DALLAS (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a $17 million, one-year contract to add outfielder Michael Conforto and a $22 million, two-year deal to retain right-hander Blake Treinen, people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity on Sunday night because the agreements were subject to successful physicals. Conforto's deal was first reported by MLB.com.
Conforto, a former first-round draft pick who turns 32 on March 1, hit .237 with 20 homers and 66 RBIs this year for San Francisco in the final season of a $36 million, two-year contract.
He played for the New York Mets from 2015-21, becoming an All-Star in 2017. Conforto turned down an $18.4 million offer from the Mets, then didn’t sign for 2022 as he recovered from right shoulder surgery.
Conforto has a .251 career average with 167 homers and 520 RBIs in nine major league seasons.
Treinen, 36, missed the 2023 big league season while recovering from labrum and rotator cuff surgery on Nov. 11, 2022. He bruised a lung on March 9 when hit by a line drive off the bat of the Texas Rangers’ Sam Huff and didn't make his season debut until May 5.
Treinen went 7-3 with a 1.93 ERA in 50 relief appearances, striking out 56 and walking 11 in 46 2/3 innings. He was 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA in nine postseason appearances for the World Series champions.
He had a $1 million base salary last season in the option year of a contract that called for an $8 million salary in 2023.
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FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen throws against the New York Yankees during the sixth inning in Game 5 of the baseball World Series, Oct. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
FILE - San Francisco Giants' Michael Conforto runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run to score Heliot Ramos against the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Aug. 23, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
THOMASTON, Maine (AP) — Kaja Veilleux has been hunting New England attic treasures for more than 50 years. He once found a copy of the Declaration of Independence sitting on a pile of trash, and he made headlines this year when he stumbled upon a million-dollar portrait gathering dust in an old farmhouse in Maine that may have been painted by the Dutch master Rembrandt.
Then there was the time, Veilleux said, he was shown a $50,000 gold coin kicking around in a tool drawer — only to have the well-meaning owner destroy much of its value before he could auction it by using a scouring pad to clean it — and scratch it.
“It's like a treasure hunt every day," Veilleux said with a chuckle.
Many people dream of cashing in on some dusty, old heirloom. In October, three sisters from Ohio sold a rare dime for more than half-a-million dollars. Two years ago, a case of old hockey cards found in a Canadian home sold for more than $3.7 million.
Veilleux, 73, helps people sort gems from junk when he appraises furniture, antiques and art by using his knowledge of what similar items have sold for in the past. But art auctions can be fickle. Who could have guessed a banana duct-taped to a wall could sell for more than $6 million?
Veilleux started collecting coins at age 8 and soon found he had a good memory for visual objects. His training for a career in antique dealing has all been on the job, he said, including a lesson he learned early when he spent most of the money he had at the time on bidding for a beautiful miniature painting.
When he got home from the auction and looked at the artwork under a magnifying glass, he realized it was a print, with dabs of paint added to make it look genuine.
“I paid $350 for a $35 object, which always taught me to look at things very carefully,” Veilleux said.
In the late 1990s, he was at a house call in South Freeport, Maine. It was a hoarder's house, he said, where piles of trash were awaiting their trip to an already-full dumpster. Atop one pile, Veilleux spotted what was later confirmed to be a 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence.
He auctioned it for $99,000 but the state of Maine sued to take possession of the document, and won. That meant both the buyer and seller ended up missing out.
This year's artwork find was his most valuable yet. Veilleux said he and an assistant were on a house call in Camden, Maine.
“We start going through the house and there were rare little things and big things everywhere,” Veilleux said. “Finally, we are on the third floor near the attic, and we find a stack of paintings, and in it is this beautiful portrait of a young woman by Rembrandt.”
The painting of a teenage girl in a black dress with a white ruffled collar was sold as “after Rembrandt,” meaning it was in the style of the 17th Century master but wasn't proven to be by him. The artwork sold for $1.4 million, including auction fees, indicating the buyer was willing to take a significant gamble the painting was a Rembrandt — although it would have likely sold for many times that price with a proven provenance.
Each Tuesday, people bring in their heirlooms and collector’s items to Veilleux's office in Thomaston, Maine, to see what they might fetch at auction. The appraisal is free but Veilleux gets a commission if they end up selling the pieces at his Thomaston Place Auction Galleries.
Erika Taylor stopped by on a recent Tuesday with two artworks her father had collected in China in the 1940s, when he was living there after escaping from Nazi Germany. One depicted a blooming peony and the other a grasshopper.
She said Veilleux had given her an initial estimate of up to $30,000 for each of the artworks, based on the photographs she'd shown him. But she was in for bad news.
When Veilleux inspected the artworks closely, he declared they were prints, because paint would have permeated the paper.
“It's disappointing," Taylor said. “But he has a lot of experience.”
Still, Taylor wasn't totally convinced and said she might seek a second opinion.
Another seller, Jean Koenig, got better news. She brought in a large aquamarine ring. She said her father found the gem in a Brazilian mine and her grandmother had fashioned it into a ring, adding rubies and diamonds.
Koenig ended up agreeing to auction the ring, with an estimated sales price of between $10,000 and $15,000. She plans to split the proceeds with her seven siblings.
“It's just been sitting in a box for years," she said. “We decided it was time.”
Associate appraiser Darrin Guitreau takes a close look at an inscription on the back of a silver spoon at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Appraiser Kaja Veilleux examines a painting brought in by Wanda Morris, background, and her husband, Jeff Morris, right, while associate appraiser Darrin Guitreau, left, takes notes, at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Kaja Veilleux gives his appraisal of an Native American antique at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Appraiser Kaja Veilleux looks through a collection of silver items at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Appraiser Kaja Veilleux examines jewelry for a client at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A collection of American and foreign coins await appraisal at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A small oil painting is examined by appraiser Kaja Veilleux for a client at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Silverware is weighed during an appraisal at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Appraiser Kaja Veilleux examines jewelry for a client at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
This undated image provided by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries shows Kaja Veilleux at the podium having just sold Lot 2363, ‘After Rembrandt’, for $1.4 million. (Thomaston Place Auction Galleries via AP)
Appraiser Kaja Veilleux, seated, examines a document while associate appraiser Darrin Guitreau takes notes at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Appraiser Kaja Veilleux inspects a bronze piece for a client at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
