Strawberry Gets One-Year Deal and Will Earn at Least $850,000

After a trip to the Betty Ford Center, a guilty plea for tax evasion that led to a $350,000 fine, two positive cocaine tests and a 60-day baseball suspension, Darryl Strawberry is returning to New York.

Strawberry, who left the New York Mets after the 1990 season to sign with the Dodgers, agreed Monday to a one-year contract with the Yankees that will guarantee him at least $850,000, including a $175,000 buyout of an option for next season at $1.8 million.

“I’d like to hang out the welcome mat and say he’s a part of our club and that he can help us in a positive way,” Yankee captain Don Mattingly said.

All negotiations were handled between Strawberry’s agent and Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, who kept the rest of the team’s management out of the process.

Strawberry, 33, is eligible to play Sunday.

Strawberry is the leading home run hitter in Met history, but since leaving New York in 1990 to join the Dodgers, he has struggled in all but one season.