Left-hander Eric Gunderson and the Texas Rangers agreed Friday to a $450,000, one-year contract with up to $100,000 in performance bonuses for games pitched. Gunderson, 32, made $510,000 in salary and bonuses last year, going 0-3 with a 5.19 ERA in a club-high 68 games, including one start.
Right-handed pitcher Roger Pavlik also told the Rangers on Friday he was rejecting their offer of salary arbitration. Pavlik, 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in five relief appearances before season-ending injuries, became a free agent after the World Series and can negotiate with Texas through Jan. 8.

ARLINGTON, Texas –The Texas Rangers acquired the best tailback in baseball, Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams (shown to the left from the Dec 18th Press Conference announcing him as a Ranger).

Texas purchased Williams’ contract from the Expos on Tuesday, a day after Montreal took him from the Philadelphia Phillies with the fourth pick of the major-league draft for players left off 40-man rosters.

Rangers owner Tom Hicks, a University of Texas regent, would love to see the Longhorns star playing in his organization, even though it’s likely Williams’ future is in football.

“I still want to play baseball, but I’ll have to wait and see what happens,” Williams said Monday in New York. “But I’m a football player first. Bo Jackson was definitely a much better baseball player than I am, but I’d still like to give it a shot.”

Texas paid Montreal about $100,000, allowing the cash-strapped Expos to more than make up for the $50,000 draft price. Williams, an outfielder, must be on Texas’ 25-man opening day roster or be offered back to Philadelphia for $25,000.

The Phillies picked Williams in the eighth round of the 1995 amateur draft and paid for his tuition at Texas. Technically, he was a walk-on in football.

In four minor-league seasons, Williams hit .211 with four home runs and 40 RBI in 170 games.

Williams, a cousin of Cecil Fielder, hit .283 with six stolen bases in 53 at-bats for Class-A Batavia of the New York-Penn League last season before leaving the team to begin preparing for his senior year at Texas.

His football numbers are more impressive. He set NCAA Division I-A records for rushing yards (6,279), scoring (452 points), touchdowns (75) and all-purpose yards (7,206).

He ran for 2,124 yards and 27 touchdowns this season, leading the Longhorns to the Cotton Bowl. He won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday.

To make room for Williams on the 40-man roster, the Rangers designated infielder Scott Sheldon for assignment.

NOTE: There is an additional story about the signing here.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Catcher Bill Haselman and the Detroit Tigers agreed Monday to a $1.75 million, two-year contract.
Haselman, 32, hit .314 with six home runs and 17 RBI in 40 games for Texas last season as the backup to Ivan Rodriguez.
He gets $650,000 next season and $1.1 million in 2000, when Detroit moves into its new ballpark. In addition, he would get $50,000 if he plays in more games than any other Tigers catcher next year and $100,000 if he has the most games among Detroit catchers in 2000.

The Baltimore Orioles reportedly have filled a vacancy in their bullpen by signing veteran reliever Xavier Hernandez to a two-year, $2.75 million contract.
Citing unidentified agent sources, ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago is reporting that the Orioles have signed the 33-year-old right-hander but are not expected to announce it until after the winter meetings conclude Tuesday.
However, Orioles spokesman John Maroon said the club has yet to reach a deal.
“I know they are talking, but nothing is imminent,” Maroon said.
The Orioles are in the market for bullpen help after trading Armando Benitez to the New York Mets and losing Alan Mills to Los Angeles via free agency.
Hernandez was 6-6 with a 3.57 ERA and one save in 46 games for the Rangers last season, striking out 41 in 58 innings. The middle reliever also has pitched for Houston, the New York Yankees and Cincinnati in a major-league career that began in 1990.

Not a whole lot to say about this news story, except the title. Dammit. I liked him. Oh well.

Pitcher , who has never lived up to his once-promising potential, today signed a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers and received an invitation to spring training.
The 30-year-old Robertson had no record and a 15.88 ERA in 5 2/3 innings with the Anaheim Angels last year. Anaheim released the 6-4 left-hander on November 16th.
Robertson had a solid season for Triple-A Vancouver, going 11-12 with 3.81 ERA in 27 starts. As a left-hander, he has an outside chance to join right-handers Rick Helling, Aaron Sele, Esteban Loaiza and newly acquired Mark Clark in the Rangers rotation.
Robertson is 17-30 with a 5.40 in 114 games with Pittsburgh, Minnesota and the Angels. In 1996 with the Twins, he was 7-17 with a 5.12 ERA, allowing 197 hits in 186 1/3 innings. He struck out 114 but also led the American League with 116 walks.

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) — One day after he was refused salary arbitration by the Chicago Cubs, right-hander Mark Clark agreed to terms today on a two-year, $9 million contract with the American League West champion Texas Rangers.
Clark, whose $5.05 million salary last season ranked second on the Cubs, will be paid $4 million in 1999 and $5 million in 2000. The deal includes a $5 million club option for 2001.
Clark fills a void left by Todd Stottlemyre, who two weeks ago signed with Arizona, and joins a staff dominated by right-handers, including John Burkett, Rick Helling, Aaron Sele and Esteban Loaiza.
The 30-year-old Clark had a disappointing season in 1998 for the wild card-winning Cubs, going 9-14 in 33 starts with a 4.83 ERA.
“They went a lot better than my wins and losses showed,” he explained. “I pitched deep into a lot of ball games … but came out without a lot to show for it.”
Clark still reached the 200-inning plateau for the third straight season, allowing 236 hits while walking 48 and striking out 161 in 213 2/3 innings.
“Staying healthy is the main key,” he said. “I’ve been out there every fifth day for the last three years. I do a lot of working out between my starts and try to stay healthy for the season.”
Clark admitted that the Cubs, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Boston all showed interest but he decided to join a team that led the league in batting average and ranked second in runs scored.
“My agent and I had talked to some other clubs but talking to the Rangers we had some converstions with them and they worked out pretty good,” he said. “I think they led all the major leagues in run scoring. The runs they scored like that can lead to a lot of wins.”
Acquired from the New York Mets on August 11th, 1997 as part of a six-player deal, Clark won eight of his first nine decisions for Chicago, including his first two starts last season. Over parts of two seasons for the Cubs, he was 15-15 with a 4.36 ERA in 42 starts.
Clark returns to the American League. After making 27 appearances for St. Louis from 1991-92 in his first two major-league seasons, he was dealt to Cleveland for outfielder Mark Whiten. He has a 68-59 career record and a 4.21 ERA in parts of eight seasons with the Cardinals, Indians, Mets and Cubs.
His only appearance at the Ballpark at Arlington ended in disaster. On his first start of the 1998 season, he allowed nine runs and six hits while recording just four outs.
“Every time I’ve been in Texas, I’ve enjoyed it down there,” he said. “I like pitching in the heat and I know it gets awful hot down there. The Ballpark and the fans are great so I’m really looking forward to coming down.”
Today’s agreement is the third significant signing by the Rangers in the offseason. They re-signed shortstop Royce Clayton and inked free agent first baseman Rafael Palmeiro to a five-year pact.
“They’ve got a pretty awesome defense out there,” Clark said. “They signed Palmeiro and Clayton. … Being a ground ball pitcher, you have to have a good defense out there. As long as I can keep the ball on the ground and with the runs they can produce, it’s going to be a lot of fun, I think.”
Texas won the AL West last season before losing to the New York Yankees in the Division Series.

Juan Gonzalez got married today (for the fourth time) today to singer Olga Tanon. They got married in San Juan, Puerto Rico. No info on where they are honeymooning or anything like that.

Today the Texas Rangers offered salary arbitration to pitcher Roger Pavlik (most likely because there’s not enough A-line pitchers out there). They also announced they will not offer salary arbitration to pitchers Scott Bailes, Greg Cadaret and Xavier Hernandez and catcher Bill Haselman. I really wish they would have made an effort to keep Haselman, I *REALLY liked him. It’s a shame to see him go. I just hope he goes somewhere where he can play if he does have to leave.