ANGELS ACQUIRE ESCOBAR TO BE $19 MILLION STARTER.Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer ANAHEIM - The Toronto Blue Jays "Blue Jays" redirects here. For other uses, see Blue Jay (disambiguation).. The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. couldn't decide whether Kelvim Escobar Kelvim Jose Escobar Bolivar [ess-coe-BAR] (born April 11, 1976 in La Guaira, Venezuela) is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2004-present). He bats and throws right handed. was a starter or reliever, bouncing him between their rotation and bullpen in five of his seven major-league seasons. Angels general manager Bill Stoneman The Angels on Monday agreed to terms with Escobar on a three-year, $18.75 million contract, a bargain compared to the three-year, $36 million deal top free agent Bartolo Colon reportedly rejected from the Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are a professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The White Sox are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the White Sox have played in U.S. , but a moderate gamble given that Escobar never has pitched 200 innings or started more than 30 games a season. Escobar, 27, received a $750,000 signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee by a company as an incentive to join that company. These are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive to the employee e.g. if the annual salary is lower than they desire. and will make $5.5 million in 2004, $6 million in '05 and $6.5 million in '06. Escobar saved 38 games for Toronto in 2002, then moved to Toronto's rotation last May and went 12-8 with a 3.92 ERA in 26 starts. In 1999, his only season as a full-time starter, he went 14-11 with a But the Angels believe his mid-90s fastball and split-finger pitch will play better on Edison Field's grass than SkyDome and that development is merging with his physical talent. ``He's not going to be bouncing back and forth with us,'' Stoneman said. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion