Abbott Unhappy About Raise : Angels: Club renews his contract. He will receive $185,000 this season.

Jim Abbott, the first Angel rookie pitcher to reach double figures in victories in four years, said Friday that the team’s decision to unilaterally renew his contract and pay him $185,000 this season “kind of hurts.”

Abbott earned the minimum of $68,000 last season and as a second-year player is not Abbott, who made a rare jump by going directly from college ball to the major leagues, was 12-12 with a 3.92 earned-run average in 181 1/3 innings. He was the first Angel rookie left-hander to reach double figures since Frank Tanana in 1974.

“We didn’t ask for the moon,” Abbott said. “I’m not real happy with it. We went in and we talked about how I contributed a lot to the Angels on and off the field and they didn’t agree. We really went in with an offer we felt was fair based on my performance. You look at guys around the league who have won less games, and they’re going to be paid $80,000 to $100,000 more.

“We just feel there was a pretty good commitment on our part toward the Angel organization and they said there wasn’t. I’m a little disappointed. In these things, you should compare yourself with people in your class and they ranked me at the bottom of the class.”

The Angels also renewed the contract of pitcher Mike Fetters, who was 12-8 last season with triple-A Edmonton. Seven players also agreed to new contracts, catchers John Orton and Ron Tingley, infielders Mark McLemore, Kent Anderson and Bobby Rose, outfielder Dante Bichette and pitcher Rich Monteleone.

No terms were disclosed in any case. The Angels have all 38 of their players under contract.

Abbott’s agent, Scott Boros, said that in arguing for a higher salary he compared Abbott with to the Atlanta Braves’ John Smoltz, the Seattle Mariners’ Brian Holman and the Baltimore Orioles’ Bob Milacki, among others.

Smoltz, who was 12-11 with a 2.94 ERA in 208 innings, recently signed for $210,000 plus $55,000 in incentives. Milacki was 14-12 with a 3.74 ERA in 243 innings, and he recently signed for $235,000 plus $40,000 in incentives. Abbott’s contract has no incentive clauses. Holman was 8-10 with a 3.44 ERA and signed for $195,000.

Boros also contended that Abbott should be compensated for attracting fans to Anaheim Stadium. He presented the Angels with data showing that the team’s average attendance in Abbott’s home starts was 5,000 higher than in games started by other pitchers.

“I thought Mr. (Gene) Autry would particularly understand Jim Abbott’s entertainment value,” Boros said. “(The attendance increase) was pretty reflective that his value was above average for a major league baseball player but the Angels said they do not recognize that value.”

General Manager Mike Port said the raise given Abbott was substantial and deserved.

“We evaluated his performance to the best of the club’s capacity and tired to look at it in an economic framework,” Port said. “We’ve had the capability of renewing since March 1, but we wanted to give our fellows every conceivable opportunity to present their case.”