The Texas Rangers will hold a news conference Thursday to officially announce their signing of Mike Napoli to a one-year, $8.5 million deal, a source told ESPN's Jim Bowden.

The Rangers had not confirmed the deal, but the team announced Wednesday that they will host a free-agent introduction during a news conference Thursday at their Arizona spring training complex.

Napoli was seen Wednesday in Surprise, Arizona, where he was set to take a physical. He will get a $6 million salary this year, and the agreement includes an $11 million club option for 2018 with a $2.5 million buyout.

A member of the Rangers in 2011 and 2012, Napoli spent the final two months of the 2015 season in Texas and then signed with the Cleveland Indians as a free agent and hit a career-high 34 homers last season, when "Party at Napoli's" became a rallying cry for the AL champions.

In his first season with the Rangers in 2011, Napoli hit .320 with 30 homers in 113 regular-season games and recorded 10 RBIs in the World Series. He was the starting catcher for the AL All-Star team in 2012, though he also played first base during his two-year span in Texas before he went to the Red Sox as a free agent. He played some left field in 2015.

Texas already has room on its 40-man roster after it put first baseman Prince Fielder and reliever Jake Diekman on the 60-day disabled list this week.

Mitch Moreland won a Gold Glove as the Rangers' primary first baseman last season but became a free agent and agreed to a $5.5 million, one-year deal with Boston. Fielder is signed through 2020 and remains on the roster, even though he was forced to quit playing last summer after his second neck surgery.

Texas lost big hitters Carlos Beltran and Ian Desmond as free agents.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.