Posted on: Friday, March 14, 2003

Agbayani confident he'll join another team

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's Benny Agbayani said yesterday he is confident he will be signed by another team after the Boston Red Sox placed him on waivers Wednesday.

"My agent is calling some teams right now to see if they're interested," Agbayani said in a telephone interview from Florida, where about half the major league teams hold spring training.

He said he officially becomes a free agent at 7 a.m. (HST) tomorrow, when the waiver period ends, but likely won't know his future until Monday.

Agbayani was signed by the Red Sox in the offseason, but the club also acquired another outfielder in switch-hitting Adrian Brown. Their projected starting outfield is Manny Ramirez in left, Johnny Damon in center and Trot Nixon in right. They also signed first baseman Kevin Millar, who originally had signed with Japan's Chunichi Dragons. Agbayani said he was not disappointed about being waived.

"I've been through worse scenarios," he said. "I kind of knew my odds of making the team were on a thin line because they signed Kevin Millar. That kind of hurt my chances and then they said they were going to take Adrian Brown.

"At the beginning of spring training they told my agent I was going to make the team. But after (getting Millar), they changed their mind. They told me I didn't fit the mold of their team. They went with Adrian Brown, so I said 'OK.' You want to be on a team where you're able to play."

He said nothing has developed about joining a Japanese team. There's a limit to the number of foreigners Japanese teams can hold, so it is probably too late for them to make a last-minute addition.

He said his former manager while with the New York Mets, Bobby Valentine, called him to offer encouragement.

"He said, 'Don't worry, everything will work out,' " Agbayani said.

Meanwhile, Agbayani said he and wife, Niela, are expecting their second child in late October.