Kyle Blanks heading to #Rangers, as @ChrisCotillo reported. Will make $1M if he's on MLB roster. $600K in bonuses based on PA's.

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) December 15, 2014

Right-handed power — for reasons both that do and don’t entirely appear to make sense — has been expensive thus far this offseason, as generous contracts for Billy Butler, Nelson Cruz, and Michael Cuddyer all illustrate.

Recently, the present author sorted through the Steamer projections with a view towards identifying targets for those clubs searching for economical alternatives to Butler and Cruz, et al.

The result of that brief study? That, issues of health aside, giant corner-type Kyle Blanks — recently non-tendered by Oakland — appeared to be the best option for a club looking for a right-handed power hitter. Today, the Texas Rangers have signed him to a split contract that’d pay the former Padre $1 million plus incentives should he reach the majors.

There would appear to be ample opportunity for Blanks to contribute. Currently, Mitch Moreland and “others” constitute the entirety of their DH depth chart. Moreover, there’s the distinct possibility Prince Fielder will benefit from rest as he attempts to recover from a herniated disk — and the attendant surgery to repair it — that reduced him to fewer than 200 plate appearances in 2014.

Of course, health is an issue for Blanks himself. Worth roughly 2.0 WAR per every 600 plate appearances over the course of his six-year major-league career, Blanks has also only recorded 862 of those (i.e. plate appearances) during that same interval — largely the result of injuries, as opposed to ineffectiveness.

In this case, the Rangers’ gamble is a modest one. If healthy, Blanks can reasonably be expected to provide $1 million of production in roughly 50 plate appearances. A low bar for repayment, that.