NEWS & NOTES
Ohka Passes on Nats, Agrees To 1-Year Deal With Blue Jays
Wednesday, January 24, 2007; Page E02
Free agent right-hander Tomo Ohka agreed yesterday to a one-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, according to Jim Masteralexis, his agent.
Terms of the deal weren't released because Ohka still must travel from his native Japan to take a physical, but it's believed Ohka will earn around $1.5 million, with incentives that could push the package to $3 million.
ON THE FIELD Jesus Flores' two-run, ninth-inning double gives the Nationals a 4-3 win over the Marlins. Notebook: The Nationals trade left-handed reliever Ray King, the most veteran member of their pitching staff, to the Brewers for a player to be named. Boswell: The statistics show a return to normalcy in baseball and the end of the Steroid Era. Minor Leagues: Justin Maxwell has come out of the slump he was in after straining an oblique muscle by sneezing and is now hitting .423 with 24 homers. NATIONALS REPORTBy the Numbers89: Errors for the Nationals through Monday. Through 138 games a year ago, they had 113 errors. Personnel Dept.OF Ryan Langerhans hit his first homer of a 14-game stint with Class AAA Columbus on Monday, just before he was called up. "I felt a lot more comfortable," he said. "My approach was a lot better." Langerhans will be used primarily as a defensive replacement. ... The club activated LHP Micah Bowie, who hadn't pitched in the majors since June because of a hip injury. ... The club announced that Centerplate would replace Aramark as the concessionaire at the new ballpark in 2008. Quotable"He certainly was a good influence on our young pitchers, had a lot to do with some of their developments. Our clubhouse was a better place with Ray King a part of it." -- GM Jim Bowden NATIONALS JOURNALBarry Svrluga provides the latest news on the Nationals. MULTIMEDIA Podcasts: Postgame audio from Barry Svrluga and video from Washington Post Live. Slideshow: A crowd of 40,389 pack into RFK Stadium to open up the 2007 baseball season. Photos: Manny Acta returns home. Webcam: Check back daily and follow the progress of construction on the stadium. |
Ohka, who pitched for the Washington Nationals in 2005 before a trade sent him to the Milwaukee Brewers, was pursued by the Nationals, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason.
"We took less money on a one-year basis to play for a competitive club," Masteralexis said. . . .
The Oakland Athletics traded pitcher Kirk Saarloos to the Reds, giving the right-hander a chance to win a spot in Cincinnati's rotation.
Oakland got minor league reliever David Shafer in the deal. Each team also received a player to be named. Saarloos, 27, went 7-7 with two saves and a 4.75 ERA last season. . . .
New York Mets star Carlos Delgado could miss a few games at the start of the regular season for the birth of his child.
The first baseman said his wife was due to give birth to the couple's first child within a few days of the Mets' April 1 opener at St. Louis.
"My child comes first," he told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper.
· AUTO RACING: NASCAR is revamping the format of its annual all-star event to add at least one more driver.
The Nextel All-Star Challenge will now be run in four 20-lap segments with an expanded field.
The race is only open to drivers who have won races in the current and preceding years, past all-star race winners, Cup champions from the previous 10 years and the winner of the Nextel Open, a qualifying event held before the main race.
Now, the field has been expanded to include both the first- and second-place finishers of the Nextel Open, as well as one driver voted in by the fans. . . .
Two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. apologized for being charged last week with disorderly intoxication.
A Volusia County (Fla.) Beach Patrol officer saw Truex urinating on his car in a parking garage early Friday, according to a police report.
-- From News Services and Staff Reports
