Milton settles for Cincinnati

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004 | 9:05 a.m.

SUN WIRE REPORTS

Left-handed pitcher Eric Milton finally received the contract he wanted on Monday, perhaps after he priced himself out of his preferred uniform.

Two weeks after Milton and his agent, Casey Close, saw their window of opportunity to sign with the New York Yankees slam on their fingers, Milton agreed to a three-year, $25.5 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds. It matched the total value of Matt Clement's contract with the Boston Red Sox, but was about $4.5 million more than the Yankees were willing to pay Milton.

So instead of rejoining the Yankees, the team that drafted him in the first round in 1996 -- which appeared to be his preference before the winter meetings this month in Anaheim, Calif. -- Milton remained in the National League with a team that has not made the playoffs since 1995 or finished above .500 since 2000.

"I wouldn't be sitting here today if I didn't think we have a real chance of winning," Milton, who pitched for Philadelphia last season, said Monday at a news conference in Cincinnati.

The Reds entered the bidding for Milton late and did not seem to fit the profile of a team he wanted to join.

Milton went 14-6 with a 4.75 earned run average for Philadelphia last season after missing almost all the 2003 season with Minnesota because of surgery on his left knee. The Twins traded him to Philadelphia last winter. Milton, 29, led the Phillies in victories, but he won only three games after the All-Star Game break, and the Phillies did not offer him arbitration.