From Newsday’s Ken Davidoff :
Tom Glavine has agreed to a one-year deal with the Mets worth $10.5 million.
“More than anything, I had made a commitment to [Mets COO] Jeff [Wilpon] and [general manager] Omar [Minaya] that I would try and make a decision before they went to the winter meetings,” Glavine said. “That was a commitment I planned to keep my word on.”
The deal also contains a $6 million player option for 2008 if he pitches 160 innings next year, when he will be 41. The price of the option would increase by $1 million for each additional 10 innings up to a maximum price of $10 million.
This is fantastic news for the Mets : were they to lose the color commentary services of Mike Glavine during Brooklyn Cyclones telecasts, there’s no telling how far the organization would fall.
Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that Jake Peavy is absolutely off-the-table in the Padres’ pursuit of Manny Ramirez. They might, however, be willing to throw in Jake Busey, whom while having no pitching talent to speak of, does have “Shasta McNasty” listed prominently on his acting resume.
While the Giants inked Ray Durham to a two-year deal earlier today, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman writes the club has interest in free agent catcher Bengie Molina.
A Molina signing would not be surprising. The Giants’ system is not deep at the position and they were expected to pursue a seasoned catcher even if they decided to give Eliezer Alfonzo a prominent role in 2007. The medical staff is planning to reassess Mike Matheny’s health this month, but he and the team have not been optimistic about his prognosis.
Those who watched Molina in Toronto say he has declined defensively, in blocking pitches and throwing out runners, but still calls a good game and handles pitchers well. A career .275 hitter, he batted .284 with 19 homers and 57 RBIs in 2006.