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The New York Mets announced on Saturday that the club has signed righthanded pitcher Bartolo Colon to a two-year contract.
Colon, 40, is a three-time All-Star, including last season and the 2005 American League Cy Young winner. He has won double-digit games 10 times during his 16-year major league career with the Cleveland Indians, Montreal Expos, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics.
The 5-11, 265-pounder made 30 starts in 2013 and finished second in the AL in wins (18), ERA (2.65) and walks per nine innings (1.37). He was tied for the major league lead with three shutouts and was tied for third in the AL with three complete games. He worked 6.0 or more innings in 24 of his 30 starts, going 18-1 in those games. He surrendered two or fewer runs 20 times while issuing one or no walks 23 times. Colon finished sixth in the AL Cy Young voting.
Over the last three years (2011-2013), Colon has posted the 10th-lowest ERA (3.32) in the AL and has thrown over 500 innings (507.0).
He ranks third all-time among Dominican-born pitchers in wins (189), innings (2,583.2) and strikeouts (1,950) behind Pedro Martinez and Juan Marichal. Colon is 189-128 in 411 major league games (405 starts), with a 3.94 ERA and 1,950 strikeouts.
Colon won a career-high 21 games in 2005 while posting a 3.48 ERA (86 earned runs/222.2 innings) in 33 starts with the Angels to capture the AL Cy Young Award. In addition to last year, Colon was named to the All-Star team in 1998 with Cleveland and 2005 with the Angels.
Bartolo has funded the construction of an amateur baseball stadium in Altamira in the Dominican Republic.
Colon was suspended 50 games in 2012 after violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.