Abbott Signs a One-Year Contract With Angels, Will Pitch in Double-A

Left-hander Jim Abbott, selected by the Angels in the first round of the June free-agent draft, has signed a one-year contract and will report to the Midland, Tex., double-A team next season.

Terms of the deal, signed late Wednesday night at Abbott’s Flint, Mich., home, were not disclosed, but sources close to the team indicated that the figure is between $175,000 and $200,000.

Abbott, 20, who was born without a right hand, is trying out for the U.S. Olympic team in Millington, Tenn. Speaking by telephone, Abbott said contract negotiations were extended only because of logistics.

“I’ve been traveling with the Olympic team so I had to deal pretty much through my parents,” he said. “It took a long time, but only three or four meetings.”

General Manager Mike Port said the Angels selected Abbott, this year’s Sullivan Award winner and the eighth player picked overall, because they believed he was “the foremost left-handed pitcher in the draft.”

Abbott was 26-8 with a 3.03 earned-run average at the University of Michigan and is considered a cinch to make the Olympic team.