Harris Gets $3 Million : Baseball: Padre starter avoids arbitration by signing contract.

Patience on the mound made Padre Greg Harris one of best starting pitchers in the National League the second half of the 1991 season. That same patience landed him a two-year, $3-million contract with the Padres Tuesday.

Harris, 28, agreed to a deal that will pay him $1 million in 1992 and $2 million in 1993. It included a $50,000 signing bonus.

Harris, who was scheduled for arbitration Friday in Chicago, had asked for a one-year salary of $1.19 million. The Padres filed for $750,000. In signing, Harris--whose 2.23 earned-run average was one of the league’s best last year--the Padres now have all of their arbitration players under contract.

“Any time I take the field, it’s about winning and losing; it has nothing to do with dollar signs,” said Harris, who finished with a 9-5 record but was 8-4 with a 2.11 ERA in 16 starts after the All-Star break.

“Of course, this gives me a little bit more stability. This is going to make the game more fun to me,” he said. “It always is, but this is a little icing on the cake at this point. All I’m looking to do right now is perform.”

The Padres paid Harris, a right-hander, $342,500 in 1991 but had proposed a two-year contract before the season. Harris, who is beginning his fourth major league season and became eligible for arbitration for the first time in 1992, decided to wait.

The Padres have had negotiations for two months with Harris and agent John Adler. John Barr, Padres assistant general manager, said he and Joe McIlvaine, general manager, worked out the latest two-year proposal Monday with Tom Werner, managing general partner.

It was the kind of offer Adler was looking for, based on Harris’ lifetime 27-22 record, his low ERA and his strikeout-to-walk ratio of 313-131. Harris spent most of the first half of 1991 rehabilitating a tendinitis injury in his right elbow. But opposing batters hit only .233 against him and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was 95-27, including six intentional walks.

“We’re really dealing here with a thoroughbred, and we wanted him paid that way,” Adler said. “We took a real careful look at the comparables. We looked at the ballplayers that had the credentials that Greg has had over a similar period of service in the major leagues. And we looked at what was happening in the marketplace in the progression or escalation of salaries in 1992 versus 1991. Then we factored in Greg’s accomplishments with the San Diego Padres.”

“This is sort of a dreaded part of the year, taking on the arbitration situation,” Harris said after Tuesday’s five-hour meeting. “Now it’s cut and dried and I’m cleared through ’93. It’s a great feeling and I’m really happy.”

McIlvaine said no further negotiations with free-agent shortstop Kurt Stillwell took place but they could resume as early as today.

“Greg Harris was our focus the entire day,” he said. “We’re still talking to different ballclubs about possibilities for a change of players. We’re still talking to some free agents and also working with our own players.”

Padre Arbitration Scoreboard

Player Offered Asked Result Darrin Jackson $560,000 $975,000 Settled for $805,000 Dann Bilardello $125,000 $235,000 Lost in arbitration Benito Santiago $2,500,000 $3,300,000 Won in arbitration Mike Maddux $400,000 $620,000 Settled for $510,000 Randy Myers $2,050,000 $2,700,000 Settled for $2,350,000 Greg Harris $750,000 $1,190,000 Settled on 2-year contract for total of $3,050,000