Finley Accepts One-Year Deal With Angels

Instead of giving baseball’s wheel of fortune another spin and going for the arbitration jackpot, Angel pitcher Chuck Finley played it safe Thursday and accepted a one-year contract for $725,000 plus incentives.

Not that he would have lost either way. Finley, a 27-year-old left-hander, earned $180,000 last season and had filed for arbitration at $810,000. The Angels had offered $600,000.

Catcher Bill Schroeder also decided to forgo arbitration and agreed to a one-year deal that will pay him $407,000 plus incentives. Schroeder, who played in only 41 games last season as Lance Parrish’s backup, had filed at $515,000 against the Angels’ figure of $372,500, the same figure he earned last season.

Finley compiled a career-best 16-9 record last season with a team-high 156 strikeouts in 199 2/3 innings. He ranked second in victories to Bert Blyleven, who had 17, and was named to the American League All-Star team.

His 2.57 earned-run average placed him second to Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen (2.16) for the ERA title, and his nine complete games ranked third in the AL behind Saberhagen (12) and the Tigers’ Jack Morris (10). His career record is 30-32 with a 3.58 ERA.

Deciding to take the Angels’ offer wasn’t difficult, said Alan Hendricks, who represents Finley.

“It’s called risk analysis,” Hendricks said by phone from his office in Houston. “You look at the spread between the figures and analyze what could happen. There’s no such thing as a sure thing in arbitration.”

Finley is a prime example of the extent to which players have benefitted from baseball’s ongoing salary escalation. In 1987, he had a split contract that called for him to be paid $50,000 in the minor leagues and $77,500 in the major leagues. He received $111,000 in 1988 and his contract was renewed for 1989 at $180,000.

The agreements with Finley and Schroeder reduced to six the number of Angels scheduled to go through arbitration hearings. Of the 12 who filed, Finley, Schroeder, Mike Witt, Willie Fraser and Max Venable agreed to contracts and the club declined to go to arbitration with Greg Minton.

Still scheduled for hearings are pitchers Scott Bailes, Kirk McCaskill and Bob McClure, third baseman Jack Howell, first baseman Wally Joyner and center fielder Devon White.

Hearings will begin today in Chicago and Los Angeles. The first Angel player on the docket is McClure, whose case is scheduled to be heard today in Los Angeles. He filed at $880,000 and the Angels filed at $650,000. Last season, he received a base salary of $200,00, plus $75,000 in bonuses.

McClure’s agent, Alan Meersand, said Thursday night the Angels’ last offer was not satisfactory and that McClure’s hearing would take place at 2 p.m., right after Kansas City outfielder Bo Jackson’s.

Joyner is next on Monday, also in Los Angeles. He filed for $1.75 million and the Angels filed at $1.225 million.

Max Oliveras, who will manage the Angels’ triple-A Edmonton affiliate next season, has managed San Juan of the Puerto Rican League to a berth in the Caribbean World Series. Oliveras’ team won an intra-league, round-robin tournament to advance to the Series. San Juan will face the winners of the Venezuelan and Dominican Republic leagues for the championship.