CHICAGO, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- As expected, the Chicago White Sox have exercised the 2004 club option on Esteban Loaiza.
The option is worth $4 million, a bargain rate after Loaiza, a 21-game winner, became the first White Sox pitcher to win 20 games since Jack McDowell in 1993 and tied Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers (21 in 1986) for the most wins by a Mexican-born pitcher.
Loaiza, 31, a candidate for the American League Cy Young Award, went 21-9 with a 2.90 ERA and a league-high 207 strikeouts in 34 starts for the White Sox in 2003.
He had a career record of 69-73 with a 4.88 ERA in eight major league seasons before signing a one-year contract with a club option with Chicago last January. Loaiza was 9-10 with a 5.71 ERA in 25 starts with Toronto in 2002.
He was the starting pitcher for the American League in the All-Star Game at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field.
