Catcher Fabregas Back With Angels as Backup

Well-traveled catcher Jorge Fabregas will return to the team with whom he began his professional career, signing a one-year, $500,000 contract with the Angels on Friday.

The deal includes incentives for games played that could push his salary to $750,000 and virtually eliminates any chance of free-agent reserve catcher Matt Walbeck returning to Anaheim.

Fabregas, who will compete with Shawn Wooten for the backup job behind Bengie Molina, has played for six teams--the Chicago White Sox, Arizona, the New York Mets, Florida, Atlanta and Kansas City--since the Angels traded him to the White Sox on May 18, 1997.

The left-handed hitting Fabregas, a reserve catcher on Atlanta’s 1999 World Series team, batted .282 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 43 games for the Royals during a 2000 season marred by nagging injuries.

Fabregas, 31, is known more for his defense than his offense--he has a strong arm and good receiving skills but is a career .249 hitter with only 18 homers and 173 RBIs in seven major league seasons.