Rays Grant Balfour Signs with A's

[oakas]

So much for relief pitcher Grant Balfour returning to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Balfour has agreed to a two-year, $8.1-million deal with the A's that includes a 2013 option, ending results of a physical scheduled for Monday.

Also, another possibility to join the Rays lineup is off the board as Jim Thome re-signed with the Twins.

Balfour will be the sixth reliever to leave the Rays and sign elsewhere. They will get two draft picks for him, but because Oakland finished among the 15 worst teams, it's first-round picks is protected. Instead, the Rays would get another compensation pick between rounds one and two (their seventh), and Oakland's second-round pick.

Overall, the Rays would have three first-round picks, 10 before the start of the second round and 12 in the first two rounds.

Earlier this week, Balfour was considering a return to the Rays on a one-year deal, having been unable to land the multi-yeat contract he was seeking. With the A's offer including two guaranteed years, he found it. Plus, the A's reportedly agreed not to offer him arbitration at the end of the deal so he would be a free agent without compensation.