Blyleven Is Latest to Flee Angels : Baseball: Right-hander, who signs with Minnesota for third time in a 23-year career, leaves reluctantly.

Pitcher Bert Blyleven, the latest player who said he didn’t want to leave the Angels but had little choice, signed a one-year, free-agent contract Thursday with the Minnesota Twins.

“They kept telling me over and over, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you,’ ” Blyleven said. “I can’t tell you how many times they told me that. Well, needless to say, they didn’t keep their promise.

“The Angels have treated me great over the years, and it’s a shame our relationship has to end this way.”

The signing is the Angels’ latest public relations setback. After losing Jim Abbott, Wally Joyner and Dave Winfield in the past 12 months, the Angels now will miss the opportunity of having one of their own earn his 300th victory. Blyleven, with a 287-250 record, could have joined Don Sutton as the only pitchers to win No. 300 in an Angel uniform.

“I’ve got a chance to win 300, and I was really hoping to do it with the Angels because of the way they’ve treated me,” Blyleven said. “What can I do? Now, I’ll have to do it with the Twins.”

Blyleven, 41, who has spent the last four seasons with the Angels, will be joining the Twins for the third time in a 23-year career. He signed a triple-A contract, according to a source familiar with the negotiations, that will guarantee him $300,000 with incentives that could push his earnings to $1.3 million.

It was almost identical to the contract he signed this past season, allowing him to attain all of his incentives if he pitches 180 innings.

“That’s what I don’t understand,” said Blyleven, who was paid $900,000, with incentives, last season. “I’ve been here the last four years, and I wanted to finish my career here. My main thing was to sign with the California Angels, and I was not even offered that opportunity.

“The question I’ve got to ask is why? Why wouldn’t they offer me at least what I made last year?”

Said Dan O’Brien, senior vice-president/baseball operations: “He still might have something left, but basically he had become a five-inning pitcher. We topped out at about $750,000-$800,000. We gave him what we thought was a fair offer.”

The Angels, who allowed Blyleven to become a free agent when they failed to offer arbitration by the Dec. 7 deadline, only recently opened negotiations with him. That annoyed Blyleven perhaps more than the pay cut.

“I don’t know what happened, to tell you the truth,” said Whitey Herzog, senior vice president/player personnel. “We wanted him back. We had a real need for him because we don’t have a fifth starter. What can I say, things just didn’t work out.”

Said Angel Manager Buck Rodgers: “I’m really going to miss him. I know how much he wanted to get that 300th win, but Bert’s got to look out for himself. I’ll tell you one thing, I’m sure going to be rooting for him.”

Blyleven, who could not have pitched for the Angels until May 1 because they did not offer arbitration, was 8-12 with a 4.74 earned run average in 1992. It was the fifth losing season of his career, which included the Comeback Player of the Year award in 1989 when he was 17-5.

“It’s going to be nice going to Minnesota because that’s where I started,” said Blyleven, who pitched for the Twins’ 1987 World Series championship team. “It also gives me more incentive, proving to them (the Angels) that they made the wrong decision.

“The only thing is, I just wish it didn’t have to happen this way.”

Blyleven’s Record

The major league record of Bert Blyleven, 41, who Thursday signed with the Minnesota Twins:

Year Team IP W-L ERA SO 1970 Minnesota 164 10-9 3.18 135 1971 Minnesota 278 16-15 2.82 224 1972 Minnesota 287 17-17 2.73 228 1973 Minnesota 325 20-17 2.52 258 1974 Minnesota 281 17-17 2.66 249 1975 Minnesota 276 15-10 3.00 233 1976 Minnesota 95 4-5 3.13 75 Texas 202 9-11 2.76 144 1977 Texas 235 14-12 2.72 182 1978 Pittsburgh 244 14-10 3.02 182 1979 Pittsburgh 237 12-5 3.61 172 1980 Pittsburgh 217 8-13 3.82 168 1981 Cleveland 159 11-7 2.89 107 1982 Cleveland 20 2-2 4.87 19 1983 Cleveland 156 7-10 3.91 123 1984 Cleveland 245 19-7 2.87 170 1985 Cleveland 180 9-11 3.26 129 Minnesota 114 8-5 3.00 77 1986 Minnesota 273 17-14 4.01 215 1987 Minnesota 267 15-12 4.01 196 1988 Minnesota 207 10-17 5.43 145 1989 Angels 241 17-5 2.73 131 1990 Angels 134 8-7 5.24 69 1991 Angels * 1992 Angels 133 8-12 4.74 70 Totals 4970 287-250 3.31 3401

* (Injured--Did not play)