Texas Rangers and Elvis Andrus Avoid Arbitration

FOX Sport's Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Texas Rangers and SS Elivs Andrus have avoided arbitration and agreed to a 3 year deal worth $14-$15 million.

The 23 year old started 150 games and had a career best .279/.341/.361 split with a 4.5 WAR. With career highs in Runs, RBIs and Stolen Bases, Andrus' new contract comes at a time when Josh Hamilton is entering his final year of his contract with the club.

The Rangers still need to secure Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli for the coming 2012 season to go along with a payroll that has been on the rise in recent years. Although adding on Darvish, the posting fee does not count against the payroll.

Flexibility may no longer be a problem with the Rangers now that Nolan Ryan enters his second full season of full ownership of the team and the rest of the American League teams packing on All-Stars from the National League.