clarinews@clarinet.com (01/18/90)
DETROIT (UPI) -- Pitcher Jack Morris signed a two-year, $4.2 million contract Wednesday night with the Detroit Tigers. Morris will make $2.1 million this coming season, after making more than $1.9 million last year. But the second year of the contract, also for $2.1 million, will be at his option. The second-year option provision is unusual. The Tigers have signed many players to option years in the past, but the club -- not the player -- always has had the right to exercise the option. ``There have been very few contracts signed like that,'' said Tigers general manager Bill Lajoie. ``I think only one or two other players in baseball have had the option year belong to them.'' What the deal amounts to is that Morris will make $2.1 million in 1991 if he doesn't bounce back to full strength, but can turn down the amount if he feels he desrves more. ``As far as the Tigers are concerned, it's unique for Jack Morris and won't happen for anyone else on this team,'' Lajoie said. Morris, 34, is coming off his worst season. After averaging 18 victories the previous seven seasons, and leading all pitchers in the 1980s with 162 victories, he suffered his first serious injury in 1989, a fractured right elbow that interrupted his season on May 22. At the time, Morris was 2-7 with a 4.94 ERA. After returning on July 24, he continued to struggle with a 4-7 record, and a 4.82 ERA. Despite the injury, however, he was second in the American League with 10 complete games. ``Coming off his injury, it's a good solution for Jack,'' said Dick Moss, Morris' agent. ``If he's the Jack Morris of old, he'll exercise the option and return to the top of the scale. If not, he's guaranteed an extra $2.1 million.''