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Jose Guillen will lose only $24,043.72 instead of $84,153.01 for his season-ending suspension.
Outfielder Jose Guillen and the Anaheim Angels reached a financial settlement Friday to resolve the grievance filed after the team recently suspended him without pay for the rest of the season.
The sides agreed that Guillen will not rejoin the Angels for the remainder of the regular season. Guillen's penalty was reduced from seven days without pay to two days without pay, according to two people in baseball with knowledge of the settlement who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Guillen had a salary of $2.2 million this season, so seven days would have cost him $84,153.01. Now, he will lose only $24,043.72.
"The point of the settlement was to get a fair settlement," Angels general manager Bill Stoneman said before Anaheim opened a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics. "That and possibly to get the advantage of eliminating the distraction."
Guillen is set to make $3.5 million next year and has a $4 million club option for 2006 with a $300,000 buyout. The Angels are considering keeping him around for next year.
Guillen was suspended Sept. 26 following his outburst after being removed for a pinch-runner the previous day. The players' union filed a grievance on Sept. 27.
"Any time you get a resolution before a hearing for a grievance there is a lot less distraction than it could have been sitting in a room for five hours," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We would definitely keep the door open for Jose because we recognize the talent. There are some things, obviously, that have to be worked through. We'd have to sit down and talk about those things. We recognize what Jose has done to get us to this point."
Anaheim began the day tied with Oakland for the AL West lead. If the Angels win the division, they will have until the day of their playoff opener to decide whether to put Guillen on the postseason roster. But Guillen isn't expected to be on the playoff roster.
When the Angels suspended Guillen, they said the penalty would continue into the postseason if they made it that far. Guillen hit .294 with 27 homers and a career-high 104 RBIs in 148 games.
Guillen was pulled for a pinch-runner during a 5-3 win over Oakland. After he walked off the field as the A's changed pitchers, Guillen tossed his helmet toward the side of the dugout where Scioscia was standing in and walked to the opposite side of the dugout. He then slammed his glove against the wall.
Scioscia later said the suspension "wasn't a knee-jerk reaction" and was based on more than just what happened in that game.
Guillen, who signed a $6 million, two-year contract during the offseason, went on a profanity-laced tirade after being beaned in a game at Toronto in May, complaining that his teammates weren't retaliating for him. Anaheim pitcher Jarrod Washburn was annoyed Guillen went public with his complaint.
Washburn said Friday the team was moving on without Guillen and supportive of the decision to suspend him.
"Does it make us happy he screwed up and got into this situation? No," Washburn said. "The team, I think, was prepared to accept any decision made about the situation. We're worried about winning two of three from Oakland. The off-field stuff I don't think we're worried about or concerning ourselves with."
Source: AP