Escobar Signs Three-Year Extension

In spring training, Kelvim Escobar said, the Angels offered to extend his contract for two years and $15 million. He turned them down and said he would pitch his way to a better deal.

He did. After his performance in April and May convinced the Angels his elbow can handle a 200-inning workload, they signed him Wednesday to a three-year extension for $28.5 million.

He might have gotten more money or a longer contract as a free agent this fall -- Jarrod Washburn got four years and $37.5 million from the Seattle Mariners last year -- but Escobar said he had no hesitation about forfeiting his shot at the open market.

“Who doesn’t want to play here?” Escobar said. “This organization should be in the top two or three in baseball.”

Escobar, 30, makes $6.5 million this season. His extension includes a $1.5-million signing bonus and salaries of $8.5 million next season, $9 million in 2008 and $9.5 million in 2009.

The Angels based their spring offer on their uncertainty over how Escobar’s elbow would respond in his return to the starting rotation. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow last June and was limited to relief duty upon his return in September.

In 10 starts this season, he is 5-5 with a 3.96 earned-run average, with 12 walks and 47 strikeouts in 61 innings. He is averaging 96 pitches a start, enough to quell the Angels’ uncertainty.

“Having seen him pitch deep into ballgames, it’s no longer a concern,” General Manager Bill Stoneman said.

So Stoneman called agent Peter Greenberg last week, and the two agreed to do a deal quickly or leave the matter for the off-season.

Escobar said negotiations took “one day” and said he was relieved he would no longer have to consider how every start might affect his free agency.

“Even if you don’t want to think about it,” he said, “every time you go out there, you think, you have to pitch well, or you don’t want to blow out your arm.”

The Angels now have Bartolo Colon signed through 2007, John Lackey through 2008 and Escobar through 2009, with Ervin Santana under club control through 2011. Jeff Weaver would like to return, but the Angels appear more likely to let him go in free agency and complete their rotation with his brother, Jered.

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Center fielder Darin Erstad could be back in the lineup next week. Erstad said he was scheduled to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment Friday at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. He’ll report to triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday, he said, with the hope of rejoining the Angels when the next homestand starts June 9.

Erstad has not played since April 30 because of irritation in his right ankle.

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Outfielder Vladimir Guerrero is one of the eight position players leading the balloting for the American League All-Star team. The other seven play for the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.... The Angels’ May 11 rainout in Chicago has been rescheduled for Aug. 7, baseball sources said. The Angels will play in Anaheim on Aug. 6, in Chicago on Aug. 7 and in Cleveland on Aug. 8, the original starting date for a trip that extends to New York and Texas.... Colon makes his first rehabilitation start today, at Rancho Cucamonga.

Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this report.