Henderson Agrees to New Contract With A’s

Rickey Henderson agreed to a four-year contract with the Oakland Athletics that is worth $12 million, the Associated Press learned today.

It is the first four-year deal in baseball since October, 1985, when Ken Oberkfell signed with the Atlanta Braves.

Henderson, a key figure in the A’s first World Series championship in 15 years, becomes baseball’s second $3 million-a-year player, according to player-union and agent sources.

The A’s called a press conference for this afternoon.

“We’re not going to sign anything today, but we have agreed in principle to a deal,” Richie Bry, Henderson’s agent, said in San Francisco.

Bry had said earlier the outfielder wanted to give the A’s every opportunity to sign him because he is a native of the Bay area. The New York Yankees also had expressed interest in signing Henderson again.

Henderson became a free agent after the World Series ended four weeks ago.

The A’s outfielder, who will be 31 Christmas Day, starred in the American League playoffs and the World Series. Oakland reacquired him from the Yankees on June 21 for pitchers Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk and outfielder Luis Polonia.

He was named the outstanding player in the playoffs against Toronto, batting .400 with two home runs, five RBIs and eight stolen bases in eight attempts. In the A’s four-game World Series sweep of the San Francisco Giants, Henderson batted .474 with a home run and three steals in four attempts.

Henderson batted .247 with 25 stolen bases in 65 games with the Yankees. After being traded back to Oakland, he batted .294 and stole 52 bases in 94 games.