Yankees Sign Pedro Feliciano To 2-Yr, $8M Contract
NEW YORK (AP) — Left-hander Pedro Feliciano and the New York Yankees have finalized an $8 million, two-year contract.
Monday's agreement, which includes a $4.5 million club option for 2013, gives New York another left-hander in the bullpen to go along with Boone Logan. It follows Boston's additions of left-handed hitting Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez to join lefties David Ortiz, J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury.
The 34-year-old Feliciano moves across town from the Mets, where set a major league record with 266 relief appearances over the last three seasons. He is 22-19 with four saves and a 3.31 ERA in eight major league seasons, holding left-handed hitters to a .214 average.
Statement from New York Yankees:
The New York Yankees today announced they have signed free agent left-handed pitcher Pedro Feliciano to a two-year contract, extending through 2012 with a club option for 2013.
Feliciano, 34, has led the Majors in relief outings in each of the last three seasons (2008-10), and his 266 total appearances over the stretch set a Major League record for most games pitched over any three-year span. His 344 relief outings since the start of 2007 also mark an all-time record for most appearances over a four-year stretch.
Feliciano owns a 22-19 record with four saves and a 3.31 ERA (372.1 IP, 137 ER) in 459 career relief appearances over parts of eight seasons, all with the Mets (2002-04, '06-10). His 459 games pitched rank second on the Mets all-time list, trailing only John Franco (695). In 2005, he pitched in Japan for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of the Pacific League, appearing in 37 games and going 3-2 with a 3.89 ERA (37.0 IP, 16 ER).
In his career, Feliciano has held left-handed batters to a .214 (146-for-683) batting average with 210 strikeouts and just 10 home runs, including a .211 (26-for-123, 0 HR) mark in 2010. Of his 459 career appearances, 398 have been 1.0-inning or less. In 30 career relief appearances against AL East opponents, he is 1-1 with a 2.48 ERA (29.0 IP, 8 ER) and a .202 (21-for-104) opponents batting average.
In 2010, Feliciano went 3-6 with a 3.30 ERA (62.2 IP, 23 ER) in 92 relief appearances for the Mets, surpassing his own franchise record in games pitched (previous was 88 games in 2009). His 92 appearances tied the Dodgers' Mike Marshall (1973) for fourth place on Baseball's all-time single-season games pitched list, trailing only Marshall (106 games in 1974), Pittsburgh's Kent Tekulve (94 in 1979) and Salomon Torres (94 in 2006).
A native of Puerto Rico, Feliciano was originally selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 31st round of the 1995 First-Year Player Draft. With his first appearance as a Yankee, he will become the 110th player all-time to play in a Major League game with both the Mets and Yankees.
