Dodgers’ Scioscia Signed to 3-Year, $5.6-Million Pact

Ensuring that a controversial piece of their history will not repeat itself, the Dodgers on Thursday signed potential free agent Mike Scioscia to a three-year contract extension worth an estimated $5.6 million.

After spending a summer missing the leadoff hitting and spark of second baseman Steve Sax, who left the Dodgers for the New York Yankees via free agency last winter, the Dodgers showed that they did not want to let another leader get away.

Scioscia, now earning $1.1 million in the final year of a four-year deal, will receive a signing bonus of about $900,0000, with salaries of about $800,000 in 1990 and $1.9 million in 1991 and 1992. The figures are larger in the contract’s final two seasons as a protection against a possible work stoppage in the major leagues next season.

With Gary Carter’s contract expiring after this season, Scioscia will probably pass the New York Mets’ star and become baseball’s highest-paid catcher. Scioscia also is the first Dodger in recent memory to receive a new contract during the middle of the season.

“I wouldn’t point to Steve (Sax) or specifically to negotiations with Steve--it was important for us to sign Mike because he represents all we look for in a player,”’ Dodger Vice President Fred Claire said. “This winter, if he was a free agent, he would have been viewed as the No. 1 catcher in baseball. In my opinion, he is.”

Scioscia, who has been with the organization since signing as a first-round selection in June 1976, wanted to remain a Dodger.

“I haven’t found a better place to play . . . I made no secret that I wanted to stay a Dodger, and hopefully end my career with the Dodgers,” Scioscia said. “I didn’t want it to come to free agency, with everybody having their backs to the wall.”

Scioscia, who will turn 31 this winter, is in his ninth full season as a Dodger. He is hitting .244 with five homers and 31 runs batted in but is better known for his defensive skills and handling of the league’s top pitching staff.

He made his mark in Dodger history last Oct. 4, when his ninth-inning, two-run homer off the Mets’ Dwight Gooden tied Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers won the game in the 12th inning on Kirk Gibson’s homer.

The Dodgers have six remaining potential free agents--Fernando Valenzuela, Dave Anderson, Mickey Hatcher, Mike Morgan, John Shelby and John Tudor.