On February 9th, Former MLB Pitcher Esteban Loaiza was arrested for possession of 44 pounds of heroin and cocaine, according to San Diego police reports. This Wednesday, Loaiza will be in court to face felony drug charges.
A Look Back on His Career
Loaiza pitched in the majors for 14 seasons. Throughout his 14-year career he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (four years), the Texas Rangers (three years), the Chicago White Sox (three years), the Toronto Blue Jays (three years), the Oakland Athletics (two years), the Los Angeles Dodgers (two years), the Washington Nationals (one year), and the New York Yankees (one year).
The right-handed pitcher started in 377 games, had a record of 126-114, posted an ERA of 4.65, notched 14 complete games (six shutouts), had 2,099 innings pitched, and struck out 1,382 batters. He had a career WAR of 23.0 and posted his best WAR with the White Sox in 2003, when he had a WAR of 7.2. During that same season Loaiza finished second in the Cy Young race (behind the AL Cy Young winner Roy Halladay).
Loaiza was a two-time All-Star (2003 and 2004) and was the AL strikeout leader during the 2003 season.
Loaiza Busted for 44 Pounds of Heroin and Cocaine
Loaiza had his bail set at $200,000. Univision questions if the former pitcher can post bail with his financial situation. Univision notes that Loaiza was once married to late singer Jenni Rivera, but the singer filed for divorce months before her death in a plane crash. There have been allegations against Loaiza for fraud, and that would only put Loaiza in a deeper hole than he already is.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo tweeted the details of Loaiza’s arrest.
This is a new one: Esteban Loaiza, drug kingpin.
The second-winningest pitcher from Mexico in MLB history was arrested Friday with 20 kilos of heroin or cocaine, according to San Diego police records. He'll be in court Wednesday to face felony drug charges. Details are in pics. pic.twitter.com/312pf21Q4F
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 12, 2018
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