The Orioles officially announced their one-year deal with Derrek Lee today. The first baseman signed for $7.25MM and could earn a total of $10MM if he reaches certain performance bonuses, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (on Twitter). The veteran slugger is represented by CAA.
Lee turned down an $8.5MM offer from the Padres, according to Heyman and Dan Hayes of The North County Times tweets that he asked them for $10MM.
Baltimore has been in talks with Lee for a good portion of the winter and recently began zeroing in on him as talks with Adam LaRoche stalled. While LaRoche sought a three-year, $21MM committment, Lee made it known that he was willing to take a one-year deal.
Lee had a down year in 2010 by his standards, hitting .260/.347/.428 with 19 homers for the Cubs and Braves. Although he qualifies as a Type-A free agent, the Braves did not offer Lee arbitration and will not receive compensation draft picks.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun first reported the deal.
