ATHLETICS O’Flaherty gets new deal
OAKLAND, Calif. - When Eric O’Flaherty returns to health and his former form, the Oakland Athletics believe they have one of baseball’s best left-handers to add to an already stout bullpen.
The A’s further bolstered their pitching staff Wednesday, agreeing with the free-agent lefty on a $7 million, two-year contract.
O’Flaherty, who turns 29 next month, sustained a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow last season with Atlanta. He went 3-0 with a 2.50 ERA in 19 appearances before his season ended May 17 .
A’s assistant general manager David Forst said there is no timetable for when O’Flaherty might be ready to pitch again following the long rehab process following elbow ligament-replacement surgery.
Once healthy, he could provide depth in a bullpen featuring Jim Johnson, Luke Gregerson, Ryan Cook, Sean Doolittle and Dan Otero.
METS Duda, Mets settle
NEW YORK - The New York Mets settled their last salary arbitration case, agreeing to a one-year contract with Lucas Duda worth $1,637,500.
Duda hit .223 with 15 home runs, 33 RBI and 102 strikeouts in 318 at bats last year. The first baseman-outfielder was sidelined from late June until late August because of a strained muscle between his ribs.
Eligible for arbitration for the first time, he had asked for a raise from $519,240 to $1.9 million and had been offered $1.35 million.
CARDINALS Minor leaguer suspended
NEW YORK- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Andrew Pierce has been suspended for 50 games following a positive test for an amphetamine under baseball’s minor league drug program.
The suspension, announced Wednesday by the commissioner’s office, will begin with the start of the New York-Penn League season this summer.
A right-hander who turns 23 on Sunday, Pierce was taken by St. Louis out of Southern Mississippi in the eighth round of last June’s amateur draft. He went 2-2 with a 2.11 ERA in seven starts and five relief appearances last year for the State College Spikes of the Class A NYP League.
Sports, Pages 17 on 01/23/2014