Former White Sox All-Star pitcher arrested in California on drug charges. The pitcher was arrested with a heavy amount of heroin and cocaine.
Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Esteban Loaiza was arrested on Friday according to reports in San Diego County. The former MLB pitcher and two-time All-Star was arrested for transporting 44 pounds of heroin and cocaine according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Loaiza’s bail is reportedly set at $200,000 and he is due to appear in court this Wednesday.
Loaiza had his best season in the majors with the Sox in 2003. That year, he not only started the All-Star Game in Chicago at U.S. Cellular Field, but he came in second place in Cy Young Award voting. Loaiza was eventually beat out by the late Roy Halladay but had an impressive season nonetheless. He finished with a 21-9 record and 2.90 ERA.
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The very next season, however, Loaiza was unable to have the same success but was selected to his second consecutive All-Star Game.The Sox would make one of their better trades in team history when they traded Loaiza to the New York Yankees in exchange for Jose Contreras in 2004. The trade worked out well for the Sox as Contreras was an integral part of the teams’ success in 2005.
For the rest of Loaiza’s career, he would never come close to being as successful as he was with the Sox in 2003. He bounced around with many different organizations after his stint in New York in 2004.
This is a new one: Esteban Loaiza, drug kingpin.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 12, 2018
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
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In 2005, he pitched with the Washington Nationals and had a solid 12-10 record with a 3.77 ERA. He would pitch with the Oakland Athletics from 2006-2007 and then with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007 and 2008. Loaiza ended his career with the Sox in 2008, but only pitched three innings with the team.