Javier Vazquez and the New York Yankees agreed Monday to a US$45 million, four-year contract.
The 27-year-old Puerto Rican right-hander, acquired from Montreal on Dec. 4, would have been eligible for free agency after next season, and the Yankees wanted a multiyear agreement.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Vazquez's agents, Sam and Seth Levinson, worked Sunday and Monday to finalize the deal.
New York sent first baseman Nick Johnson, outfielder Juan Rivera and left-hander Randy Choate to the Expos for Vazquez. Right after the trade, the pitcher said he hoped to have a lengthy stay in New York.
"I want to be a Yankee for more than a year," he said then.
Vazquez went 13-12 with a 3.24 ERA and 241 strikeouts last season. He is part of the Yankees' new-look, all-righty rotation, a group that includes Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown, Jose Contreras and Jon Lieber.
Right-hander Roger Clemens retired, while New York's two left-handed starters signed elsewhere, with Andy Pettitte going to Houston and David Wells joining San Diego. New York has not finished first with an entirely right-handed rotation since 1947, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball's statistician.
Vazquez gets a US$2 million signing bonus, US$8.5 million next season, US$10.5 million in 2005, US$11.5 million in 2006 and US$12.5 million in 2007.
Vazquez was among three Yankees eligible for salary arbitration, a group that also includes second baseman Alfonso Soriano and left-hander Gabe White, who became a free agent and then accepted New York's arbitration offer.
The Yankees currently are leaning toward trying to negotiate a one-year contract with Soriano, eligible for arbitration for the first time. He made US$800,000 last season, when the Yankees renewed his contract.
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