Predicting the Rangers' arbitration cases

The Rangers have five arbitration-eligible players who they have yet to settle with on 2011 contracts.  My guess is that each player's case will settle, and below, I'm going to make my predictions as to what each of the five ends up setting for:

Josh Hamilton:  $10.75 million ($3.25 million in 2010)

Hamilton is probably the toughest one of the group.  Having won the MVP Award this past season, he gets to escape from the more narrow bracketing that arbitration-eligible players are usually subjected to.  Ryan Howard got $10 million the season after he won the MVP Award, and I suspect that's going to be the benchmark that will be worked off of.

C.J. Wilson:  $7.25 million ($3.1 million in 2010)

Another difficult case to judge, and the one that is probably most likely to actually go to hearing.  This is Wilson's last season before he's eligible for free agency.

Nelson Cruz:  $2.9 million ($440,000 in 2010)

This is Cruz's first year of arbitration eligibility.  Hamilton got $3.25 million in 2010 in his first season of eligibility, and Texas settled with David Murphy this year in his first season of eligibility for $2.4 million.  I'm guessing they'll want to slot Cruz between those two.

Frankie Francisco:  $5.75 million ($3.62 million in 2010)

Frankie accepted arbitration after becoming a free agent.  Rafael Soriano, in a similar situation last year, made $7.25 million from the Tampa Bay Rays in 2010, although he had those glorious saves to point to, and was healthier.

Darren O'Day:  $875,000 ($426,700 in 2010)

This is O'Day's first season of eligibility.  Nice middle relievers in their first season of eligibility don't crack the $1 million mark.