Betancourt Inks a New Deal; Invites to Spring Training
After just wrapping up the last article on it, the Indians have sent out the official presser on relief pitcher Rafael Betancourt inking a new deal, two years with the second being a club option. The signing means now that we’re all just holding our breath for Casey Blake to get his deal done and then we’ll all be one big happy family. Here’s the press release from the Indians on Rafael:
CLEVELAND, OH — The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has signed RHP RAFAEL BETANCOURT to a two-year contract thru the 2009 season with a club option for 2010.
Rafael, 32, was one of the most dominant relievers in baseball in 2007, posting a record of 5-1 w/3 saves and a 1.47 ERA in 68 relief appearances (79.1IP, 51H, 13ER, 9BB, 80K). He posted 31 holds in front of closer Joe Borowski, tied for first among AL relievers while his 1.47 ERA was the 2nd lowest relief and his .183 average against the 4th lowest mark. He also ranked among the AL’s relievers in inherited runners % (9.1%, 2nd best), runners per 9.0IP (6.8, 2nd), strikeouts (80, 5th) and innings (4th, 79.1). Betancourt posted scoreless outings in 55 of his 68 appearances as he did not allow more than 1ER in any of his outings and 6 of his 7 post-season outings were scoreless.
Betancourt owns a career Major League record of 19-16 with 12 saves and a 2.80ERA in 273 games (308.1IP, 258H, 96ER, 68BB, 313K) since 2003 after signing a minor league free agent contract with Cleveland prior to the 2003 season. He has posted an ERA under 4.00 in each of his 5 big league seasons with the Indians. He began his career as an infielder in the Boston Red Sox organization prior to being converted to a pitcher. Betancourt will make an annual donation to Cleveland Indians Charities throughout the life of the contract.
Also – the team sent out another presser right after that announcing that extended non-roster invitations to a bunch of players for Spring Training. Here they are:
LOFGREN, Chuck, LHP
MARTIN, JD, RHP
STEVENS, Jeffrey, RHP
GIMENEZ, Chris, CA
WALLACE, David, CA
BROWN, Jordan, INF
MILLS, Beau, INF
CROWE, Trevor, OF
Matt has covered Major League Baseball and the "other two" Pro teams in Cleveland since 1994. He has been on the beat of the Indians in full-time mode since 1996, working for various raido and print networks around the country.
