Scott Downs; Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Louisville native and former UK left-handed pitcher Scott Downs has signed a three-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The deal was first reported by Peter Gammons of MLB.com via Twitter and later confirmed by Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com. The contract is worth $15 million total at $5 million per year. Downs was 5-5 with a 2.64 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 61.1 innings for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010.

Downs was the third-round pick of the Chicago Cubs in the 1997 draft out of UK. He made his MLB debut on April 9, 2000, for the Cubs. Downs began his career as a starting pitcher but established a reputation as one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball over the last few seasons. In his nine-season career Downs is 27-28 with a 3.79 ERA in 379 games. The Pleasure Ridge Park alum held left-handed batters to a .152 batting average in 2010. A recent report from AOL Fanhouse quoted rival executives as saying they expected Downs to sign with the Red Sox.