ANGELS Trout agrees to $1 million
TEMPE, Ariz. - Mike Trout has his first seven-figure contract. Up ahead is what figures to be a nine-figure deal.
“It feels good,” Trout said Wednesday after agreeing to a $1 million, one-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
The salary is the highest for a one-year major league contract for a player not yet eligible for arbitration who wasn’t coming to the big leagues from Japan or Cuba or wasn’t required to have a larger amount because of the maximum cut rule. Ryan Howard with Philadelphia in 2007 and Albert Pujols with St. Louis in 2003 both earned $900,000.
Trout will become eligible for arbitration after this season and could become a free agent after the 2017 World Series. The sides are thought to be discussing an agreement through 2020 in the $150 million range.
Trout wouldn’t talk about the possibility of a multiyear contract.
“I just go out there to play the game,” he said. “If the money is where it’s at, that’s where it’s going to be.”
By agreeing to a one-year contract now with the 22-year-old, the Angels avoid having a long-term deal count toward their 2014 luxury tax payroll.
“It’s a landmark to do a $1 million with a two-plus player,” Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto said. “I think it’s fitting and Mike’s earned that and we’re glad to provide that for him.”
Trout was voted American League Rookie of the Year and finished second in MVP voting to Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012, when he hit .326 with 30 home runs and 83 RBI, and led the majors with 129 runs and 49 steals. He was second again to Cabrera in MVP voting last year, when he batted .323 with a .432 on-base percentage, 27 home runs, 97 RBI and 33 steals.
In other Angels news, outfielder Josh Hamilton will be sidelined for at least two weeks because of a strained calf muscle, and pitcher C.J. Wilson did not appear to be seriously hurt after getting struck on the head by a line drive in batting practice.
Both players were injured Tuesday during a spring training workout.
NATIONALS
No rush on Strasburg
VIERA, Fla. - Stephen Strasburg said he’s “ready to rock.” Even so, the Washington Nationals aren’t rushing his spring debut.
Strasburg isn’t scheduled to pitch in the Nationals’ first two exhibition games. The team hasn’t announced when Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez or Doug Fister will make their first appearances this spring.
“It’s just kind of the way it stacks up,” Nationals Manager Matt Williams said Wednesday. “There’s no meaning behind it one way or the other. It’s how he feels and how we stack that rotation.”
“I’ve talked with [pitching coach Steve McCatty] a lot about it and it’s just kind of the way it falls,” he said.
Williams added things will likely change following the team’s off-day March 18. That’s when the Nationals could start setting up their rotation for the regular season.
The Nationals will open exhibition play Friday in Port St. Lucie against the New York Mets with Taylor Jordan getting the start. Jordan Zimmermann is set to start in Washington’s spring home opener against Atlanta on Saturday.
Strasburg is listed for a bullpen session Saturday.
PHILLIES Hamels on mound
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels threw off the mound for the first time this spring Wednesday morning, an important step in his eventual return to the rotation.
Hamels made his first career opening day start in 2013 and is unlikely to be ready for the assignment this year.
Hamels entered camp behind schedule after battling biceps soreness in November. He was told to stop throwing and halt his weightlifting program for the rest of the winter.
On the mound, Hamels threw 35 pitches in his side session.
“Very encouraging,” Manager Ryne Sandberg said.
Although the Phillies expect Hamels to be ready at some point in April, they are not going to push him in an effort to get him to the mound on opening day or the first week of the season.
The 30-year-old Hamels is in the second season since signing the most lucrative contract in Phillies history, a six-year deal worth $144 million.
METS Niese gets MRI
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Mets left hander Jon Niese is returning to New York for an MRI on his ailing pitching shoulder.
Manager Terry Collins said Niese complained of pain after throwing live batting practice earlier this week.
Niese, 25, has been expected to be the Mets’ starter on opening day.
Collins said the move is precautionary and that the problem could be in the triceps. But Collins said Wednesday that there’s concern any time a player is sent for an MRI.
The right-hander, who went 8-9 with a 3.00 ERA last season, made clear that there are no health issues for him.
“I feel good,” he said. “Ready to rock.”
CARDINALS Garcia not ready
JUPITER, Fla. - St. Louis left-hander Jaime Garcia is unlikely to be ready to pitch at the start of the season, but Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak won’t completely rule out the possibility.
Garcia will be returning to the Cardinals’ spring training camp after Dr. James Andrews did not find any structural damage in the pitcher’s throwing shoulder.
Mozeliak said Wednesday that Garcia will receive a cortisone injection at Andrews’ office in Pensacola.
Garcia met with Cardinals’ doctors in St. Louis on Monday and with Andrews on Tuesday.
Expected to be the lone left-hander in the Cardinals’ rotation, Garcia began feeling soreness in his shoulder early last week. He hasn’t thrown since Feb. 18.
Sports, Pages 24 on 02/27/2014