Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • B3

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 8 2017 1 The Rangers are re- quired to carry Fielder on the 40-man roster during off-seasons, even though he can no longer play baseball, in order to col- lect insurance money on the remainder of his con- tract. Diekman is expected to miss at least the first half of the season after under- going surgery last month to remove his colon in the hopes of alleviating ulcer- ative colitis. Napoli swatted a career- high 34 home runs last season as he helped lead the Cleveland Indians to the American League pennant and the World Series, where the Chicago Cubs prevailed in seven games. Napoli would fill a hole at first base and add a big right-handed bat to the lineup. Noted for his prowess against left-hand- ed pitching, Napoli would give the Rangers another weapon against AL West lefties Dallas Keuchel, James Paxton, Drew Smy- ly, Tyler Skaggs and Sean Manaea, among others.

The Rangers were plan- ning to go with internal candidates to fill the void created at first base when Mitch Moreland left for the Boston Red Sox. Ryan Rua, Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo were among the candidates. Moreland won a Gold Glove in 2016. While defense as good, he was a Gold Glove finalist in 2015. He spent the final two months that season with the Rangers, who acquired him for the stretch run.

Napoli was also with the Rangers in 2011 and 2012, when he was voted as an All-Star starter at catcher. Jeff Wilson: 817-390-7760, FROM PAGE 1B NAPOLI that same mentality and same goals and try to structure it the same way I did last year at spring training. This year just finish up Ask Hamels and he says he throws as many as 10 pitches four-seam fast- ball, two-seam fastball, changeup, slider and cur- veball to both sides of the plate. He wants a feel for the pitches to open camp, at which time he will work on commanding them. He able to do that all the time in April, when he walked 11 batters over four starts en route to a career-high 77 walks in 32 starts.

The two runs Seattle scored against Hamels in seven innings on Opening Day came on solo homers after poorly located pitches. Nevertheless, Hamels improved his career April numbers to 18-17 with a 3.83 ERA and slow down in the first half save for two bumpy July starts caused in part by a blister on his index finder. He says that he slow down in September or in his one postseason start despite numbers (1-2, 6.97 ERA) that suggest he might have. That finish put a damper on his Cy Young candidacy, but Hamels still went 15-5 with a 3.32 ERA and was selected as the Pitcher of the Year. When he hops on the mound for the first time early in spring training, he will do so with all his pitches in hand and more than fit enough to eclipse 200 innings for an eighth consecutive season.

know once February hits, everything starts to get on a schedule and you slot it so that by April 1, you fit right in to what you need to do by your first Hamels said. be excit- ed to get back into Arizona and get to see the guys and get the juices flowing with workouts and get that mo- mentum Jeff Wilson: 817-390-7760, FROM PAGE 1B HAMELS Chris Carter, who tied for the National League home run lead last season, agreed to a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the New York Yankees. The deal, which is sub- ject to a successful phys- ical, includes a $500,000 signing bonus, a $3 million salary and $500,000 in performance bonuses: $100,000 each for 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450 plate appearances. Carter, whose career- high 41 home runs last season matched Colora- Nolan Arenado for tops in the NL, became a free agent in December when Milwaukee failed to offer a 2017 contract. Carter hit .222 with a career-best 94 RBIs while appearing in a NL-leading 160 games last season, 155 of which came at first base.

27 doubles, 122 hits, 76 walks and 84 runs scored last season were also career-highs, but he struck out 206 times. unclear how the Yankees will use the 30- year-old Carter; left-hand- ed-hitting Greg Bird ex- pected to play first and Matt Holliday, who agreed earlier this offseason to a $13 million, one-year con- tact, likely to be the reg- ular designated hitter. BRIEFLY Astros: All-Star reliever Will Harris is guaranteed $5 million in his two-year contract with Houston. Harris gets $2.2 million this year and $2.8 million in 2018 under the deal announced Friday. The deal includes a $5.5 mil- lion club option for 2019, and the option price would increase to $6.5 million if he has 15 games finished in 2018, $7 million if he has 25 and $8.5 million if he has 35.

Nationals: Washington added to its bullpen depth by acquiring left-handed reliever Enny Romero from Tampa Bay for mi- nor league right-hander Jeffrey Rosa. Romero, 26, had a 5.91 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 28 walks in innings over 52 ap- pearances last season, his first in the majors. Indians: Cleveland signed reliever Boone Lo- gan, adding a second left- hander to their excellent bullpen. Logan spent the past three seasons with Colorado. He has a career 28-23 record with three saves and a 4.45 ERA in 581 relief appearances.

Orioles: Pitcher Kevin Gausman and Baltimore avoided an arbitration hearing scheduled for Tuesday by agreeing to a $3.45 million, one-year contract. Gausman went 9-12 with a 3.61 ERA in 30 starts last season. Television: ESPN said Tuesday it had reached a multiyear agreement with three-time All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira. He will appear on baseball studio coverage, anchor show and ESPN radio. Yankees add slugger Carter on 1-year deal From wire reports Texas Motor capital project, including repaving and re-profiling the racing surface, is ahead of schedule.

TMS President Eddie Gossage is excited about the progress being made and is eager to see how drivers handle the new layout. The repaving portion of the project much like getting pipes repaired at a home, but the re-profiling should add subtle racing nuances when the NASCAR circuit returns in April for the Auto Parts 500 doublehead- er April 7-9. The track is reducing banking from 24 to 20 degrees in Turns 1 and 2, and expanding the racing surface from 60 to 80 feet. That should make for better racing that fans will notice more so than the repaved surface, which will make it easier to dry the track and avoid lengthy rain delays that were far too common in recent years. the main goal in mind was to be able to dry the track quickly, but give our company president, Motorsports Marcus Smith, credit for the Gossage said.

changing the banking in Turns 1 and 2, made this course even more challenging. If you can get your car to run well in Turns 1 and 2, going to have your hands full in Turns 3 and 4 and vice versa. a challenge and we love watching these drivers The project has entered its final stage and the goal is to have it completed by the end of the month. After that, TMS will use what it calls the Tire Mon- and a similar device the ship- ped in from its sister track, Kentucky Speedway, to work rubber into the sur- face. The desired effect is to essentially the track and create multiple grooves for drivers.

Additionally, TMS will apply hydrated lime to help draw out the oils from the asphalt to take away some of the grip that drivers dislike. makes the track slick- er, which drivers Gossage said. Most drivers are on board with the project even though they tend to prefer older racing surfaces. Just like fans, they want to wait out lengthy rain delays after minimal showers. And TMS even expanded its budget to repave pit road early on during the project, something that will please IndyCar drivers more than anyone.

was glad said Dale Earn- hardt driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet. you are going to do it, go on and get it done. They are going to reconfigure Turns 1 and 2, which will be fun to have something a little bit new to try Added seven-time cham- pion Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet: going to be fast and maybe a little more single- file than we want to get started, but Texas has a lot of banking and a very fast RODGER MALLISON Workers install a French drain as they repave the track at Texas Motor Speedway on Tuesday.

Drains are being installed to fix problems with drying the track after a rain. Redo of Texas Motor Speedway moves fast BY DREW DAVISON After three years as Grapevine head football coach, Randy Jackson is moving back to Forney. Jackson was named head football coach at North Forney on Monday night. Jackson lived in Forney when he was coach at Mesquite Poteet from 2010-12, where he com- piled a 30-9 record. still have friends there, so it was a good Jackson said.

North Forney wrapped up its seventh season, going 4-6. The Falcons are 24-49 in that span with one winning season 10-2 in 2011 with their only playoff win. They also made the playoffs in 2010. strength is building a Jackson said. more I talked to North Forney, the more they wanted to make that place special.

Everybody I talked to there is ready to be woken up, and excited to get a chance to coach Grapevine was 21-13 during run, including an 18-5 record and playoff appearances the past two years. The Mustangs went 10-2 in 2016 and won a share of the District 8-5A championship with Col- leyville Heritage and Rich- land. They beat Fort Worth Southwest for their first playoff win since 2006. On Oct. 21 last season, the Mustangs snapped a six-year losing streak against school district rival Colleyville Heritage with a 49-34 victory.

STATEWIDE HONORS Two area quarterbacks and a running back have received Built Ford Tough Texas Player of the Year awards. Aledo quarterback Dil- lon Davis has been named the Class 5A recipient, while TCU quarterback signee Shawn Robinson is the 6A winner and Grape- vine Keyshawn Wyatt earned the private schools award. Davis threw for 3,769 yards and 45 TDs as Aledo (16-0) won the 5A Divi- sion II state title in De- cember, the sixth title in eight years and seventh overall. Robinson led DeSoto the 6A Division II title, and Wyatt rushed for a state-best 2,888 yards in leading the Lions to the TAPPS Division II cham- pionship. STEVE NURENBERG Special to the Star-Telegram Grapevine head football coach Randy Jackson was named head coach at North Forney on Monday night.

Grapevine football seeks new coach; area QBs and RB nab honors BY BRIAN GOSSET Snow, rain and chilly temperatures dampen the joy of New England Patriots fans exulting in their latest championship Tues- day. The five-time Super Bowl winners received a welcome as they paraded through down- town Boston aboard World War II-era duck boats that have become a staple of the recent title celebrations. Sounds of Bra- and rang out throughout the procession as fans proudly wore No. 12 jerseys over thick parkas and sweaters, holding signs declaring star quarterback Tom Brady the G.O.A.T. the greatest of all time.

Brady grinned and just took it all in, at one point tossing footballs back and forth with fans on the route as the duck boats rumbled along. Along the route, Patriots players held up some of the five Lombardi trophies. Fan favorite Rob Gron- kowski, who went down with an injury before the playoff run, ener- gized the crowd with his typical Gronk antics. The tight end took off his shirt and chugged beers tossed up to the duck boats by fans, while other players held a wrestling cham- pionship-style belt over his head. FALCONS HIRE SARKISIAN The Atlanta Falcons have hired Steve Sarkisian as their new offensive coordinator.

The move was an- nounced Tuesday, less than 24 hours after Kyle Shanahan left to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Sarkisian took over as offensive coor- dinator in the national championship game, but his tenure with the Crim- son Tide stunningly lasted only one contest. He is a former head coach at Washington and Southern Cal. Sarkisian was named offensive coor- dinator after Lane Kiffin left to become the head coach at Florida Atlantic University. JERSEY CAPER Tom Brady and his missing jersey have still not been reunited.

jersey was taken from the New England locker room at NRG Stadium after the 34-28 victory over Atlanta in the Super Bowl on Sunday. On Tuesday, Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief George Buenik said his Major Of- fenders division is leading the investigation but offi- cials still have no leads on who swiped the jersey. Buenik says Crime Stop- pers of Houston will also be offering a reward for any information leading to the stolen jersey. The Texas Rangers, the top law enforcement offi- cers, are assisting. BRIEFLY Falcons: All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones is not planning to immediately have surgery on his toe.

Jones played the last quar- ter of the regular season and playoffs with what was initially called a turf toe injury. Browns: Veteran quar- terback Josh McCown was released. McCown started 11 games in two seasons for Cleveland. Patriots parade through Boston From wire reports.