PHILADELPHIA (AP)—The Philadelphia Phillies have signed lefty Dontrelle
Willis to a one-year contract, worth $850,000.

The 30-year-old Willis was the 2003 NL Rookie of the Year with Florida and
finished second in Cy Young Award voting in 2005. He was 1-6 with a 5.00 ERA for
Cincinnati last year.

The deal was announced Thursday, and includes $400,000 in performance
bonuses, including $25,000 for 30 plate appearances, which is an unusual
provision for a pitcher.

Willis is expected to pitch out of the bullpen for the Phillies, who’ve won
five straight NL East titles. He’s 72-69 with a 4.17 ERA in nine seasons with
four teams. Willis has made just three relief appearances in 205 career games.

“Dontrelle, I believe, is at a point in his career where he is ready to
make the transition to being an effective reliever,” general manager Ruben
Amaro Jr. said.

“Because of his experience, past success and overall positive energy, we
feel this will be an opportunity to benefit both him and the team, especially
with the success he has had against left-handed hitters, both recently and over
the course of his career.”

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies have signed lefty Dontrelle Willis to a one-year contract, worth $850,000.

The 30-year-old Willis was the 2003 NL Rookie of the Year with Florida and finished second in Cy Young Award voting in 2005. He was 1-6 with a 5.00 ERA for Cincinnati last year.

The deal was announced Thursday, and includes $400,000 in performance bonuses, including $25,000 for 30 plate appearances, which is an unusual provision for a pitcher.

Willis is expected to pitch out of the bullpen for the Phillies, who’ve won five straight NL East titles. He’s 72-69 with a 4.17 ERA in nine seasons with four teams. Willis has made just three relief appearances in 205 career games.

“Dontrelle, I believe, is at a point in his career where he is ready to make the transition to being an effective reliever,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

“Because of his experience, past success and overall positive energy, we feel this will be an opportunity to benefit both him and the team, especially with the success he has had against left-handed hitters, both recently and over the course of his career.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A person familiar with the deal says the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a one-year contract with lefty Dontrelle Willis.

The person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Tuesday because the deal is pending a physical, says Willis will make about $1 million. The 30-year-old Willis was the 2003 NL Rookie of the Year with Florida and finished second in Cy Young Award voting in 2005. He was 1-6 with a 5.00 ERA for Cincinnati last year.

Willis is expected to pitch out of the bullpen for the Phillies, who’ve won five straight NL East titles. He’s 72-69 with a 4.17 ERA in nine seasons with four teams. Willis has made just three relief appearances in 205 career games.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

General manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. continued to add pieces to his Philadelphia Phillies roster when he signed veteran pitcher Dontrelle Willis to a one-year contract.

The move allows the team to add a left arm that was very effective against left-handed bats last season.

From the beginning

Willis was originally selected by the Chicago Cubs in the eighth round of the 2000 amateur draft. He never pitched in the big leagues for Chicago and was later traded to the Florida (now Miami) Marlins in a multi-player transaction in 2002.

He posted the highest winning percentage of his career (.700) in 2003 when he went 14-6 for a Marlins team that defeated the New York Yankees in that season’s World Series. His efforts earned him an All-Star berth and the National League Rookie of the Year award honors. At 21, it seemed as though the Oakland, Calif. native was at the beginning of a brilliant career.

Willis’ next season actually foreshadowed others that were yet to come, as he went 10-11 with a 4.02 ERA. Then, he bounced back to produce the best year of his career in 2005. He went 22-10, made the All-Star team and finished runner-up in the Cy Young Award voting. That was his last great performance to-date.

More recently

The ‘D-train’ had a decent year in 2006, going 12-12, but followed that with a rough 2007 campaign. His 10-15 record, 5.17 ERA and a salary that was scheduled to escalate over $10 million in future years facilitated a trade to the Detroit Tigers after the season.

The Tiger years lasted through 2010 and resulted in a 2-8 record and a 6.86 ERA. Injury issues, an inability to regain mound focus and a WHIP (walks + hits per innings pitched) that amazingly ballooned over 2.000 appeared to put Willis firmly into the category of a has-been.

But, when you’re a left-handed pitcher who hasn’t yet turned 30, there’s always hope.

What about now?

After spending some time in the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants organizations, Willis signed a 2011 free agent contract with the Cincinnati Reds. This past season he started 13 games, went 1-6, had a 5.00 ERA and a 1.520 WHIP.

While his overall numbers weren’t great, he did have success against left-handed batters. Considering that Antonio Bastardo is the team’s only current left-handed reliever with more than a few games of major league bullpen experience, the Phillies are likely to give Willis the chance to serve as a lefty specialist.

Pitching coach Rich Dubee has helped many men play to their strengths during his time with the team. That type of positive influence should put Willis in position to make further progress in 2012.

After earning a Communications degree from Penn State in 1990, Sean started his career in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons front office. At that time they were the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A farm team. He has written professionally for over two decades. Read his Sports Blog: Insight and follow him on Twitter @ SeanyOB

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Left-handed pitcher Dontrelle Willis, who once gave the Philadelphia Phillies headaches while hurling for Florida and most recently played for Cincinnati, has agreed to a one-year-deal with the Phillies, mlb.com is reporting on Twitter.

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs re-tweeted Todd Zolecki’s initial confirmation.

The 6-foot, 4-inch Willis, 29, was 1-6 last year with the Reds with a 5.00 earned run average. He is 72-69 in his nine-year career with a 4.17 ERA.

The Associated Press, citing a source, said later this morning that, if he passes a physical, the 2003 National League rookie of the year will make about $1 million. He is expected to pitch out of the bullpen, the AP reports.

Was the signing of Dontrelle Willis a good move by the Philadelphia Phillies?

DALLAS (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles have hired former Philadelphia Phillies general manager Lee Thomas as a special assistant to new front office head Dan Duquette.

Thomas was GM of the Phillies from June 1988 to December 1997 and also worked for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1970-88.

Thomas was a special assistant and an assistant GM to Duquette with the Red Sox, and was a pro scout for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2004-06.

Baltimore also said Sunday it had hired Fred Ferreira as executive director of international recruiting. A former executive with the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos and Florida Marlins, Ferreira signed Vladimir Guerrero, Bernie Williams and Orlando Cabrera.

Duquette was hired last month as the Orioles’ executive vice president of baseball operations.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.