ARLINGTON, Texas -- Kenny Rogers agreed to a $6 million,
two-year contract to return to the Texas Rangers, who also
bolstered their bullpen Monday by signing setup man Jeff Nelson.
The deal for Rogers, who pitched a perfect game for Texas in
1994, is contingent of him passing a physical. The 39-year-old
left-hander would get $2.5 million this season and $3.5 million in
2005 for his third stint with the team -- he also pitched for the
Rangers for 1989-95 and 2000-02.
Nelson signed a $1.5 million, one-year deal Monday after passing
his physical.
Rogers' popularity with fans and his experience could make him
the team's opening-day starter. The rest of Texas' rotation
includes young players and Chan Ho Park, an expensive free agent
signee who proved to be an injury-plagued bust.
Nelson, 37, was part of four World Series championships with the
Yankees. He fulfills the need of a right-handed reliever, and has
12 years of experience to share with more young pitchers in the
bullpen.
"It puts a veteran who has been around this league that has had
years and years of success together with our young, growing kids,"
Texas assistant general manager Grady Fuson said. "That's a big
ingredient as this club goes forward."
The Rangers are coming off four straight last-place finishes in
the AL West. The last three were with AL MVP Alex Rodriguez at
shortstop, where he remains after trade talks with Boston ended
last month.
Nelson was 4-2 with a 3.74 ERA in 70 games last season for
Seattle and New York, returning to the Yankees in a trade last
August. With the Rangers, he could earn an additional $300,000 in
performance bonuses.
"This kind of reminds me of the 2003 Marlins that just won the
World Series. Nobody thought they would win, and obviously I didn't
think they would beat us when I was back in New York last year,"
Nelson said. "It also reminds me of the 2002 Anaheim Angels. It is
a great young team and you have some good key veterans together."
The Rangers, whose offseason signings have already included
36-year-old outfielders Brian Jordan and Eric Young, expect to
finalize Rogers' signing and reintroduce him Tuesday.
Rogers turned down a chance to return to Texas last season, then
signed with Minnesota. He went 13-8 with a 4.57 ERA in 33 games.
His career record in Texas is 101-79 with a 4.18 ERA in a
club-record 463 games, including 187 starts. He's also played for
the Mets, Yankees and Oakland Athletics.
Nelson and former Yankees teammate Karim Garcia are facing
assault and battery charges as a result of a bullpen brawl with a
Fenway Park groundskeeper during Game 3 of the AL championship
series. Nelson pleaded innocent at his arraignment last weekend in
Boston. A pretrial hearing is scheduled Feb. 5.
Nelson is hopeful that the situation will be resolved and
settled without a trial before Texas pitchers report to training
camp Feb. 19 in Surprise, Ariz. He said the case should have never
gone as far as it has.
"I don't think at all this is about Jeff Nelson. It's about the
Yankees and Red Sox," he said Monday. "I just happened to be in
the wrong place at the wrong time. By no means did I want this to
happen."
Nelson believes things would have been different had the Red Sox
gone to the World Series, or if he wasn't then playing for the
Yankees.
"If the Red Sox had beaten us in the ALCS, we would have
probably never heard anything about this. If I was with another
team, then you would have never heard anything about this," he
said. "But since it's the Yankees-Red Sox and they want to
continue this rivalry on and off the field, that's what happens."