Steve Howe’s Contract Said to Be Retroactive

Pitcher Steve Howe’s contract with the Texas Rangers provides that he will be paid retroactively to July 12, nearly a month before he was signed, according to USA Today, but Ranger President Michael Stone denied the report Wednesday.

USA Today said that Howe, whose career has been plagued by drug problems, signed a contract that will pay him a full-season rate of $350,000, retroactive to the day he joined their Oklahoma City affiliate of the American Assn. The newspaper also said the contract stipulates that to be paid, Howe must comply with requirements of his drug abuse after-care program.