Ex-Yankees Reliever Rafael Soriano Agrees To 2-Year, $28 Million Deal With Nats
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) — Another 2012 Yankee has officially left the Bronx.
Reliever Rafael Soriano and the Washington Nationals agreed to a $28 million, two-year contract on Tuesday, multiple sources reported.
Soriano's deal will reportedly contain a $14 million option for 2015 that would become guaranteed if he has 120 games finished over 2013 and 2014 combined.
Soriano, who turned 33 in December, will join a Nationals bullpen that already includes Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard. Both of those right-handers closed games for the National League East champions last season.
A one-time All-Star, Soriano had 42 saves and a 2.26 ERA for the American League East-champion Yankees last year while filling in for injured closer Mariano Rivera, who plans to return from a knee injury in 2013.
Soriano decided in October to decline a $14 million option for 2013, taking a $1.5 million buyout from the Yankees and entering free agency instead.
Washington will lose its first-round draft pick in this year's amateur draft, while the Yankees will gain an extra pick after the first round as compensation for losing Soriano.
He signed his old contract with the Yankees after saving a career-high 45 games for Tampa Bay in 2010. Soriano began his tenure in New York as a setup man, and ended up getting the bulk of his work in the seventh inning in 2011. But he wound up taking over as the closer after Rivera was hurt.
Should the Yankees have given Soriano that deal, or did they make the right move by taking the draft-pick compensation? Sound off with your thoughts and comments below...
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