November 18, 200322 yr Credit: ESPN.com TORONTO -- Pat Hentgen returned to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, signing a one-year, $2.2 million deal with the team where he won a Cy Young Award in 1996. Hentgen, a 35-year-old right-hander entering his 14th major-league season, spent the past three seasons with Baltimore. He became a free agent this fall when the Orioles declined a $4 million option for 2004. He earned $1.2 million in 2003. Hentgen was drafted by the Blue Jays in 1996 and spent his first nine seasons in the majors with them before being traded in 1999. He went 7-8 with a 4.09 ERA with Baltimore last season, but was 6-3 with a 3.10 ERA in 13 starts after the All-Star break working exclusively in the starting rotation. Before the break, Hentgen was 1-5 with a 5.25 ERA in 15 appearances (nine starts). "Pat's pitched in a lot of places where he hasn't had much run support. We want him in a place where he's not always dragging a 1-0 lead into the ninth," Bob LaMonte, Hentgen's agent, told ESPN Insider's Jerry Crasnick last week. "That wears on you after a while." Hentgen said he had more life on the ball in the second half because he recovered from the ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow in 2001. Hentgen won the AL Cy Young Award with the Blue Jays in 1996, when he went 20-10 with a 3.22 ERA. After the '99 season, he was dealt to St. Louis, a move that soured him on the Blue Jays. The team's ownership and management have changed since. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report
November 18, 200322 yr Everything but his record/ERA look good. Less hits than IP, low opp. avg.. Gave up a ton of HR's, though.
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