ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) — Rick Helling, one of four 20-game winners last season, today agreed to a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the Texas Rangers.
Helling’s agent, Jeff Moorad, said in a teleconference that the 28-year-old right-hander received the largest guaranteed contract for a first-year arbitration-eligible player.
Helling was 20-7 with a 4.41 ERA and helped Texas win its second American League West title in three seasons. He was especially effective at the beginning and end of the season. He became the first Texas pitcher to win his first six starts and finished by going 5-0 in his final eight appearances.
“I wasn’t expecting a long-term contract but I’m happy Doug (Rangers general manager Doug Melvin) came to us and we were able to get it done,” Helling said. “Ever since the day I signed with the Rangers, it has been the organizaton I wanted to be with. For them to go out and extend this contract to a three-year deal just shows that they believe in the kind of pitcher I am and the kind of person I am.”
Helling, who made $216,500 last season, shared the major-league lead in wins with Roger Clemens, David Cone and Tom Glavine. He led the Rangers with 216 1/3 innings and four complete games and tied for the team high with 33 starts and two shutouts.
Helling was the starter and loser in Game Two of the Division Series against the New York Yankees, allowing three runs in six innings.
Texas spent the offseason in an unsuccessful pursuit of Randy Johnson and Clemens, leaving Helling and 19-game winner Aaron Sele as its top two starters. Helling’s name was mentioned in a possible deal for Clemens which never materialized.
“Just going into spring training knowing for the first time I don’t have to compete for a job is something new to me,” said Helling, the AL Pitcher of the Month for September who also led the league with a club-record 11 road wins.
The Fargo, North Dakota native began his career with Texas in 1994 and was traded to the Florida Marlins in September 1996 to complete an earlier deal for John Burkett. The Rangers always saw potential in Helling and re-acquired him from the Marlins on August 12, 1997 for pitcher Ed Vosberg.
Helling is 23-10 since returning to the Rangers and has a career record of 31-23 with a 4.64 ERA. He pitched a perfect game for Class AAA Oklahoma City on August 13, 1996.
The signing of Helling leaves pitchers Sele and Tim Crabtree, catcher Gregg Zaun and infielder Lee Stevens as Rangers still eligible for arbitration.
Owners decide on no realignment in 2000
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) _ Baseball’s grand realignment plan has been put off for at least another year.
Teams will stay in the same divisions for the 2000 season, the owner in charge of the sport’s realignment and scheduling committee said Wednesday.
Commissioner Bud Selig, who two years ago pushed for a radical realignment plan in which more than a dozen teams would have switched divisions or leagues, had hoped for more realignment in 2000, the first year Arizona and Tampa Bay can be shifted without their approval.
But a draft schedule must be given to the players’ association by the end of June and committee head John Harrington, the chief executive officer of the Boston Red Sox, said he had instructed American and National League officials to draw up a 2000 schedule with the current alignment. “We’re waiting to see what happens with these franchises in flux: Montreal, Minnesota, Oakland,” Harrington said. “If they move, there would have to be some sort of realignment. But we can’t forecast that.” The Expos, Twins and Athletics all are seeking new ballparks. The Twins had discussions about a possible move to Charlotte, N.C., but those talks fell through and Minnesota extended its lease at the Metrodome through the 2000 season.
Oakland periodically has talked about moving to San Jose but last month agreed to stay at the Oakland Coliseum for at least three more seasons. Montreal has talking about a possible move if it doesn’t get a new ballpark and the team’s current owners are seeking to sell the franchise to local buyers.
Selig and some other owners are in favor of realigning leagues and divisions geographically. But some teams don’t want to change leagues and be in the same divisions as intracity rivals. For instance, the New York Mets objected to being in the same division as the New York Yankees.
Harrington said he hopes grand realignment will happen but doesn’t know when.
“We’re not giving up on it,” he said. “It’s one of those long-term things.”
Rangers sign catcher John Marzano
ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) — The Texas Rangers, searching for a backup to perennial All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriquez, today agreed to terms with free agent John Marzano on a minor league contract for the 1999 season.
The deal was struck with Triple-A Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League but the 35-year-old Marzano has been invited to spring training camp as a non-roster player. He earned $300,000 last year.
Marzano spent the last three seasons as a reserve with the Seattle Mariners. In 1998, he batted .233 with four homers and 12 RBI in 50 games. He had a .997 fielding percentage — one error in 342 chances — while starting 40 games behind the plate.
In a 10-year career with the Mariners, Rangers (1995) and Boston Red Sox (1987-1992), Marzano owns a .241 average with 11 homers and 72 RBI in 301 games. He was out of the majors for two seasons after undergoing elbow surgery on May 3, 1993.
Marzano spent the 1995 season in the Texas organization, hitting .309 in 120 games at Oklahoma City before going 2-for-6 in two games with the Rangers late in the season.
Bill Haselman served as the backup to Rodriguez last season, hitting .314 with six homers and 17 RBI in 40 games. But he signed with the Detroit Tigers during the offseason.
Domingo Cedeno Signs with A’s
The team signed utility infielder Domingo Cedeno to a Class AAA contract after letting go of Rafael Bournigal.
Like Bournigal, Cedeno will have the advantage of being able to communicate in Spanish with talented second-year shortstop Miguel Tejada. Cedeno hit .262 in 61 games last year with Texas, starting 25 games at shortstop, but he also led Texas in pinch hits with six, showing he can be of use to Art Howe off the bench.
The team was looking for another righthanded bat, and Cedeno, a switch hitter, gives the club more flexibility in a lineup loaded with lefthanded hitters. Cedeno and rookie lefthander Mark Mulder will go to spring training as two of the non-roster invitees with the best chances of making the team.
Tony Fossas Signed
The Rangers signed 41 year old Tony Fossas to a minor league contract for 1999. The contract also includes an invite to the 1999 Spring training camp. Tony signed as a free agent last year and was used in the September stretch drive almost exclusively against left handed hitters.
(Sports Ticker News Story:) Left-hander Tony Fossas, still effective against left-handed batters at the age of 41, today signed a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers. The pact with Triple-A Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League includes an invitation to major-league spring training as a non-roster player.
With a sweeping curveball, Fossas normally works exclusively against left-handed batters. He was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 10 games with the Rangers after stints with Seattle and the Chicago Cubs. Overall, he was 1-3 with a 5.96 ERA.
Fossas became a free agent after rejecting an outright assignment to the minors by the Rangers. He has pitched in 562 games for six teams during a 10-year career.
Ryan leads ’99 Class into Hall of Fame
NEW YORK — Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount were voted into the Hall of Fame Tuesday, the biggest class of first-time candidates since Babe Ruth and four others were chosen in the original election of 1936.
Ryan, the greatest power pitcher ever with a record 5,714 strikeouts and seven no-hitters, was named on 98.79 percent of the ballots — one vote short of beating former teammate Tom Seaver’s 98.84 in 1992 for the highest total in history.
“It’s certainly an honor that I was thought of on that level,” Ryan said. “Tom was obviously one of the best pitchers I ever saw throw the baseball.”
Brett, 13th on the career hits list with 3,154, made it with 98.19 percent, the fourth-highest total. Yount, with 3,142 hits and two AL MVP awards, was elected with 77.46 percent.
“I was flabbergasted. It just knocked me on the floor,” Brett said of his vote total. “Obviously, I was very, very pleased. But in all honesty, I was just as pleased for Robin.”
“Of all the guys I played against,” he said on a conference call, his voice cracking, “probably Robin is the guy I enjoyed playing against the most.”
To gain election, players had to be placed on 75 percent of the ballots cast by 10-year members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. There were a record 497 ballots cast — Ryan was named on a record 491, Brett 488 and Yount 385.
“I’m not one that ever takes this kind of stuff too seriously, but my stomach’s kind of been in knots for three or four days, so maybe somebody’s telling me this is pretty good stuff,” Yount said.
Carlton Fisk, another first-time candidate, fell 43 votes shy of the required 373 with 66.40 percent. Tony Perez missed in his eighth try with 302 (60.76 percent).
Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson were taken in the first election ever. Since then, never more than two first-timers had been taken, the last time in 1990 when Jim Palmer and Joe Morgan made it.
In all, 29 rookie candidates have been taken since that first election. Mike Schmidt had been the last to do it in 1995.
Joe DiMaggio, Roy Campanella and Harmon Killebrew were among the players who did not get elected on the first try.
The last time the BBWAA voted in three players overall was 1991 — Rod Carew, Ferguson Jenkins and Gaylord Perry.
Induction ceremonies at Cooperstown are scheduled for July 25. The Hall of Fame exhibition will be the next day, and it seems fitting that Ryan’s Texas Rangers will take on Brett’s Kansas City Royals.
The Hall’s membership of 240 probably will increase again on March 2 when the Veterans Committee votes in Tampa, Fla. Former manager Dick Williams, Bill Mazeroski, Orlando Cepeda and Dom DiMaggio figure to draw support.
Ryan held or shared 53 major league records when he retired in 1993 after a 27-year career.
Ryan went 324-292 for the New York Mets, California, Houston and Texas, tying him with Don Sutton for 12th in victories. He said his Hall plaque would likely depict him in a Rangers hat.
Though he never won a Cy Young Award, and despite his .526 winning percentage ranking the lowest among all 300-game winners, Ryan’s sheer domination landed him a place in the Hall.
Brett was a 13-time All-Star. The third baseman hit .305 in a 21-year career spent entirely with the Royals.
Yount played his whole 20-year career with Milwaukee and won MVP awards at shortstop and center field. He was a three-time All-Star and batted .285.
Not since that 1936 election has a player with 3,000 hits failed to be elected in his first year of eligibility.
Fisk (376 HRs) holds baseball’s record for most home runs by a catcher. In 24 seasons, his most memorable homer was the one that won Game 6 of the 1975 World Series at Fenway Park.
Perez, who got 68 percent last year, had 1,652 RBIs, most among eligible players not already in the Hall.
Dale Murphy, another first-timer, received 96 votes. The seven-time All-Star hit 398 home runs and won five straight Gold Gloves in center field.
Other players falling short included Gary Carter (168 votes), Steve Garvey (150), Jim Rice (146), Bruce Sutter (121) and Jim Kaat (100).
Mickey Lolich, 217-191 and MVP of the 1968 World Series, and Minnie Minoso, a .298 career hitter, missed in their 15th and final time on the ballot. Minoso got 73 votes and Lolich got 26.
Pete Rose, still off on the Hall ballot because of his ban from baseball, got 16 write-in votes.
Gunderson/Pavlik News
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.
Rangers acquire Ricky Williams
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.
Bill Haselman signs with Tigers
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.
Xavier Hernandez signs with Orioles
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.