Associated Press
The baseball notebook …
ATLANTA ó Reliever Billy Wagner and the Atlanta Braves agreed Wednesday to a $7 million, one-year contract.
The six-time All-Star gets $6.75 million in 2010 and the deal includes a $6.5 million club option for 2011 with a $250,000 buyout. The option would become guaranteed is he has 50 games finished next season.
“We feel this is a great start for us to put together a championship-quality team for 2010,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said in a statement. “Billy has been at the top of our list as a player we wanted to acquire for some time, and we’re excited to have him anchoring our bullpen.”
The 38-year-old left-hander missed most of last season following elbow ligament replacement surgery on Sept. 10, 2008. He returned to the New York Mets on Aug. 20, reached 96 mph in his first appearance, then was traded to the Boston Red Sox five days later.
SIZEMORE PHOTOS
CLEVELAND ó Major League Baseball officials have asked Internet sites to remove racy photographs of Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore.
Sizemore said the photos ó one of them showing him nearly nude ó were stolen from his girlfriend’s e-mail account and posted online. He contacted baseball officials to stop the spread of the photos, which began appearing Sunday on various Web sites.
FREE AGENTS
NEW YORK ó Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon, Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada and Dodgers pitcher Randy Wolf were among the free agents who weren’t offered salary arbitration by the deadline, enabling new teams to sign them without losing draft picks.
TRADEST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ó Catcher Kelly Shoppach was acquired from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named, giving Tampa Bay depth at the position.
OBITNEW YORK ó Tommy Henrich, nicknamed “Old Reliable” for his knack of delivering clutch hits for the New York Yankees, died. He was 96.
OVERDOSEPHOENIX ó Former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Scott Schoeneweis’ wife died from an overdose of cocaine and an anesthetic, lidocaine, an appellate court disclosed in a ruling.