Injury Puts McDowell on Shelf for a While

Jack McDowell will miss much if not all of the Angels’ 1999 season, sidelined by a shoulder injury for which he is scheduled to undergo surgery Feb. 2.

The pitcher’s agent and brother, Jim McDowell, said tests revealed a frayed labrum in the right shoulder. If arthroscopic surgery shows no further injury to the shoulder, rehabilitation typically requires at least four months. If the operation reveals additional damage that requires conventional surgery, McDowell could miss the season.

McDowell, 33, the 1993 American League Cy Young Award winner, considered retiring after the 1998 season, during which elbow trouble plagued him for the second consecutive year. After returning from the disabled list last August, however, McDowell went 4-1 in seven starts, prompting him to continue workouts into the fall. When rest did not resolve shoulder stiffness that flared last month, tests confirmed the injury, with McDowell opting for surgery rather than retirement.

“I think the whole process is beginning to wear on him,” Jim McDowell said, “but you take your disappointments and move on.”

The Angels paid McDowell $1.5 million last year, including $500,000 of a possible $5 million in incentives. His 1999 contract also offers $5 million in incentives, along with a $500,000 base salary, but guarantees him nothing.

“It would not have been fair to the organization to have planned on him being one of the five starters, and so we didn’t,” General Manager Bill Bavasi said. “But that doesn’t mean we didn’t hope he could do it. If anybody can come back, it’s him. He is not a guy I would get in the habit of betting against.”

Chuck Finley, Ken Hill and Tim Belcher head the Angels’ starting rotation. Steve Sparks and Omar Olivares are the leading contenders to complete the rotation, with Jason Dickson, Jarrod Washburn, Mark Petkovsek and Scott Schoeneweis also on the roster.

Notes

The Angels signed Petkovsek to a one-year contract, leaving Sparks as the lone player eligible for arbitration. Those players will exchange proposed salaries with their clubs today. . . . While the free-agent market still includes infielders Pat Meares and Carlos Baerga, Bavasi said the Angels are not shopping for a free-agent second baseman to either compete or split time with Randy Velarde.