for him.

I dunno...I was on the Astros in T-ball....

I get to watch a lot of Express games, and I just cant say enough how unimpressive Gallo is in the way he handles himself...hustle...and attitude

I feel like he is thinks he is Juan Gonzalez....and it is beneath him to be playing in Round Rock....really frustrating to watch...swing like Tarzan attitude like Peter Gibbons before hypnosis