Moyer To Sign With M’S
Three days before other teams could begin contract negotiations with pitcher Jamie Moyer, the Seattle Mariners agreed in principal Tuesday to a two-year, $1.9 million deal with incentives that could keep him in a Seattle uniform through 1999.
Acquired for outfielder Darren Bragg on July 30, the 33-year-old left-hander made 11 starts for Seattle last season and went 6-2 with a 3.31 earned-run average, finishing his career-best season with a 13-3 record, splitting time between Boston and the Mariners.
Should the deal be finalized today, Moyer would join a projected starting rotation that includes three other lefties: Randy Johnson, Jeff Fassero and Sterling Hitchcock.
“It’s not finalized, but we’re optimistic we can get this done,” one club executive said Tuesday.
So intent were the Mariners on signing Moyer that three other Seattle free agents - pitchers Mike Jackson, Terry Mulholland and outfielder Mark Whiten - say they haven’t been contacted by team officials since the end of the regular season.
“It’s hard to feel encouraged about coming back when the team won’t talk to you,” Mulholland said.
Though Moyer initially sought a three-year contract, the deal he agreed to gives him two years guaranteed and a third season that he could “earn” with enough pitching appearances in ‘98.
After pitching with six major league teams since 1986 and never coming to spring training with a job in hand, Moyer appears to have found a home in the Seattle rotation. Though his career record is 72-79, Moyer is 38-25 in the past four seasons. He was the most consistent Mariners starter down the stretch and went 9-2 with a 2.86 ERA after the All-Star break.
Signing Moyer frees Seattle to pursue other players now, knowing the rotation is fixed and with right-handers like Salomon Torres, Bob Wolcott available in trade or fighting for the fifth spot.
With one of the most potent offenses in baseball last season, the Mariners now have a four-deep group of starters that might rank as the best in franchise history.
Payoff time
Georgia governor Zell Miller made good on a World Series wager he made with New York governor George Pataki.
Miller shipped 20 pounds of sticky, sweet Southern barbecue to the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y., as he promised after the Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2. Pataki stood to lose 20 pounds of New York’s finest hot pastrami.
Around the majors
The California Angels claimed right-handed pitcher Todd Van Poppel off waivers from the Detroit Tigers… . The St. Louis Cardinals hung on to two more veteran players, agreeing to a one-year deal with 38-year-old third baseman Gary Gaetti and exercising their $750,000 option on 39-year-old left-hander Tony Fossas… . Left-handed pitcher Bobby Seay has been signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the first marquee player to be snagged by the expansion team. Seay, 18, agreed to sign Saturday for a $3 million bonus.