Cardinals sign OF Ankiel

Jan 18, 2008 - 7:23 PM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals on Friday signed Rick Ankiel to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration with the former pitcher turned slugging outfielder.

The deal is worth $900,000 but could reach $1 million based on incentives.

A once-promising lefthanded pitching prospect, Ankiel reinvented himself as a power-hitting outfielder and earned a call-up last August.

Ankiel, 28, batted .285 with 11 home runs and 49 RBI in just 47 games. But he went into a deep slump in September after it was revealed he had received shipments of HGH from a Florida rejuvenation clinic in 2004.

Following the reports, Ankiel hit just .207 (11-for-53) with four homers and 13 RBI from September 2-18.

Ankiel once was regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball and got off to a promising start as a rookie in 2000, going 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA en route to finishing second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.

After a bout with wildness which included throwing a record five wild pitches in one inning in the 2000 National League Division Series and several other setbacks, Ankiel decided to move to the outfield in 2005.

After missing the entire 2006 campaign with a knee injury, Ankiel batted .267 with 32 homers and 89 RBI in 102 games at Class AAA Memphis last season. He led the Pacific Coast League in homers and was second in RBI at the time of his call-up on August 9.