RED SOX
Betts: No new deal soon
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Don't expect AL MVP Mookie Betts to agree to a long-term contract with the Boston Red Sox before he can become a free agent in late 2020.
Betts, 26, one of the best players in baseball since making his major league debut in 2014, has a $20 million, one-year contract and is eligible for arbitration again next winter.
"I'm under no pressure to do anything," Betts said. "It's OK for two sides to disagree. That's perfectly fine. It's normal. I got two more years, going to make the best of them. Got to worry about Year 1 right here. I'm going out and doing my best to help the team win, and also next year. It's just one of those things where it's all right to disagree."
Betts said he loves Boston and playing for the Red Sox, but he also has other things in mind.
"Everybody values different things -- what do you value, where you're going to be in five years. The biggest thing in my mind is just to be treated fairly."
RAYS
Lowe signs $24M deal
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Rookie Brandon Lowe, who made his big league debut last August, has agreed to a $24 million, six-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Lowe's deal, announced Wednesday, includes club options for 2025 and 2026 with escalators that could make the agreement worth $49 million over eight seasons.
The 24-year-old infielder and outfielder has only 58 days of major league service.
Lowe joins Evan Longoria, Matt Moore and Chris Archer as players with less than one year of major league service when they signed long-term deals with Tampa Bay.
YANKEES
Instructor injured
TAMPA, Fla. -- New York Yankees guest instructor Lee Mazzilli was struck in the head by a ball in batting practice Wednesday and taken to a local hospital.
Team spokesman Jason Zillo said in an email that Mazzilli "will spend the night at the hospital for observation."
Yankees players not on the travel roster for Wednesday's road game against the Houston Astros in West Palm Beach worked out at New York's spring training complex at Steinbrenner Field.
TIGERS
Fulmer out for year
Detroit Tigers right-handed pitcher Michael Fulmer said Wednesday that he will have Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, effectively rendering him out for the year, MLB.com reported.
Fulmer said he had an MRI on his elbow Monday after his latest bullpen session, in which he felt some discomfort. On Tuesday, the Tigers announced that Fulmer had been told that he needed ulnar reconstruction surgery.
Fulmer had been taken out of the spring pitching rotation last week as a way to figure out why he had experienced a dip in velocity.
REDS
Charles Harmon dies
CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Reds' first black player has died at the age of 94.
The team said Charles "Chuck" Harmon died Tuesday, nearly 65 years after he made his debut against the Braves in Milwaukee on April 17, 1954. It did not provide details.
Harmon had remained a familiar figure in Cincinnati as a regular participant in fan and community events.
Among his Reds honors is a bronze plaque near their stadium entrance.
A native of Washington, Ind., Harmon served in the Navy and was a standout basketball and baseball player at the University of Toledo. He worked his way into Major League Baseball seven years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
Harmon played more than two seasons as a Reds utility player. He also played for the Cardinals and Phillies in his four years in the majors.
Sports on 03/21/2019