Rangers Issue Qualifying Offer To Hamilton; No Offer To Napoli

Per MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers have reportedly made a qualifying one-year, $13.3 million offer to Josh Hamilton, and have declined their option to make a qualifying offer to Mike Napoli. Both Hamilton and Napoli became free agents earlier this week, and the Rangers' decisions come hours in advance of tonight's 11:00 p.m. CDT deadline, at which time they will lose their exclusive negotiating rights with their eligible free agents.

Hamilton now has until next Friday to make a final decision on whether to accept the Rangers' offer, although the chances of him pulling that trigger are essentially nil. If he should depart in free agency, the Rangers will be able to receive draft-pick compensation; if Napoli should depart in free agency, however, the Rangers will receive no draft-pick compensation.

Per Jon Daniels (via Anthony Andro), the Rangers would like to have Napoli back next season, and will attempt to negotiate some sort of a deal, but weren't comfortable making a commitment at the one-year, $13.3 million level. Per T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers "have not ruled out the possibility of re-signing Hamilton but are unlikely to do so if it costs [$20-million plus annually]."