Ohka and Blue Jays reach preliminary agreement

TORONTO (AP) _ Right-hander Tomo Ohka and the Toronto Blue Jays reached a preliminary agreement Tuesday on a one-year, $1.5 million contract. <br/><br/>Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said the

Wednesday, January 24th 2007, 8:36 am

By: News On 6

TORONTO (AP) _ Right-hander Tomo Ohka and the Toronto Blue Jays reached a preliminary agreement Tuesday on a one-year, $1.5 million contract.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said the deal was pending a physical. Performances bonuses could make the deal worth as much as $3 million.

Ohka, who turns 31 in March, went 4-5 with a 4.85 ERA in 18 starts with Milwaukee last season. He missed more than two months due to a partial tear of his right rotator cuff and didn't pitch in late September because of a right strained hamstring.

Agent Jim Masteralexis said he turned down two-year offers for a chance to prove he's healthy.

``He'll be available to come back on the market next year after one healthy year pitching for a good team with a good offense,'' Masteralexis said.

``Of all the teams that recruited Ohka, with the exception of the Mets, we felt Toronto was the most competitive.''

The Nationals and Pirates were also interested.

Ohka is 48-58 with 4.04 ERA in 174 career games, including 162 starts. He made $4.53 million with Milwaukee last season.

He'll be examined by Toronto's doctors in Florida later this week.

Masteralexis said he's just had some unfortunate injuries.

``He was 11-9 with a 4.04 ERA in 2005 and that's after breaking his forearm and returning in season,'' Masteralexis said. ``Ohka was hurt last year, but he returned in season without surgery and pitched until he pulled his hamstring in Washington, which is just a freak injury, so that fact that he didn't require surgery and pitched effectively at the end season was encouraging.''

Toronto, seeking to compete with the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in the high-spending AL East, has been looking to add depth to its rotation after failing to sign free agent starters Ted Lilly and Gill Meche. The Blue Jays' rotation is headed by Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett. Ohka will compete for a spot in the rotation with John Thomson, Casey Janssen, Shaun Marcum and Josh Towers.