Chacon OKs $2.35 Million Deal With Rockies

DENVER (AP) _ Shawn Chacon and the Colorado Rockies avoided arbitration on Friday, agreeing to a $2.35 million, one-year contract. <br/><br/>An All-Star as a starter in 2003 when he went 11-8, Chacon struggled

Friday, February 4th 2005, 6:33 pm

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) _ Shawn Chacon and the Colorado Rockies avoided arbitration on Friday, agreeing to a $2.35 million, one-year contract.

An All-Star as a starter in 2003 when he went 11-8, Chacon struggled after being converted to closer last year. He became the first player in major league history to have 30 saves and an ERA over 7.00, finishing the year 1-9 with 35 saves and a 7-11 ERA.

Most of Chacon's troubles came from lack of command.

Unable to find the strike zone, the right-hander blew nine saves and had 52 walks in 63 1-3 innings. Chacon, 27, lost his job as closer the final week of the season and was shopped around during the offseason.

``He knew the business side, that if we could get quite a few prospects and help ourselves in the future that that's what we needed to do,'' Rockies owner Charlie Monfort said recently. ``He also realizes that we're happy to have him back in the fold and starting and working for a spot in the rotation.''

Chacon can earn an additional $275,000 in performance bonuses: $50,000 each for 170, 180, 190 and 200 innings, and $25,000 each for 26, 29 and 33 starts. He had asked for a raise from $1,925,000 to $2,925,000 in arbitration and had been offered $2.15 million.

Chacon was the last Colorado player remaining in arbitration. Right-hander Jason Jennings agreed to a $7 million, two-year contract and left-hander Joe Kennedy agreed to a $2.2 million, one-year deal.

Colorado also agreed to one-year contracts with right-hander Allan Simpson, left-hander Chris Narveson, infielder Garrett Atkins and outfielders Brad Hawpe and Jorge Piedra.