Agbayani signs one-year deal with Mets
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Outfielder Benny Agbayani and the New York Mets avoided salary arbitration when they agreed yesterday to a $600,000, one-year contract.
Associated Press
Agbayani, 29, hit .277 with 14 doubles, two triples, six homers and 27 RBIs in 91 games last season. The Hawai'i-born outfielder can earn $350,000 in bonuses based on plate appearances: $50,000 each for 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 plus $100,000 for 550.
A proposed deal to trade Mets outfielder Benny Agbayani to the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants never materialized.
"He's happy with the deal," said Danny Horwits, Agbayani's agent. "He gets to stay with the team he wants, and the deal is guaranteed."
But Horwits said Agbayani "still may be traded before season starts."
The Mets had a tentative deal to trade Agbayani's rights to the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese Central League.
Horwits said the deal never materialized.
"The (Yomiuri) Giants agreed to a deal with the Mets, but it turned out they lost a pitcher to the U.S. and decided to spend money on a pitcher, not a position player," Horwits said.
Agbayani, a former St. Louis School and Hawai'i Pacific University player, is a career .282 hitter with 35 homers and 129 RBI in 322 games over four seasons. He played a important role in helping the Mets reach the 2000 World Series against the New York Yankees.
Agbayani signed with the Mets for $260,000 this past season, and was the subject of trade rumors when he was placed on recallable waivers in August. He missed the last month of the season after breaking a bone in his right hand.
