KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Three-hundred-game winner Tom Glavine will pitch another season for the Atlanta Braves, completing a $1 million, one-year contract Friday that includes another $3.5 million in possible bonuses based on roster time.
Baseball’s active career wins leader was eager to return to the Braves after making only 13 starts last season, when he went on the disabled list for the first time in his long career.
“I had a sense of unfinished business,” said Glavine, who turns 43 next month. “I didn’t want my career to end the way it did last year.”
The left-hander was 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA last season, cut short by an elbow injury. He will continue his rehab in Atlanta for a couple of more weeks before joining the Braves at their Walt Disney World complex sometime in early March.
The two sides had been saying for more than a week that they expected to reach an agreement because Glavine had little desire to finish his career elsewhere. He was willing to take a significant cut from the $8 million he made last year. Glavine also agreed to defer some of his potential bonus money to give the Braves budget room to pursue a power-hitting outfielder.
Glavine, who has 305 wins in his 22-year career, would earn a $1 million bonus when he is placed on the active roster and $1.25 million each for 30 and 90 days on the active roster. The Braves can put off paying the $2.5 million from the final two levels.
“There were never any discussions in which another club was brought up,” general manager Frank Wren said. “The motivation and focus was always to try to get something done here. We appreciated that.”
Even though Glavine won’t be reporting to camp immediately, the Braves already put up his name on an empty locker next to Chipper Jones.
“I think he’s still got 13 or 14 wins in him,” outfielder Jeff Francoeur said. “He still knows how to pitch and he’s ready to prove it.”
Glavine, a 10-time All-Star, won the NL Cy Young Award in 1991 and 1998 with the Braves. He pitched for the Mets from 2003-07 and earned his 300th win with New York in 2007 before returning to Atlanta for the 2008 season, looking to close his career where it started.
Glavine will serve as Atlanta’s fifth starter behind Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami. The lefty will have some extra time to rehab his elbow and shoulder, since the Braves won’t need a fifth starter until April 19 because of off days.
“I don’t necessarily want to be the guy who has to pitch 220 innings and win every time he goes to the mound,” Glavine said. “I’m looking forward to this stage of my career where I don’t have to deal with that kind of pressure and can be more of a complement to our rotation.”
The deal with Glavine was a welcome bit of news in the Braves’ camp, still reeling from Ken Griffey Jr.’s decision to sign with the Seattle Mariners.
The 39-year-old Griffey had approached the Braves last week, expressing a desire to finish his career in Atlanta, but apparently had a change of heart. He informed the Braves late Wednesday he was returning to the city where he played his first 11 big league seasons.
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