NEW YORK -- For Kyle Farnsworth, a telephone call from Joe
Torre was the big reason why he'll set up for Mariano Rivera with
the New York Yankees rather than close for the Atlanta Braves or
Texas Rangers.
Torre called the right-hander reliever early in the free-agent
process, and they spoke for about 5 minutes as the manager conveyed
that the Yankees were interested in signing him.
"He just wanted to make it clear it just wasn't hearsay. Coming
from Joe Torre, you know it's really true," Farnsworth said Friday
after agreeing to a $17 million, three-year contract.
Less than 24 hours after Tom Gordon left for an $18 million,
three-year deal with Philadelphia, New York locked up his
replacement.
Farnsworth took a physical Thursday for the Yankees in Tampa,
Fla., but his agent kept the Texas Rangers in the mix until Friday.
Texas offered a three-year deal that included a 2009 option.
A source told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney that the Rangers offered Farnsworth a three-year, $16.5 million contract with a vesting option that would have taken the deal to $21 million, plus incentives. Meanwhile, Atlanta proposed a three-year deal worth close to $15 million.
Farnsworth said of the Rangers, "I didn't hear anything about
them until yesterday." And he said the Braves "kind of drug their
feet a little bit."
"So I went where I felt most comfortable," he said.
New York gave him a $1.25 million signing bonus and yearly
salaries of $5 million, $5.25 million and $5.5 million. If
Farnsworth leads the Yankees in Rolaids Relief points, which would
happen only if Rivera gets hurt, Farnsworth's salary would rise
$500,000 in each remaining year of the contract.
He doesn't view himself as auditioning for the Yankees' closer
job when Rivera retires.
"My job is to go up and set up in the eighth inning to get to
him in the ninth inning. That's what my job is going to be for the
next three years," he said. "Whatever happens after that will
happen."
The hard-throwing righty, who will be 30 in April, split last
season between the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves, who acquired
him at the July 31 trade deadline. He combined to go 1-1 with a
2.19 ERA in 72 games, striking out 87 in 70 innings and walking 27.
Farnsworth allowed only five home runs during the regular
season, but had a meltdown in Game 4 of the playoffs, when Atlanta
wasted a 6-1 lead. He gave up an eighth-inning grand slam to Lance
Berkman and a tying homer to Brad Ausmus with two outs in the
ninth, and Houston went on to win in 18 innings and earn a spot in
the NL Championship Series.
New York had hoped to sign both Farnsworth and the 38-year-old
Gordon, who spent the last two seasons as Rivera's main setup man.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said New York offered only a
two-year deal to Gordon, whose agent insisted on a three-year
contract.
Prices for relievers have escalated this offseason, with B.J.
Ryan getting a $47 million, five-year contract from Toronto and
Billy Wagner accepting a $43 million, four-year offer from the New
York Mets.
"Obviously this winter, where it's such a thin market, the
reason the money has gotten so high is because there's very little
choices," Cashman said.
The Yankees also are looking at left-handers Mike Myers, Joey
Eischen and Ricardo Rincon along with right-hander Julian Tavarez.
Al Leiter, a 40-year-old left-hander acquired by the Yankees during
the season, may decide to return instead of retiring.
"We've got to surround Kyle with a lot more in the bullpen,"
Cashman said.
Nothing has developed yet in his quest to find a center fielder.
If no one else is found, Bubba Crosby would be the likely starter.
Johnny Damon's agent, Scott Boras, is said to be asking for a
seven-year deal, a contract length the Yankees won't consider.
"I don't think it's in my best interest to say I have a No. 1
priority and here it is," Cashman said. "We'll get very
aggressive when we feel the prices come within something that makes
sense."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.