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Top Falcon News... |
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| 02.25.10 -
ROD BARAJAS SIGNS WITH NEW YORK METS |
 Former Cerritos College catcher/1st baseman
Rod Barajas, who spent the last
two seasons playing for the Toronto Blue Jays,
has signed a one-year contract with the New York
Mets for a reported $500,000. There are enough
incentives in his contract that could make it
worth up to $2 million. Coming off his most
productive season in his 11-year career, where
he hit 19 home runs, drove in 71 runs and threw
out 34 percent of potential base stealers,
Barajas first considered signing with the Texas
Rangers, where he played from 2004-06.
"It was tough," Barajas told the Associated Press. "Going
into this offseason, if you had told me that I
wouldn't sign until camp had started I would
say, 'You're crazy.' It was a little
nerve-racking. I just wanted to be a part of a
team and start preparing myself and get out to
wherever I needed to go and get ready for
baseball."
The Mets attempted to sign free agent catcher Benjie Molina,
but when he re-signed with the San Francisco
Giants, they went after Barajas, who is the most
experienced of the six catchers the Mets have at
Spring Training.
"I think this is a team that last year on paper was just as
good as anyone in the National League, and
unfortunately when you go through the injuries
and lose the players they lost, it's going to be
tough to win," Barajas said. "The way I look at
it is just about everyone is back here again,
everyone is healthy and I feel like this was a
good chance to be on a team where I could play
quite a bit and also win."
During his career, Barajas has played with the Arizona
Diamondbacks (1999-2003), Texas Rangers
(2004-06), Philadelphia Phillies (2008) and the
Blue Jays (2008-09). Back in 2001, Barajas
played on the World Champion Diamondbacks team
and batted .333 with two home runs in the
playoffs, including one in the Fall Classic off
New York Yankee pitcher Mike Mussina. Now back
in the National League, Barajas had shown the
majority of his offensive power while playing in
the American League. In his five seasons in the
American League, Barajas his 77 of his career
92 home runs, which included a career-high 21
home runs in 2005.
While playing for the Falcons from 1994-95, Barajas was a 1st
Team All-South Coast Conference selection as a
designated hitter his freshman year and was a 2nd
Team selection as a first baseman his sophomore
campaign. He was voted the team's Most Valuable
Player as a freshman and was one of their team
captain's as a sophomore, as the team made their
last appearance in the state championship game,
where they lost to Santa Ana College. Although
he was undrafted, Barajas was signed by the
Arizona Diamondbacks at a tryout camp and was
one of the first players signed by the
organization.
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