Former Yankees pitcher arrested on felony drug charges

Esteban Loaiza's short stint with the Yankees in 2004 was far from memorable. But there's a good chance baseball fans will remember his name moving forward.

The former 14-year big league pitcher was arrested on serious drug charges on Friday in San Diego, California.

According to police documents shared by Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan, Loaiza was busted with over 20 kilograms of heroin and/or cocaine.

This is a new one: Esteban Loaiza, drug kingpin.
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
-- Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 12, 2018

Loaiza is currently being held on $200,000 bond in a detention center, and has a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

In addition to pitching for the Yankees, Loaiza logged stints with the Pirates, Rangers, Blue Jays, White Sox, Nationals, Athletics and Dodgers.

Odorizzi to Yanks?

Loaiza's best season came in 2003. The righty went 21-9 with a 2.90 ERA for the White Sox, earning a second-place finish in the AL Cy Young vote. Loaiza earned over $43M during his on-field career, per Baseball-Reference.

Loaiza landed with the Yankees in a trade during the 2004 season. New York acquired Loaiza for Jose Contrares and cash. The veteran pitched to an 8.50 ERA across 42.1 innings in the Bronx, including allowing the game-winning hit to the Red Sox in Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS.

Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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