Grant Balfour, A's Reportedly Have Deal
Filed under: Athletics, Rays, MLB Rumors, MLB Hot Stove, MLB Free Agency
Grant Balfour apparently has found a home for 2011 and beyond. The free-agent reliever has agreed to a multiyear deal with the Athletics pending a physical, according to multiple reports. Balfour will make $3.75 million in 2011 and $4 million in 2012, The Associated Press reports, with a $4.5 million club option for 2013 or a $350,000 buyout. Balfour had been sweating it out a bit as a non-closer tagged as a Type A free agent, meaning any team signing him would have to forfeit a draft pick to do so. Because the A's first-round pick is protected, though, Oakland will be sending its second-round choice to Tampa Bay as compensation, and the Rays will add yet another supplemental first-round choice in 2011. Balfour, 33, resurrected his career in three and a half seasons with Tampa Bay. After missing all of 2005 and 2006 and a good chunk of 2007 with arm problems, he served as a key cog in the Rays' 2008 run to the World Series, posting a 1.54 ERA in 54 appearances after being called up from Triple-A in late May. His peripherals were otherworldly that year, as he allowed just 28 hits while striking out 82 in 58 1/3 innings, ending up with an ERA+ of 287 (100 is average).
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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/01/14/grant-balfour-as-reportedly-have-deal/
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