Twins' Radke Rejects Offer
Twins pitcher Brad Radke has rejected a multi-year contract extension offer, but he wants to get a deal signed by Sunday, the day pitchers and catchers report to training camp.
Radke, who has one year left on his contract and can become a free agent at the end of the season, said he wants to enter camp free of worries about the contract extension talks.
"I want to go into spring training 100 percent focused on baseball and not 100 percent on business," he said. "When contracts come up, you start thinking about that and your mind starts wandering, and it's more stress than I really need."
Radke and his agent, Ron Simon, on Tuesday rejected a $21 million, three-year deal.
Simon wants a three-year contract totaling $23 million: $6.5 million in 2001, $6.5 million in 2002 and $8 million in 2003, plus a $1 million signing bonus in 2001 and 2002.
He also wants a $1 million retroactive signing bonus for this year; an option year worth $11 million; and the right for Radke to request a trade in the future if the team is not winning.
Radke, 27, is set to earn $3.5 million this season. He was 12-14 with a 3.75 ERA last season.
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