LOCAL : Angels Sign Pitcher Langston to 5-Year, $16-Million Contract

In a bold move sure to send the skyrocketing price of baseball free agents even higher, the Angels today signed Mark Langston to a five-year contract worth $16 million, making the 29-year-old left-hander the game’s highest paid player. (Details, Page P10)

Langston, who had a combined 16-14 record with the Mariners and Expos last season, got the longest contract awarded a player since the mid-1980s. Only Tuesday, Rickey Henderson broke the $3-million contract barrier when he re-signed with the World Champion Oakland A’s for $12 million over four years. That was the first contract of that length since October, 1985, when Ken Oberkfell signed a four-year, $3-million agreement with the Atlanta Braves.

This off-season, which promises to be the busiest free-agent market ever, has seen Bryn Smith leave Montreal to sign a $6-million, three-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, Kirby Puckett re-sign with the Minnesota Twins for $9 million over three years and Pascual Perez sign with the New York Yankees for $5.7 million for three years.

Langston, a native of San Diego, had held discussions with the Dodgers and Yankees before signing with the already pitching-rich Angels. The staff last season had a collective earned-run average of 3.28, second-best in the American League.