12-31-2003, 08:20 PM
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories...TE=DEFAULT
Wells Close to Agreement With Padres
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Left-hander David Wells was nearing agreement Wednesday on a one-year contract with his hometown San Diego Padres.
"We're pretty close," agent Gregg Clifton told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "All that remains to be done is one or two more calls, and to have David say, 'Yeah, I agree.'"
Padres general manager Kevin Towers didn't immediately return a phone call.
A baseball source with knowledge of the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wells would earn a base salary of between $1.25 million and $1.5 million. If Wells is healthy and pitches all season, incentives could make the deal worth $7 million.
Clifton had been talking with the Yankees about Wells' remaining with the defending AL champions, but New York was offering only a minor league deal and wanted to include a weight clause.
"We were involved in discussions, but nothing had been finalized," Clifton said.
Then Towers called, offering Wells a chance to finish his career at home. Wells, 40, would lead the Padres' rotation in their first season in their new $458 million downtown ballpark.
"I think there was a realization that he wanted to spend his final year in baseball in San Diego," Clifton said.
"When he was growing up in San Diego, he had two dreams. One was to pitch for the Yankees and one was to pitch for the Padres. Having fulfilled one dream, when Kevin Towers reached out, that was his way to fulfill both dreams."
The Yankees declined Wells' $6 million option for 2004, and the pitcher, who had back surgery in early December, rejected the Yankees' arbitration offer.
Yankees manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre were angered when Wells stopped throwing between starts last summer and went winless in seven starts.
Wells went 15-7 with a 4.14 ERA last season, increasing his career record to 200-128. But he left Game 5 of the World Series against Florida after one inning because of the back injury.
Wells graduated in 1982 from Point Loma High, the same school that produced Don Larsen. Larsen pitched a perfect game for the Yankees in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Wells pitched a perfect game for the Yankees against Minnesota on May 17, 1998.
Also in 1998, Wells beat the Padres in Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.
Wells Close to Agreement With Padres
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Left-hander David Wells was nearing agreement Wednesday on a one-year contract with his hometown San Diego Padres.
"We're pretty close," agent Gregg Clifton told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "All that remains to be done is one or two more calls, and to have David say, 'Yeah, I agree.'"
Padres general manager Kevin Towers didn't immediately return a phone call.
A baseball source with knowledge of the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wells would earn a base salary of between $1.25 million and $1.5 million. If Wells is healthy and pitches all season, incentives could make the deal worth $7 million.
Clifton had been talking with the Yankees about Wells' remaining with the defending AL champions, but New York was offering only a minor league deal and wanted to include a weight clause.
"We were involved in discussions, but nothing had been finalized," Clifton said.
Then Towers called, offering Wells a chance to finish his career at home. Wells, 40, would lead the Padres' rotation in their first season in their new $458 million downtown ballpark.
"I think there was a realization that he wanted to spend his final year in baseball in San Diego," Clifton said.
"When he was growing up in San Diego, he had two dreams. One was to pitch for the Yankees and one was to pitch for the Padres. Having fulfilled one dream, when Kevin Towers reached out, that was his way to fulfill both dreams."
The Yankees declined Wells' $6 million option for 2004, and the pitcher, who had back surgery in early December, rejected the Yankees' arbitration offer.
Yankees manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre were angered when Wells stopped throwing between starts last summer and went winless in seven starts.
Wells went 15-7 with a 4.14 ERA last season, increasing his career record to 200-128. But he left Game 5 of the World Series against Florida after one inning because of the back injury.
Wells graduated in 1982 from Point Loma High, the same school that produced Don Larsen. Larsen pitched a perfect game for the Yankees in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Wells pitched a perfect game for the Yankees against Minnesota on May 17, 1998.
Also in 1998, Wells beat the Padres in Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.
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