Baseball - Rangers Avoid Arbitration Hearings 

It was announced that Rangers have offered a Minor League contract to Sammy Sosa. Sosa is free agent outfielder. By doing this, Rangers have once again avoided an arbitration hearing.

The Rangers have offered Sosa a one year contract with $500,000 plus significant incentives. They are now waiting for Adam Katz, Sosa’s agent to get back to them. Sosa has worked for the Rangers in the Dominican Republic and Arlington. He did not play the 2006 season and Texas are looking at him as a possible right handed designated hitter / outfielder. In the mean time, Rangers have managed to reach an agreement with pitchers Rick Bauer and Akinori Otsuka and outfielder Brad Wilkerson. They were offered one year contracts to which they have agreed. Another pitcher who has come to an agreement with Rangers is Joaquin Benoit. All the four players were eligible for arbitration and now Rangers have signed all four of them. The last arbitration hearing Texas had was in 2000 with Lee Stevens. Otsuka has agreed to $3 million salary for 2007. In 2006, he led the Rangers with 32 saves and was named the Rangers Pitcher of the Year. Wilkerson will make $4.35 million this year and he hit .222 with 15 home runs and 44 RBIs in 95 games and 320 at bats before having a surgery on his right shoulder in August. Bauer will receive $730,000 and was 3-1 with two saves and a 3.55 ERA. He pitched in 58 games as a middle reliever. Rangers’ assistant general manager, Thad Levine, informed that the Rangers were happy to avoid the arbitration process and that they had four players who were prepared to negotiate in order to get the deal done.