Major League Baseball

Villalona withdraws suit against Giants

Published Oct. 5, 2011 4:16 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Angel Villalona said Tuesday he is withdrawing his lawsuit against the San Francisco Giants after the team decided to reinstate him to its farm system.

Villalona had been charged in the September 2009 death of a 25-year-old man at a bar in his Caribbean homeland and was later stripped of his U.S. visa. But the family of the man he was accused of killing asked a judge to drop the case and he was freed on bond that November.

Villalona sued the Giants for $5 million in damages, alleging the team kept him on the inactive list even though he had been cleared of homicide charges.

He said in a statement to The Associated Press that he plans to return to baseball and meet all the terms of his contract with the Giants.

He received a $2.1 million bonus when the Giants signed him at age 16 in August 2006. It was the biggest bonus the franchise had ever given to an amateur player.

He was considered among the club's top prospects before the 2008 season and was selected for the Futures Game during All-Star festivities that year. San Francisco reportedly outbid the New York Yankees, Mets, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners for Villalona.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound slugging first baseman had drawn comparisons to Alex Rodriguez, Adrian Beltre and Wily Mo Pena. He played in 74 games for Class-A San Jose in '09, batting .267 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball