ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Gabe Kapler was rewarded for a strong 2000 season on Friday, getting a $5.6 million, three-year contract from the Texas Rangers.
Kapler, 25, gets a $150,000 signing bonus and a $400,000 salary this season, up from a $280,000 salary last year. He’ll get $1.8 million in 2002 and $3.25 million in 2003.
While Kapler is not eligible for free agency until after the 2004 season, the key for Texas was to avoid the often-bitter arbitration process. Kapler would have become eligible after this season.
The outfielder hit .302 with 14 homers and 66 RBIs in 116 games last season, his first in Texas after being acquired from Detroit in the trade for Juan Gonzalez. His season was highlighted by a 28-game hitting streak, the longest in the majors last year.
Kapler, a workout buff who has appeared on the cover of fitness magazines, has a career average of .272 with 32 homers and 115 RBIs.
Also Friday, the Rangers signed pitchers Darwin Cubillan and Jonathan Johnson to one-year contracts and signed outfielder Curtis Goodwin to a minor-league contract with Triple-A Oklahoma.
Cubillan, acquired from Toronto last July, had a 10.70 ERA in 13 games with the Rangers and a 1.08 ERA in eight games with Oklahoma.
Johnson, taken by Texas with the seventh overall pick in the 1995 amateur draft, was 1-1 with a 6.21 ERA in 15 games with the Rangers last season.
Goodwin has played for five teams in five big league seasons and spent last year in the minors.