Blue Jays: Former pitcher, Loaiza arrested on drug charges

LOS ANGELES - APRIL 15: Pitcher Esteban Loaiza
LOS ANGELES - APRIL 15: Pitcher Esteban Loaiza

Former Blue Jays pitcher, Esteban Loaiza, was arrested on Friday in possession of cocaine and heroin, and will be in court on Wednesday.

On the list of things you didn’t think you’d read today, here’s a real doozy. Former Blue Jays pitcher Estevan Loaiza was found in possession of 20 kilograms of heroin and cocaine, and was arrested in the San Diego area. He’ll be set to appear in court on Wednesday, and based on what’s been released so far, things don’t look good for the former big league pitcher.

Loaiza last pitched in the big leagues back in 2008 for the Chicago White Sox, and finished with a career record of 126-114 over the course of a 14 year career. He played for __ teams including the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, Oakland A’s, Los Angeles Dodgers, and of course the Toronto Blue Jays.

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He pitched in Toronto back in the 2001-02 seasons, going 20-21 while making 55 starts in a Blue Jays’ uniform. He was brought over in a trade with the Rangers, which is perhaps how Loaiza is best known in some Blue Jays’ circles.

The trade was made at a time when the Blue Jays felt they were close to competing, so they sent a prospect by the name of Michael Young (yes, that one), along with Darwin Cubillan.

Loaiza never really lived up the expectations the Blue Jays had hoped for from him, and as a result those teams weren’t able to make the playoffs during that time.

Unfortunately for the second winningest pitcher in Mexico’s history, things have taken a pretty bad turn for the worse in his personal life, at least according to the news that broke on Monday. His bail has been set at $200,000.

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