Reliever Mesa Signs With Phillies

PHILADELPHIA (AP) â€” Free agent reliever Jose Mesa signed a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. <br><br>Mesa was 4-6 with a 5.36 ERA with the Seattle Mariners last season, appearing

Friday, November 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) â€” Free agent reliever Jose Mesa signed a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

Mesa was 4-6 with a 5.36 ERA with the Seattle Mariners last season, appearing in 66 games and pitching 80 2-3 innings. He lost his closer's job to rookie Kazuhiro Sasaki during spring training.

Mesa filed for free agency Nov. 2 after Seattle rejected an option that would have been worth $4.1 million and instead gave him a $250,000 buyout. Mesa signed with Seattle as a free agent in November 1998.

Mesa is scheduled to stand trial Dec. 18 on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

In 1996, Cleveland police stopped Mesa in his car and found a gun in an unlocked compartment. Mesa was stopped because he was wanted on sex abuse charges based on allegations from two women. A jury later acquitted Mesa of rape, gross sexual imposition and theft charges.