Ex-Dodger Nomo Signs With Brewers

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers signed former Dodger right-hander Hideo Nomo on Thursday, prolonging a career in decline.

The pitching-thin Brewers are believed to be the only team willing to guarantee Nomo big league starts.

He is scheduled to start Sunday for Milwaukee’s double-A club at Huntsville, Ala., and then join the Brewers on the road next week. Nomo, who will earn the major league minimum of $200,000 when he joins the team, is expected to start Friday at San Francisco.

“I just felt like it’s trying to catch lightning in a bottle,” Brewer General Manager Sal Bando said. “If he re-establishes himself, great, then we benefit. If he doesn’t, we’re not stuck with a big contract.”

Nomo, pounded in spring training, was released by the New York Mets on March 26. They gave him $719,262 in termination pay, based on the one-year, $2,925,000 contract he’d signed in the off-season.

The 1995 National League rookie of the year signed with the Chicago Cubs on April 2, going 1-1 with a 3.71 earned-run average in three starts for their triple-A affiliate. But many scouts have said Nomo no longer has the velocity to pitch effectively in the major leagues.

The Cubs released Nomo on April 23 because he believed he was ready to pitch again in the majors, and they didn’t. Nomo would have received an $800,000 base salary if he had been added to the Cubs’ roster, and could have earned $2 million in incentives.