NEW YORK -- Vladimir Guerrero rejected a three-year contract
offer from the New York Mets, who were told the free-agent
outfielder has decided to sign with another team.
Mets general manager Jim Duquette said Saturday night he didn't
know which team Guerrero has committed to. But Duquette said he was
informed by Guerrero's agent, Arn Tellem, that the former Montreal
Expos star would sign a multiyear deal.
The Baltimore Orioles are thought to have offered Guerrero at
least $65 million over five years. It was unclear which other teams
were still pursuing Guerrero.
"I can't comment about what the Mets have said," Orioles vice
president Jim Beattie said. "When we have an announcement to make,
we will make an announcement. Until that time, we remain in
negotiations."
One baseball executive said the Los Angeles Dodgers might be
involved in talks with Guerrero. A message left for Dodgers general
manager Dan Evans was not immediately returned.
Baseball officials said Detroit and Florida were not in
negotiations with Guerrero at this point.
Concerned about the back injury that forced him to miss nearly
two months last season, the Mets made Guerrero an offer Thursday
that only guaranteed three years.
Duquette said his understanding was that no team would be able
to get insurance for Guerrero's back.
But Duquette said if Guerrero stayed healthy, he would certainly
have reached incentives that would automatically make the proposed
deal with the Mets worth $71 million over five years.
"We weren't willing to make a guaranteed five-year offer, that
was based on the advice of our doctors," Duquette said. "Our
offer was predicated on the health concern."
Still, Duquette said he was optimistic the past few days.
"Our feeling was we had a chance, we had a legitimate chance to
sign the guy. It's obvious the type of player he is. It was a
serious offer," he said.
The Mets were cautious in part because they've been burned by
injuries to players with big contracts recently, most notably first
baseman Mo Vaughn.
Guerrero, a four-time All-Star, is a .323 career hitter. He had
at least 34 homers and 108 RBIss every year from 1998-02. He also
has one of the strongest arms in baseball.
"I understand the disappointment of the fans," Duquette said.
"The organization is disappointed, too. We made a legitimate run
and we thought we had a chance to get him. We missed out on this
guy unfortunately, but we're going to go forward with our plan."
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AP Sports Writers Ronald Blum in New York and David Ginsburg in
Baltimore contributed to this report.