- According to three major league sources, the Rangers are in advanced talks with Philadelphia about a deal for the 36-year-old Young that would include the Rangers eating more than half of his remaining $16 million in salary. The Rangers would likely receive a young major league reliever along with a lower-level prospect.

- Texas Rangers are interested in hanging on to Josh Hamilton and remain the most serious Mariners competitor on that front. But the Rangers also remain engaged in a two-pronged battle with the Dodgers for the services of starting pitcher Zack Greinke and would possibly not be able to land both him and Hamilton. I think the Rangers would rather have Greinke / Upton.

- Athletics take 3B Thomas Mendonca from Rangers in minor league Rule 5 draft. Former Fresno State player.

- Indians with the 5th pick selected 1B Chris McGuinness in the Rule 5 draft as well. He was the Arizona Fall League player of the year.

- According to Bob Nightengale (USA Today), Texas is willing to go to four years on Hamilton, but won’t go five.

 - Jim Bowden (ESPN/XM) tweets that Texas remains Hamilton’s first choice, with Seattle as his fallback.

- If the Mariners signed him they would forfeit the 12^th overall pick in June’s draft if they sign Hamilton, but Texas wouldn’t get the pick.  The Rangers would end up with a supplemental first-rounder under the new CBA, while Seattle’s pick would simply disappear.

- There are rampant reports that Seattle was getting involved in the multi-team trade discussions centered on Arizona outfielder Justin Upton, Cleveland shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, and young Texas players such as Mike Olt and Martin Perez, and Bowden speculates that the Mariners are doing so with one primary objective: To help ensure that Upton lands in Texas, opening things up for Seattle to sign Hamilton. Weird.

- According to Jeff Wilson (Fort Worth Star-Telegram), the Rangers are willing to move Olt and Perez if it brings Upton to Texas.  Wilson adds that the Diamondbacks, who signed third baseman Eric Chavez yesterday, could flip Olt to the Indians to sweeten the package for Cabrera, and that an Indians reliever could move to Texas.

- Richard Durrett (ESPN Dallas) reports that Texas has talked to Yoshinori Tateyama about coming back.

- Ken Rosenthal suggests Texas, Seattle, and Philadelphia have expressed interest in Raul Ibanez.

- A Major League source tells Wilson that Texas isn’t currently discussing Shields with the Rays, as the club remains focused on Greinke.  Wilson adds that Anibal Sanchez is a potential Rangers target if Greinke signs with the Dodgers.

- Jim Bowden believes Texas has “enough Mike Olt, Leury Garcia, Robbie Ross, Cody Buckel types to get James Shields comfortably.”  He predicts the Rangers end up with either Hamilton or Upton, and then Greinke or Shields.

- According to T.R. Sullivan , the Rangers have traded pitcher Wilfedo Boscan to the Padres. He is the Player to Be Named Later in the trade that sent reliever Corey Burns to the Rangers. The deal was completed after the Rule 5 draft.

- They have agreed to terms with the following four players to minor league contracts with invitations to major league spring training: 1B/DH Brandon Allen, RHP Jake Brigham, RHP Evan Meek, and RHP Randy Wells.

- Koji Uehara signs a one year deal with the Red Sox. I wanted to see him back here. Oh well.

Notes from around twitter and other places:

- Jim Bowden (ESPN/XM) says that the Phillies, desperate for outfield help, are “out” on Josh Hamilton because ownership is unwilling to go to the level it would take to sign him.  Jayson Stark (ESPN) describes Philadelphia’s interest as “wary.”  T.R. Sullivan (MLB.com) hears the Phillies are out as well, and adds the Orioles and Mariners to the list of clubs who have folded.

- Gerry Fraley (Dallas Morning News) reports that “[o]fficials with two clubs said there are rumblings of Hamilton having a five-year offer on the table.” 

- Bowden considers the Rangers, Red Sox, and Yankees “realistic landing spots” for Hamilton, and Jeff Wilson (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) believes Texas is “willing to pay big over a short term, say three years and $75 million with a vesting option.”

- Rob Bradford (WEEI) hears that Boston is actually among four or five teams in on Hamilton, but only on a short-term basis.  One source suggests to Bradford that “teams are waiting to see if there is anybody willing to go as many as four years on the outfielder.”

- According to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi (Fox Sports), Seattle met with Hamilton on Sunday, but Texas “currently is working the hardest to sign him” – even though, according to local reports, the Rangers and Hamilton haven’t yet met and aren’t scheduled to meet.

- Dan Plesac (MLB Network) says that the Angels “may be on the outside looking in on Zack Greinke,” as it “seems [the] Rangers and Dodgers have scared them off.”  Plesac adds that the “[w]ord around here . . . is that the Rangers [are] very much in on Hamilton AND Greinke

- Casey Stern (MLB Network Radio) spitballs this idea: Upton to Texas, Mike Olt and Martin Perez to Cleveland, Asdrubal Cabrera and a second-tier Rangers prospect to Arizona. 

 - According to Bowden, if the Rangers had managed to move Olt to Atlanta for shortstop Andrelton Simmons to facilitate a trade for Upton last month, as was rumored, they would have kept Simmons and traded Elvis Andrus to the Diamondbacks.  Bowden says that Arizona believes Texas “will blink” and eventually part with Andrus, which is one key reason Upton hasn’t been moved elsewhere.

 - Sullivan reports that “the Rangers are getting many inquiries” about Olt but are not motivated to trade him.

 - Morosi believes Tampa Bay will trade James Shields or Jeremy Hellickson and said to “keep an eye on the nexus between Texas and Arizona as it affects” the two Rays righthanders.

 - Evan Grant (Dallas Morning News) reports, “[o]fficials with two clubs on Monday said the Rangers had already spoken with them this winter about offering Young in a deal.”  The Yankees weren’t one of the clubs, Grant adds.

- Susan Slusser (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that the Diamondbacks, Cubs, Royals, Red Sox, White Sox, and Twins have met with Brandon McCarthy, who would consider a one-year deal, “and the Angels and Rangers are expected to join the fray.”

- According to Fraley, Koji Uehara’s preference is to return to the Orioles, but he’d consider staying with the Rangers if they make the best offer.  Fraley suggests the Angels can’t be ruled out on Uehara.

- Ken Rosenthal, Sources: Rangers, Hamilton making progress. Deal, if reached, likely would be 4 yrs. But still possible another team could beat TEX offer.

 - According to local reports, Dr. Keith Meister confirmed that Jurickson Profar is only dealing with mild elbow inflammation.

Rangers and Joakim Soria agree on a two-year deal for $8 million with a club option for 2015. He missed the entire 2012 season after suffering an injury prior to the start of the season that required Tommy John surgery.

The former Kansas City Royals closer proved to be one of baseball’s most consistent and reliable relievers for the past several years. The right-handed reliever now 28, is expected to miss the start of the 2013 season, too, while he continues to rehab from the surgery. However, Soria could still prove to be a fantastic pick-up and perhaps even a bargain, depending on how well he can come back from Tommy John surgery.

- Free-agent catcher Mike Napoli is headed to the Boston Red Sox on a 3-year, $39 million deal.

Oddly the Rangers decided not to make a qualifying offer of $13.3 million to Napoli, so they won’t receive any draft-pick compensation in return.

Napoli hit .227 in 2012, but had 24 homers and 56 RBIs with 53 runs. That was a drop-off from his production in 2011, when he had a memorable second half, hitting .383 and performing well in October.

- Also the Rangers agreed to terms with catcher Geovany Soto last night. The deal is for $2.75 million with $250,000 in incentives. So that gives Texas a backstop, but they still need another. It’s a thin free-agent market, though A.J. Pierzynski is still available. Perhaps the Rangers will look at the trade market. The Blue Jays have a surplus of catchers and perhaps would part with John Buck or J.P. Arencibia.

Napoli crushed the ball at Fenway Park in a small sample size. He has a .306 average and a .710 slugging percentage in 19 games with seven homers and 17 RBIs.

Napoli will be missed, he quickly became a fan favorite. But at this cost and the Red Sox needing him more than the Rangers it makes sense for the Red Sox to push and sign him with the hole they had at first base. 

So that leads to this tweet from Ken Rosenthal earlier today:

@Ken_Rosenthal

The Rangers have traded for 25 year old right-handed pitcher Cory Burns from the Padres for a player to be named later.

Burns had an awesome minor league K/BB and OBA numbers. He was drafted by the Indians and traded to the Padres. He got lit up in his 2-month look with Padres last summer. He pitched in 17 games, and had a 5.50 ERA, in only 18 innings. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he pitched to a 3.14 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 66 innings of relief.

His minor league career he had a 11.2 K/9 in his minor league career against a 2.2 BB/9. Also, 2.36 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Deception pitcher. Via Baseball America he was Best Reliever/Carolina League 2010, Best Reliever/Eastern League 2011, Best Reliever/Pacific Coast League 2012.

The Rangers and left-hander Matt Harrison are in early stages about a contract extension, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

The Rangers and the agents for Matt Harrison have entered into preliminary negotiations on a contract extension for the All-Star left-hander…

“We’ve touched base with all the guys we want to extend,” Daniels said Nov. 8. “Harry’s one of them. He’s earned that conversation.”

The 27-year-old Harrison posted career-best numbers last season, putting up a 3.29 ERA and a 2.25 SO/BB ratio in 213 1/3 innings; yesterday it was announced he earned the teams Pitcher of the Year award. He struggled in his first three seasons with Texas but has really turned the corner the two years, putting up eerily similar numbers in 2011 and 2012.

The left-hander has two years of arbitration remaining before he hits the free agent market, but Texas could very well lock him down for a few more years, much like they did with right-hander Derek Holland in March.

The Rangers do not generally finalize contract extensions until spring training so it may be a while until a new deal with Harrison becomes official. The team could also sell high on him and make a trade to replace Hamilton if he signs elsewhere.