Texas Rangers rumors: Rougned Odor contract extension talks

Texas Rangers rumors:  Rougned Odor and the Rangers have rekindled talks on a contract extension, according to Jon Heyman, who says that Odor's suspension gave Jon Daniels the opportunity to sit down face-to-face with Odor's agent about locking the second baseman up long-term.

Heyman has quite a few Rangers notes, also saying that the Rangers' original offer to Adrian Beltre was 2 years, $26M, before a face-to-face between Daniels and Beltre helped pave the way to the 2 year, $36M deal that got done.  But the most intriguing is in regards to Odor, with Heyman providing details of Jon Daniels and Ray Davis testifying on Odor's behalf in the appeal of Odor's suspension, with Davis predicting Odor will end up in the Hall of Fame.

Odor, who serves the final game of his suspension tomorrow, and will be eligible to be back on the field Saturday, is currently sporting a .262/.287/.444 slash line on the season.  The 22 year old is currently under team control through the 2020 season, though you have to believe that any extension discussion would give the Rangers the opportunity to keep him with the organization past that time.

Jurickson Profar was called up to fill in at second base while Odor has been serving the suspension, and has performed admirably, but once Odor returns to the lineup, Profar is likely destined to return to AAA.  While I've speculated that there's the possibility Odor could be dealt as the headliner in a deal to land a frontline starting pitcher or catcher, if an extension is done, you have to think that option is, practically speaking, off the table.  With the Rangers reportedly feeling that Elvis Andrus's glove gives him an edge over Profar at shortstop, there's no clear path for Profar to claim a regular job with the Rangers, which seems to make him a likely candidate to be dealt this summer.