Baseball Guru
11-15-2001, 04:50 PM
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
November 15, 2001, 3:47 PM EST
SAN DIEGO -- Phil Nevin, who resurrected his career with the San Diego Padres, has agreed to a four-year contract extension worth approximately $34 million, the richest deal in club history.
Nevin's agent, Barry Axelrod, said Thursday that the sides were still working on contingencies to protect the player in case of additional delays in the Padres' new downtown ballpark. Construction on the ballpark, which the Padres hope to have finished by 2004, has been halted by legal issues for more than a year.
Nevin is due $2.6 million in 2002 in the final year of his contract. The extension, which will run from 2003-06, includes a three-year no-trade clause and surpasses the $32 million, four-year deal that closer Trevor Hoffman signed in 1999.
"I guess it's not bad for a third-string catcher, huh?" Nevin said Thursday. He was acquired as a backup catcher from Anaheim just before the 1999 season started, and became San Diego's starting third baseman that August.
Nevin, the top pick in the 1992 amateur draft by Houston, likely will move to first base next season when the Padres promote third baseman Sean Burroughs.
Nevin had career-best numbers for the third straight year, with his 41 homers and 126 RBIs ranking second on the Padres' single-season lists. He hit .306.
Nevin has 96 homers and 318 RBIs during three years in San Diego.
"I always knew I could play," Nevin said. "It was just a matter of getting an opportunity, and I got that in San Diego."
AP Sports Writer
November 15, 2001, 3:47 PM EST
SAN DIEGO -- Phil Nevin, who resurrected his career with the San Diego Padres, has agreed to a four-year contract extension worth approximately $34 million, the richest deal in club history.
Nevin's agent, Barry Axelrod, said Thursday that the sides were still working on contingencies to protect the player in case of additional delays in the Padres' new downtown ballpark. Construction on the ballpark, which the Padres hope to have finished by 2004, has been halted by legal issues for more than a year.
Nevin is due $2.6 million in 2002 in the final year of his contract. The extension, which will run from 2003-06, includes a three-year no-trade clause and surpasses the $32 million, four-year deal that closer Trevor Hoffman signed in 1999.
"I guess it's not bad for a third-string catcher, huh?" Nevin said Thursday. He was acquired as a backup catcher from Anaheim just before the 1999 season started, and became San Diego's starting third baseman that August.
Nevin, the top pick in the 1992 amateur draft by Houston, likely will move to first base next season when the Padres promote third baseman Sean Burroughs.
Nevin had career-best numbers for the third straight year, with his 41 homers and 126 RBIs ranking second on the Padres' single-season lists. He hit .306.
Nevin has 96 homers and 318 RBIs during three years in San Diego.
"I always knew I could play," Nevin said. "It was just a matter of getting an opportunity, and I got that in San Diego."