Reaction to Rangers Signing Elvis Andrus to 8-Year Extension

I'll be the first to admit Elvis Andrus has been my favorite baseball player for the past three or four years. Therefore, when the news broke early Monday morning that Texas and Andrus agreed to an eight-year contract extension worth $120 million, I was ecstatic. The extension was in addition to the two years that he has left on his current deal, which means Elvis will likely remain in Arlington for the next decade.

Music to my ears.

I know, I know. I'm biased. But I really think the Rangers did the right thing.

Why? Elvis wants to remain a Ranger. Josh Hamilton, for instance, did not. Neither did C.J. Wilson. This is not to rip Hamilton or Wilson for following the money. They're entitled. But they didn't want to play baseball in Arlington. Andrus, despite having Scott Boras (a spokesperson for free agency) as his client, did not want to test the free-agent market in two years. He told Boras to work out a deal with Texas. Period. These are the types of players we should want to cheer for as Rangers fans.

Sports radio hosts in Kansas City warned against teams spending mega bucks on players who don't hit the ball over the fence. After all, Elvis has only 14 home runs in four years in the big leagues. Big money like that usually gets allocated to power hitters.

This contract was a reflection of the new-school method of sabermetric thinking. Elvis does not hit homers. He has not driven in more than 62 runs in a season. So why am I ecstatic with this deal? Allow me to break it down:

• Defense: Elvis is one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball. He has ridiculous range, and Zeus reached down and granted him a thunderbolt of a right arm. Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) is one of the most respected defensive terms in modern sabermetrics. FanGraphs describes UZR as "putting a run value to defense and attempting to quantify how many runs a player saved or gave up through their fielding prowess." A 0 rating is average, 5 is above average, 10 is great and 15 is gold-glove quality. Elvis registered an 11.9 in his first year in the league (2009), a 7.5 in 2011 and an 8.3 last year.
• Age: Andrus is still just 24 years old. 
• Speed: Elvis has averaged just over 30 steals per year in his first four seasons. His average (.286), on-base percentage (.349), slugging percentage (.378) and OPS (.727) were all career highs in 2012, suggesting he still has more room for growth. Again, he's only 24.
• Attitude: Elvis seems to be the first one to hop over the dugout railing and greet teammates after scoring runs. His energetic passion for the game is visible in the way he carries himself on the field. He smiles often and appears to play the game with a great amount of joy. 
• Experience: Sure, he's only 24, but Elvis appeared in back-to-back World Series as our starting shortstop in 2010 and 2011. He's part of the core group of players general manager Jon Daniels identified as being instrumental to the Rangers success. He knows our pain of being so close to the ultimate prize, but falling a little short. He's very easy to root for.

We don't know what this means for Jurickson Profar, the best prospect in baseball who's blocked by Elvis at short and Ian Kinsler at second. This could have an impact as well on Kinsler, who could move to first base in 2014 when Profar should be up in the bigs for good. That would be my preference since it would utilize the most talent on the field at the same time.

All in all, though, signing Andrus - it's expected to be formally announced later this week - is a fantastic deal for the Rangers. I'm looking forward to watching my favorite player in Ranger blue for the next decade.