Valenzuela Goes Back to Double A

Pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, released last Friday by the Angels, will report to their double-A farm club at Midland, Tex., Friday, according to Valenzuela’s agent, Tony DeMarco.

Valenzuela, 30, was 0-2 with a 12.15 earned-run average in two attempts at winning the fifth spot in the starting rotation. He was placed on the disabled list June 13, a day after his second start, when an abnormality was found in a cardiogram he underwent. Further tests found “crimping” in an artery leading to his heart, a condition that was not deemed serious. He was cleared to resume pitching July 1 but didn’t rejoin the Angels because he sought a 20-day rehabilitation assignment to triple-A Edmonton, and club officials believed he would need more than 20 days to pitch himself back into shape.

Unwilling to specify when they would recall him from the minors, the Angels placed him on waivers but extended an invitation for him to report to Edmonton.

DeMarco said he and Angel Senior Vice President Dan O’Brien agreed Wednesday that Valenzuela will join Midland and the triple-A Edmonton Trappers for a maximum of 30 days from his first start, or until Aug. 23. “Then, we expect him to go back to the Angels,” DeMarco said. “If not, Fernando would be free to go wherever he desires.”

O’Brien, who attended Tuesday’s All-Star game in Toronto, was tending to club business Wednesday and couldn’t be reached for comment. Club President Richard Brown, who returned to California from Toronto Wednesday, also could not be contacted.

Tim Mead, the Angels’ director of media relations, said nothing was official, but he did not rule out the possibility Valenzuela’s signing. “Things had never broken off completely,” Mead said. “There have been conversations.”

DeMarco said Valenzuela will sign a minor league contract, the terms of which he would not disclose.

Valenzuela was released by the Dodgers March 28 and signed to a minor league contract by the Angels May 20. He made three minor league starts, one for Class-A Palm Springs and two for Midland, before signing a major league contract for $300,000 plus bonuses on June 4. He made two starts for the Angels.