NEW YORK — A person familiar with the negotiations says 6-foot-10 pitching prospect Andrew Brackman has agreed to a one-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the agreement had not been announced.

Brackman, let go by the New York Yankees, would be paid $500,000 if he’s in the major leagues, The 26-year-old would get $480,000 if he’s in the minors.

New York signed the right-hander for a $3.35 million bonus in 2007, knowing he likely would need elbow ligament-replacement surgery. He made his major league debut on Sept. 22 this year and had three appearances, all against Tampa Bay. He allowed one hit and three walks in 2 1-3 scoreless innings.

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NEW YORK (AP)—A person familiar with the negotiations says 6-foot-10
pitching prospect Andrew Brackman has agreed to a one-year contract with the
Cincinnati Reds.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the agreement had
not been announced.

Brackman, let go by the New York Yankees, would be paid $500,000 if he’s in
the major leagues, The 26-year-old would get $480,000 if he’s in the minors.

New York signed the right-hander for a $3.35 million bonus in 2007, knowing
he likely would need elbow ligament-replacement surgery. He made his major
league debut on Sept. 22 this year and had three appearances, all against Tampa
Bay. He allowed one hit and three walks in 2 1-3 scoreless innings.

The New York Yankees will focus on
“pitching, pitching, pitching” as they seek to improve their
starting rotation and bullpen during the Major League Baseball
offseason, General Manager Brian Cashman said.

Cashman said hitting isn’t a concern for New York, which
had a major league best 222 regular-season home runs this year
while ranking second to the Boston Red Sox in runs scored and
runs batted in. By contrast, Yankees pitchers combined for a
3.73 earned run average to rank 11th of 30 major league teams.

“As we enter the process this winter, I don’t anticipate a
bat being of need at all,” Cashman told reporters on a
conference call yesterday. “Our main focus and efforts are
going to be to continue to support and reinforce the pitching
rotation and bullpen.”

Cashman’s comments probably rule out attempts by the
Yankees to sign first basemen Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder,
the top sluggers in this year’s free agency class.

Fielder ranked second in the majors during the regular
season with 120 runs batted in and was fifth with 38 home runs
for the Milwaukee Brewers, one more than Pujols had for the St.
Louis Cardinals. Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira of the
Yankees finished second and third in the majors with 41 and 39
home runs respectively.

“Offense is not an issue that we’ll be focusing on,”
Cashman said. “It will be the pitching. I feel our offense is
very, very strong.”

Free Agents

C.J. Wilson, Mark Buehrle and Hiroki Kuroda are leading
pitchers entering free agency.

Wilson finished the regular season with a 16-7 record and
2.94 ERA for the Texas Rangers, who lost the World Series in
seven games to the Cardinals. Buehrle went 13-9 with a 3.59 ERA
for the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kuroda
finished the year with a 13-16 mark and 3.07 ERA.

The Yankees two days ago agreed to an extension with All-
Star pitcher CC Sabathia that could keep him in pinstripes
through the 2017 season. Locking in Sabathia was a key part of
the team’s strategy, Cashman said.

“He’s certainly the most important piece as we entered
this process,” Cashman said. “CC provides us a lot of
security.”

While the Yankees re-signed Sabathia, they had eight
players become free agents, including starting pitchers Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia, and catcher Jorge Posada, who has been
with the team since 1995. Free agents are allowed to sign with
any team starting at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow.

Burnett to Stay

A.J. Burnett will probably remain in the starting rotation
and New York is open to re-signing Colon and Garcia, Cashman
said. Burnett had a 5.15 ERA in the regular season this year to
rank 94th in the major leagues.

The Yankees, who had an opening day payroll of about $202
million that was the highest in baseball, won the American
League East this year with a 97-65 record and fell in the first
round of the playoffs to the Detroit Tigers.

Cashman yesterday signed a three-year contract extension.
The 44-year-old’s previous three-year, $6 million contract
expired two days ago. Financial terms of his new deal weren’t
disclosed.

Cashman joined the Yankees in 1986 as a 19-year-old intern.
He was 31, baseball’s youngest general manager at the time, when
he took over from Bob Watson in February 1998, two years after
the Yankees won their first title in 18 years.

In Cashman’s 14 seasons in the team’s front office, the
Yankees have won 11 AL East division titles and World Series
championships in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009.

Cashman’s career winning percentage of .605 (1,369-895) is
the best of any major league general manager with at least five
seasons of experience since 1950.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Dex McLuskey in Dallas at
dmcluskey@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net

NEW YORK (AP)—Pitcher Andrew Brackman(notes) has been released by the New York
Yankees, four years after signing a contract for a $3.35 million bonus.

New York drafted Brackman in the first round with the 30th pick in 2007,
knowing the 6-foot-10 right-hander from North Carolina State likely would need
elbow ligament-replacement surgery. He had the operation that Aug 24.

Brackman made his major league debut on Sept. 22 this year and had three
appearances, all against Tampa Bay. He allowed one hit and three walks in 2 1-3
scoreless innings.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday the team declined its
2012 option, which called for a salary of $1 million in the major leagues and
$500,000 in the minors. Brackman’s contract required that he be released if the
option was declined.

New York is responsible for the entire signing bonus, which must be paid by
January.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Former Major League Baseball pitcher Hideki Irabu, who started for the New York Yankees for three seasons in the late 1990s, was found dead at his Los Angeles-area home in an apparent suicide, the coroner’s office said on Thursday.

Irabu, 42, one of the first players to join the major leagues from the Japanese leagues, was discovered at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes on Wednesday by a friend, said Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County.

“The case is being investigated as a suicide,” Winter said, adding that an autopsy had yet to be performed. He declined to disclose any further details about the circumstances of Irabu’s death.

The celebrity news website TMZ.com cited an unnamed law enforcement source as saying it appeared Irabu, who was famously disparaged for his weight by the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, had hanged himself.

Irabu pitched six seasons in the major leagues with mixed success, the first three as a starting pitcher with the New York Yankees from 1997 to 1999.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Hideki Irabu,” the Yankees said in a statement.

“Every player that wears the pinstripes is forever a part of the Yankees family, and his death is felt throughout our organization. Our sympathies and support go out to his wife, Kyonsu, his two children, and all of his friends and loved ones.”

The Yankees traded Irabu to the Montreal Expos in 2000 and he spent his final season in 2002 with the Texas Rangers, who switched him to the closer’s role. He compiled a career record of 34-35 with a career earned run average of 5.15, and also saved 16 games.

The hard-throwing right-hander was purchased by the San Diego Padres from the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League in January 1997. But he said he only wanted to pitch Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, and the Padres eventually shipped him as part of a trade in May 1997.

The Yankees signed him to a $12.8 million, four-year contract, and after a brief stint in the minors put him into their starting rotation.

Irabu was best remembered for incurring the wrath of Steinbrenner after a spring training game in 1999 following his best big league season, in which he posted a 13-9 record.

The volatile Yankees owner, who had criticized the beefy Irabu for being overweight, became enraged after the pitcher failed to cover first base on a ground ball during the exhibition game and called him a “fat … toad.”

In 2009, Irabu came out of retirement and joined the Long Beach Armada of the independent Golden Baseball League. He posted a 5-3 record in 10 starts, with an ERA of 3.58 and said he intended to return to the Japanese professional leagues.

He was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving on May 17, 2010, in Redondo Beach, California.

(Additional reporting by Larry Fine; Editing by Greg McCune and Cynthia Johnston)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)—The Tampa Bay Rays’ slide in the standings
extended to another game with costly walks.

Russell Martin(notes) drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the top of the
ninth inning, giving the New York Yankees a 5-4 victory over the Rays on Monday
night.

Rookie left-hander Alex Torres(notes) (0-1) yielded the winning run in his major
league debut after New York loaded the bases on Curtis Granderson’s(notes) single, an
intentional walk to Nick Swisher(notes) and another walk to Andruw Jones(notes). Martin worked
Torres to a full count, fouled off a pitch and then took ball four to push
Granderson across the plate.

“You give the kid a lot of credit,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He
had some guts. Threw changeups. We got fortunate that we got a run by walks. For
his first outing, that’s a tough situation.”

Robinson Cano(notes), Mark Teixeira(notes), Brett Gardner(notes) and Eduardo Nunez(notes) also drove in
runs for the second-place Yankees, who rallied from a 4-1 deficit to remain 1 1/2
games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East standings.

Tampa Bay dropped a season-high eight games back of the Red Sox.

“It’s not a very optimal position, but believe me, I’m not losing any kind
of hope on this one,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Torres threw 44 pitches, and was optioned to Triple-A Durham after the game.

“The circumstances of the debut were not easy,” Maddon said. “Honestly, I
thought he did great. I thought we had to walk Swisher. He’s a very dangerous
right-hand hitter.”

Tampa Bay’s bullpen has issued 15 walks over the past two games.

The Rays wasted a nice pitching performance by rookie Alex Cobb(notes), who allowed
two runs and three hits after being called up from the minors to make his sixth
major league start.

The 23-year-old right-hander limited the Yankees to Cano’s RBI grounder in
the first and Teixeira’s run-scoring single in the fifth before turning over a
4-2 lead to a depleted bullpen.

Sunday night’s 1-0, 16-inning loss to Boston left Maddon with limited
options after Cobb departed. The Yankees tied it 4-all with two runs charged to
reliever Cesar Ramos(notes) in the eighth, but wasted a chance to take the lead when
Derek Jeter(notes) struck out with the potential go-ahead run at third base.

After going a combined 3 for 50 in the extra-innings loss to the Red Sox,
the Rays scored three times and matched their hit total from the 5-hour,
44-minute marathon in the first inning alone against Yankees starter A.J.
Burnett(notes). Evan Longoria(notes) drove in the first two with a double and Burnett’s
throwing error permitted the third run to score.

Casey Kotchman’s(notes) bases-loaded infield single made it 4-1 in the second.

Both Cobb and catcher Robinson Chirinos(notes), who made his major league debut and
doubled in his first at-bat, were recalled from Durham earlier in the day.

Cobb gave up a run in the first without allowing the Yankees to get the ball
out of the infield. Granderson stole second after reaching on a one-out, bunt
single, took third on second baseman Sean Rodriguez’s(notes) fielding error and scored
when Cano grounded into a force play.

All-Star David Robertson(notes) (3-0) pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out
two to get the victory. Mariano Rivera(notes) worked a one-two-three ninth to earn his
24th save in 28 opportunities.

The Rays starter issued two-out walks to Brett Gardner in the second and
Jorge Posada(notes) in the fourth, but New York didn’t manage another hit until
Teixeira’s RBI single trimmed New York’s deficit to 4-2. Moments later, a
lightning strike caused a bank of lights along the first base line to lose power
and play was stopped for 18 minutes.

Burnett allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. The right-hander
walked six, but the Rays didn’t take full advantage and stranded 10 baserunners
through the first six innings.

“We had opportunities to get more runs and we did not do it,” Maddon said.

Jeter went 1 for 5, moving ahead of Hall of Famer Al Kaline into 26th on the
career hit with No. 3,008 on a seventh-inning single off Joel Peralta(notes).

NOTES: To make room on the roster for Cobb, Chirinos and Torres, the Rays
designated RHP Adam Russell(notes) for assignment and placed C Jose Lobaton(notes) (left knee
sprain) and RHP Juan Cruz(notes) (right groin strain) on the 15-day disabled list. …
Rays minor league LHP Matt Moore(notes) was promoted to Triple-A Durham from Double-A
Montgomery.