milky_way
12-21-2002, 10:42 PM
By Rich Draper / MLB.com
PHOENIX -- First baseman Mark Grace, who will enter the 2003 campaign only 82 hits shy of 2,500 for his career, has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with a club option for 2004, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced Saturday.
Grace, 38, joined the Diamondbacks prior to the 2001 season after spending the first 13 years of his Major League career with the Chicago Cubs. A lifetime .305 hitter in 2,179 games with 170 home runs and 1,130 RBIs, Grace has earned four Rawlings Gold Gloves for defensive excellence at first base.
He appeared in 124 games for Arizona last season, hitting .252 with seven homers and 48 RBIs. Grace collected the 500th double of his career on June 16, 2002, just the 38th player in Major League history to reach the coveted mark. His current total of 506 doubles is fourth among active Major Leaguers.
Terms were not announced.
Meantime, 30-year-old outfielder Mark Little, a two-year Major League veteran, was not tendered a contract Friday and is now a free agent. Little hit .273 in 15 games after being called up from Triple-A Tucson. He had originally been acquired from the New York Mets on Aug. 16 in exchange for minor league pitcher P.J. Bevis.
The Diamondbacks have tendered contracts for outfielders David Dellucci and Quinton McCracken, who played well as part-time starters last season.
Dellucci, a four-year veteran, hit .276 as a pinch-hitter last season, including four hits in his last seven at-bats, and batted .245 overall. Hitting well in spurts and playing well on defense, he split time with McCracken in right field when starter Danny Bautista was injured in May.
McCracken, 32, whose career was in jeopardy following a serious knee injury in 1999, was a key man in last season's success, batting .309 overall with a team-high eight triples and 13 sacrifice bunts.
The Diamondbacks also tendered contracts Friday to new pitcher Elmer Dessens and closer Byung-Hyun Kim. The 30-year-old Dessens, traded from Cincinnati in a four-team deal during last weekend's Winter Meetings, is vying for the No. 3 spot in the starting rotation.
Kim, who'll turn 24 on Jan. 19, saved 36 games for Arizona last season but could be in line for a starting job next year.
Assuming Dellucci and McCracken are re-signed, it solidifies the D-Backs outfield, with left fielder Luis Gonzalez and Bautista expected to be fully healthy by Spring Training and center fielder Steve Finley newly signed to a multi-year deal.
Rich Draper is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
PHOENIX -- First baseman Mark Grace, who will enter the 2003 campaign only 82 hits shy of 2,500 for his career, has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with a club option for 2004, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced Saturday.
Grace, 38, joined the Diamondbacks prior to the 2001 season after spending the first 13 years of his Major League career with the Chicago Cubs. A lifetime .305 hitter in 2,179 games with 170 home runs and 1,130 RBIs, Grace has earned four Rawlings Gold Gloves for defensive excellence at first base.
He appeared in 124 games for Arizona last season, hitting .252 with seven homers and 48 RBIs. Grace collected the 500th double of his career on June 16, 2002, just the 38th player in Major League history to reach the coveted mark. His current total of 506 doubles is fourth among active Major Leaguers.
Terms were not announced.
Meantime, 30-year-old outfielder Mark Little, a two-year Major League veteran, was not tendered a contract Friday and is now a free agent. Little hit .273 in 15 games after being called up from Triple-A Tucson. He had originally been acquired from the New York Mets on Aug. 16 in exchange for minor league pitcher P.J. Bevis.
The Diamondbacks have tendered contracts for outfielders David Dellucci and Quinton McCracken, who played well as part-time starters last season.
Dellucci, a four-year veteran, hit .276 as a pinch-hitter last season, including four hits in his last seven at-bats, and batted .245 overall. Hitting well in spurts and playing well on defense, he split time with McCracken in right field when starter Danny Bautista was injured in May.
McCracken, 32, whose career was in jeopardy following a serious knee injury in 1999, was a key man in last season's success, batting .309 overall with a team-high eight triples and 13 sacrifice bunts.
The Diamondbacks also tendered contracts Friday to new pitcher Elmer Dessens and closer Byung-Hyun Kim. The 30-year-old Dessens, traded from Cincinnati in a four-team deal during last weekend's Winter Meetings, is vying for the No. 3 spot in the starting rotation.
Kim, who'll turn 24 on Jan. 19, saved 36 games for Arizona last season but could be in line for a starting job next year.
Assuming Dellucci and McCracken are re-signed, it solidifies the D-Backs outfield, with left fielder Luis Gonzalez and Bautista expected to be fully healthy by Spring Training and center fielder Steve Finley newly signed to a multi-year deal.
Rich Draper is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.