He signed with a team that had won 3 division titles in the previous 5 seasons, so it's not like he signed with the Devil Rays, andno one had any idea Texas would go into the tank after the signing. I never remember him 'whining' to be traded, didn't he say he wanted to stay in Texas during that off-season after all the Boston rumours?
And it's hard to criticize someone for taking a contract like that. Financial security for the rest of your life, plus your children, and their children, and on and on. And again, he had every idea to believe that the Rangers would be a competitive team after he went there.