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Millwood signs with Texas
Millwood agrees to five-year deal with Rangers
By STEPHEN HAWKINS, AP Sports Writer
December 26, 2005
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Free agent pitcher Kevin Millwood reached a preliminary agreement Monday on a $60 million, five-year contract with Texas, giving the Rangers the legitimate No. 1 starter they have been seeking.
Texas can void the fifth year of the deal if Millwood doesn't pitch a certain number of innings in earlier years of the contract. Millwood is expected to undergo a physical Tuesday in Texas, and the deal likely will be finalized Wednesday.
Details of the deal were disclosed by two people familiar with negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract had not been finalized. Millwood's decision to accept Texas' offer was first reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on its Web site.
Millwood was 9-11 with a 2.86 ERA that led the American League this year, his only season for Cleveland. The right-hander, who turned 31 Saturday, rejected a salary arbitration offer from the Indians.
Millwood, who also was sought by Boston, will be the No. 1 starter in a revamped Texas rotation, already bolstered by two trades this month. The Rangers got former All-Star right-hander Vicente Padilla from Philadelphia and acquired Adam Eaton from San Diego.
The only returning starters for Texas are Kameron Loe and Juan Dominguez. They ended the season in the rotation, Dominguez making only 10 starts and Loe eight.
In nine major league seasons, Millwood is 107-75 with a 3.76 ERA. He won at least 17 games in three of his six seasons with Atlanta (1997-2002) and was an All-Star in 1999. He pitched two seasons for Philadelphia before going to Cleveland last year.
Millwood's agent, Scott Boras, also negotiated big-money deals that brought Alex Rodriguez ($252 million, 10-year deal in December 2000) and Chan Ho Park to the Rangers. A-Rod and Park have since been traded.
Park signed a $65 million, five-year contract in December 2001 to be the Rangers' No. 1 starter. But he had five stints on the disabled list and was 22-23 with a 5.79 ERA in 64 starts before being traded to the Padres in July, with cash, for Phil Nevin.
After Park's failure, Rangers owner Tom Hicks said he wouldn't give any more five-year contracts to pitchers. When the pursuit of Millwood began, after Texas was spurned in its attempts to get Matt Morris and Josh Beckett, Hicks said he'd offer a fifth year only with certain protections included.
Hicks didn't respond Monday night to an e-mail seeking comment. Rangers general manager Jon Daniels, who was out of town, didn't return messages left on his cell phone.
Millwood made $7 million last season in Cleveland. He had signed a one-year deal with the Indians after being bothered by elbow swelling that limited him to 25 starts for the Phillies in 2004. While Millwood was 9-6 with a 4.85 in his last season for Philadelphia, he won only two games after hurting his right elbow.
Texas' No. 1 starter last season was All-Star left-hander Kenny Rogers, another Boras client. He was 14-8 with a 3.46 ERA, but the Rangers didn't want the 41-year-old left-hander back after a videotaped tirade June 29 in which he shoved two television cameramen on the field.
Rogers, who has spent 12 of his 17 major league seasons during three stints in Texas, signed a $16 million, two-year deal with Detroit.
AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.
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