Kennedy Remains With Angels

The Angels signed Adam Kennedy on Thursday to a three-year, $8.85-million contract that reflected the second baseman’s willingness to take a discounted salary in exchange for long-term security.

Kennedy, who will make $2.5 million in 2004, could have commanded a significantly higher salary through arbitration, his agent, Paul Cohen said. But Kennedy’s multiyear deal gives the Riverside native satisfaction in knowing that he will continue to play near home and in front of his father, who attends every game at Edison Field.

“I enjoy being in Anaheim and everything has been a great fit for my family around here,” said Kennedy, who made $2.27 million last season. “ ... It’s pretty special to have your family there every day.”

General Manager Bill Stoneman said the deal is one that would allow the Angels to keep one of the American League’s top young infielders at a bargain rate. Kennedy will make $3 million in 2005 and $3.35 million in 2006, plus up to $150,000 in performance incentives.

“The advantage that we get as a club is we have cost certainty so we can make our plans going forward with Adam Kennedy from a contractual standpoint being a known quantity,” Stoneman said.

Kennedy could have priced himself out of the Angels’ long-term plans by accepting a one-year deal that would have made him too expensive to keep if he had a stellar 2004. Or he could have played himself into being released with a subpar season.

Kennedy, who turns 28 next month, hit .269 last season with a career-high 13 home runs and 49 runs batted in. The most valuable player of the 2002 American League championship series also tied a career high with 22 stolen bases. He finished the season hitting safely in 17 of his last 21 games, after his playing time had been limited against left-handers earlier in the season.

Kennedy said he did not view the extended nature of the contract as a guarantee that he would be the everyday second baseman from now on.

“If [Manager Mike Scioscia] has another situation where he feels good in a platoon and we’re winning, that may be the case again,” Kennedy said. “If things work out like they did in 2002 [when Kennedy hit a career-high .312], who’s to argue with that?”

Kennedy said his left hand, which was broken Sept. 27 against Texas when he was hit by a pitch, is 100% and that he expects to start swinging a bat Monday.

Stoneman said it was Kennedy’s improvement on defense, combined with his dedication to the team, that prompted the Angels to offer a multiyear deal. Kennedy’s .990 fielding percentage was second among league second basemen behind Seattle’s Bret Boone.

Shortstop David Eckstein, Kennedy’s double-play partner, is one of four Angels who remain eligible for arbitration provided the team offers them contracts by Saturday’s non-tender deadline. Stoneman wouldn’t discuss contract negotiations but said he was planning on Eckstein or Alfredo Amezaga as his 2004 shortstop “because they’re the guys we have there right now.”

Reliever Ben Weber’s agent, Andy Lipman, said the Angels have made several one-year offers that he and his client considered unacceptable but expressed optimism that the team would retain Weber by offering a contract by the Saturday deadline.

Starter Jarrod Washburn and utilityman Shawn Wooten, seeking a job as the regular first baseman, also are eligible for arbitration.

In another development, free-agent outfielder Jose Guillen’s agent, Adam Katz, said his client was flying to Southern California on Thursday night while negotiations with the Angels continued and would take a physical if necessary.

Guillen could be introduced as the Angel right fielder as soon as today.

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By the Numbers

Adam Kennedy’s career statistics:

*--* Year Te G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP am 1999 StL 33 102 12 26 10 1 1 16 3 8 0 255 284 2000 An 156 598 82 159 33 11 9 72 28 73 22 266 300 ge ls 2001 An 137 478 48 129 25 3 6 40 27 71 12 270 318 ge ls 2002 An 144 474 65 148 32 6 7 52 19 80 17 312 345 ge ls 2003 An 143 449 71 121 17 1 13 49 45 73 22 269 344 ge ls Total 613 2101 278 583 117 22 36 229 122 305 73 277 323

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