Baseball Digest Daily

The Chicago White Sox have acquired left-handed reliever Andrew Sisco from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for first baseman/outfielder Ross Gload.

Sisco, 23 (turns 24 on January 13), has gone 3-8 with one save and a 4.85 ERA (72 ER/133.2 IP) in 132 games over the last two seasons with the Royals. The 6-foot-10, 270-pounder was 2-5 with a 3.11 ERA in 67 games in 2005 before going 1-3 with a 7.10 ERA in 65 games last year. He has struck out 128 hitters in 133.2 career IP (8.6 per 9.0 IP).

Sisco was originally chosen by the Chicago Cubs in the second round of the June 2001 draft and was a Rule 5 selection by the Royals in December 2004.

Gload, 30, batted .327 (51-156) with three home runs and 18 RBI in 77 games with the White Sox in 2006. Over three seasons with the Sox, he has hit .308 (133-432) with 10 home runs and 67 RBI. Gload also has appeared in the major leagues with the Cubs (2000) and Colorado (2002).

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Vernon Wells to Officially Remain in Toronto

by Joe Hamrahi on Sat 16 Dec 2006 01:11 AM EST

All-Star center fielder Vernon Wells and the Toronto Blue Jays agreed Friday night to a $126 million, seven-year contract extension through 2014, the sixth-largest deal in baseball history.

The contract value trails only those of Alex Rodriguez ($252 million), Derek Jeter ($189 million), Manny Ramirez ($160 million), Todd Helton ($141.5 million) and Alfonso Soriano ($136 million). It is the 13th $100 million deal in baseball history and the third of the offseason, following those of Soriano with the Cubs and Carlos Lee ($100 million) with Houston.

Wells is due $5.6 million next season in the final year of his old contract. The extension calls for a $25.5 million signing bonus, payable in three $8.5 million installments each March 1 in 2008, 2009 and 2010. He will receive a salary of just $500,000 in 2008 and $1.5 million in 2009, but his salary jumps to $12.5 million in 2010 and $23 million in 2011. Wells receives $21 million in each of the final three seasons.

Under the extension, Wells has the right to terminate his agreement after the 2011 season and become eligible for free agency.

He gets a full no-trade clause and could earn bonuses of $250,000 for MVP, $200,000 for World Series MVP, $150,000 for league championship series MVP and $100,000 for receiving the most votes in his league in All-Star game balloting.

In addition, he will donate $143,000 annually to the Jays Care Foundation.

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