"The three-year, $14.4 million contract that Elvis Andrus signed Wednesday is a money-saver for the Texas Rangers and a headache-saver for the All-Star shortstop.

The Rangers bought out all three of Andrus' arbitration years, eliminating three off-seasons of negotiating and also giving Andrus the peace of mind of having guaranteed money now.

In the process, he likely has saved the Rangers money moving forward the next three seasons by not maximizing his value through arbitration.

But the sides could never agree on a longer deal that would wipe out Andrus' first few free-agent years. That doesn't mean they won't continue to work on that, though."