I'm a bit late on this, too, but it's important enough that it deserves mention here.
The Rangers had Michael Young signed to a four-year extension through this year. Also, they had a $5 million option on him for next year. Why you'd give $80 million to Young - starting in 2009 - is completely beyond me. Young will be 32 at the start of the 2009 season and nearly 37 by the time this deal ends in 2013. After two very good years in 2004 and 2005, he was solid but not great last year, posting an .815 OPS (with good defense) in the hitters' haven at Arlington. You'd expect him to continue to step backward in the next two years as he heads into his 30s, so the obvious strategy would be to wait for that to happen or not sign him to an extension at all. This deal should be an enormous problem for the Rangers by the time it's over.