Agbayani can take it easy this holiday season
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
Having agreed to a one-year deal with the New York Mets, Hawai'i's Benny Agbayani can enjoy the holiday season a little more.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
"The main thing going into Christmas is I have a contract," said Agbayani, who turns 30 next Friday.
Benny Agbayani, a former St. Louis star, has agreed to a one-year deal.
The former St. Louis School and Hawai'i Pacific University star avoided arbitration by agreeing to a contract guaranteed at $600,000 with incentives that could make it worth up to $950,000 for the 2002 season.
He has yet to sign the contract, which will be perused by his agent, he said.
Although pleased he will have a contract, he said his agent advised him not to comment on the terms of the deal.
Still, while the contract assures that he will remain in the Major Leagues — as opposed to playing in Japan — he acknowledged that it does not necessarily mean he will remain with the Mets, the organization that drafted him in the 30th round in 1993 out of HPU. The Mets have been actively trading this offseason.
"It might be easier (to trade me)," Agbayani said. "To other teams, I'm still affordable."
The average salary for a major league player in 2001 was $2,138,896, up 12 percent from the season before.
The Mets were considering trading Agbayani to the Yomiuri Giants of the Japan league. But Yomiuri decided it needed a pitcher instead of another position player.
Injuries to both wrists put Agbayani on the disabled list twice this past season. The first — a chip fracture of the hamate bone of his left hand — forced him to miss games from April 9-25; the second — the same injury, except to his right hand, on Sept. 1—caused him to miss the rest of the season.
Agbayani is approaching spring training as he has in the past seasons.
"I have to prove myself again," he said. "People still have doubts about me."
