Padres Give Langston a Chance to Pitch in the Majors Again

Mark Langston will have an opportunity to continue his baseball career, courtesy of the San Diego Padres, who signed the former Angel pitcher to a minor league contract Wednesday.

Langston, 37 and an Angel for eight of his 14 major league seasons, has been hampered because of injuries the last two seasons. In 1997, he started only nine games because of an elbow injury that required surgery in May.

After a four-year contract that paid him $4.5 million in 1997 expired, Langston had hoped to re-sign with the Angels. But in December the team declined to offer him arbitration, meaning the Angels couldn’t sign him until May 1.

“I wanted to stay in Southern California after the Angel thing didn’t work out quite the way I wanted it to,” Langston said. “The Padres were a team that has always been high on my list.”

Langston said he believes he can still be effective in the majors. His comeback from elbow surgery lasted one inning, as he gave up five runs and six hits against the Yankees on Aug. 20, but he said he returned too soon.