Rangers sign David Murphy, avoid arbitration

The Texas Rangers have avoided arbitration with outfielder David Murphy, signing the left fielder to a one-year deal, the team has announced:

#Rangers, OF David Murphy avoid arbitration with 1-year deal; all of club's arbitration-eligible players have now agreed to terms for 2013.

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) January 21, 2013

The deal -- which will pay him $5.775 million -- may be just the first step towards a long-term deal for the 31-year-old.

The Rangers and Murphy's agent have discussed a multi-year contract extension this winter, but talks were tabled so ensure that the club could get through the arbitration process first, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Now that Texas has come to terms with all of their arbitration-eligible players, talks with Murphy may continue with haste this spring.

Texas has already locked up one of their players on long-term contract extensions this winter, signing left-hander Matt Harrison to a five-year, $55 million deal last week. The club had luck coming to terms on extensions with Ian Kinsler and Derek Holland during spring training last year, so are likely hoping for similar results this time around.

The lefty-swinging Murphy has spent the last five-plus seasons in Arlington, batting .286/.347/.453 with 72 home runs in that span.