Contract negotiations are rarely easy, and the one between the Texas Rangers and Rougned Odor was no different.
They had reached another impasse, with ample guaranteed money at stake over a number of years but not so many that Odor couldn’t become a free agent while still in his prime years.
What finally broke the stalemate, and what might be what epitomizes that Odor belongs in Texas, was a pair of quarterhorses being thrown into the deal.
The stroke of negotiating genius, with owner Ray Davis playing upon Odor’s weakness for horses, was revealed Thursday as the Rangers announced that Odor had signed a six-year contract worth $49.