Texas
Rangers

News: Andrus and the Texas Rangers have finalized a $14.4 million, three-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. He gets a $750,000 signing bonus and salaries of $2,375,000 this year, $4.8 million in 2013 and $6,475,000 in 2014. He then becomes eligible for free agency. A hearing had been scheduled for Thursday.
Impact: Andrus had asked for $3.6 million and had been offered $2.65 million. The 23-year-old hit a career-best .279 with 37 stolen bases last year when the Rangers won their second consecutive American League pennant. He made $452,180.

News: The Rangers and shortstop Elvis Andrus have agreed to a three-year contract, avoiding a salary arbitration hearing.
Impact: The agreement comes two days before a scheduled arbitration hearing.

News: Andrus and the Rangers reportedly have a three-year deal in place, pending a physical, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
Impact: Andrus, who we rank No. 2 among AL shortstops, may not have a ton of power, but he did drive in 60 runs last season and his speed continues to be a major asset (he stole 37 bases last season) for fantasy owners.

News: The Rangers have hired Shayne Kelley as a major league staff assistant to serve as Hamilton's (hernia) accountability partner, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
Impact: With support for the slugger on hand, GM Jon Daniels said that it's "unlikely" the Rangers will discipline Hamilton as a result of his recent relapse with alcohol, nor does he anticipate any MLB disciplinary action to be handed down.

News: GM Jon Daniels said the Rangers are unlikely to discipline Hamilton (hernia) for his relapse with alcohol last week, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
Impact: This remains a situation worth tracking, but the report suggests that the incident is not likely to affect Hamilton's playing status heading into the 2012 season.

News: Beimel has signed a minor league contract with the Rangers, John Blake of Rangers PR reports.
Impact: Beimel could serve as a lefty out of the back-end of the Rangers bullpen. However, his struggles last season -- a 5.33 ERA and six home runs allowed in 25.1 innings -- suggest he may have to work his way out of the minor leagues to get a chance in Arlington.

News: Jackson has signed a minor-league deal with the Rangers, John Blake of Rangers PR reports.
Impact: The Rangers have plenty of outfielders superior to Jackson, including Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and David Murphy. Jackson hasn't been productive since 2008, when he hit .300/.376/.446 in 612 plate appearances as a Diamondback. He may be a fifth outfielder with Texas or serve as minor-league depth.

News: Uehara has drawn interest from the Athletics, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports.
Impact: Uehara has a no-trade clause and has already invoked it to nix a trade sending him to Toronto. The 36-year-old reportedly wants to return to Baltimore, but he appears to have a diminished role in Texas and may be inclined to leave elsewhere as well.

News: Hamilton (hernia) admitted at a press conference Friday that he suffered a relapse with alcohol earlier in the week.
Impact: Some of the details reported earlier were cleared up by Hamilton, namely that no drugs were involved and he was able to hide his drinking time from teammate Ian Kinsler, something Hamilton admits he's unfortunately become quite good at, and in this case did his drinking before and after he had dinner with Kinsler. There's little good out of this situation other than Hamilton is meeting the incident head-on and vows what to do next time. The next news will be how the Rangers react, or if any ground rules had been set as to what they'd do if Hamilton ever slipped again.

News: Hamilton said Friday that he had a relapse and had ``three or four'' drinks earlier this week at a Dallas-area bar, calling it a ``weak moment'' that he will take specific steps to make sure doesn't happen again. It is Hamilton's second known alcohol-related relapse in three years. In January 2009, he drank to excess in a bar in Tempe, Ariz. Before that, Hamilton said he hadn't taken a drink of alcohol since Oct. 6, 2005.
Impact: Hamilton said he has not taken any drugs and had been tested twice since Monday, part of his normal routine. He said he expects to meet with Major League Baseball doctors in New York soon.

News: Hamilton's reported relapse with alcohol earlier in the week was confirmed by multiple baseball sources late Thursday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
Impact: Details are still sketchy, but Hamilton reportedly called teammate Ian Kinsler at some point during the evening, which resulted in Kinsler rushing to the bar in an attempt to get Hamilton to leave. Kinsler's attempts were reportedly unsuccessful.

News: The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Hamilton (hernia) had a relapse earlier this week when he drank alcohol at a bar, according to the Associated Press. The Rangers have not commented on the situation yet.
Impact: If it was just about any other player in baseball -- so long as it didn't involve a vehicle -- this would be a minor story, but Hamilton has battled drug and alcohol demons his whole career and recently lost accountability partner Jerry Narron to a position with the Brewers. First, we'll have to make sure the story is true, though the Dallas Morning News has always been a credible source, and if this is all fact we'll have to see if there's any fallout between Hamilton and the Rangers.

News: The Dallas Morning News is reporting Hamilton - a recovering drug addict - had a relapse earlier this week when he drank alcohol at a bar.
Impact: The newspaper, citing unidentified ``individuals familiar with the episode,'' reported Thursday night that Hamilton was at a Dallas area bar Monday. In a statement to the newspaper, the Rangers said they were ``aware of a situation, but we don't have further comment at this time.'' Hamilton, 31, was suspended for more than three years for drug and alcohol use while in the Tampa Bay organization. He missed the entire 2004-05 seasons. He won the AL MVP in 2010.