|
|
|
|
 |
 MLB | ||
|
MLB Playoffs Yankees vs. A's M's vs. White Sox Mets vs. Giants Braves vs. Cards Scouting Reports | ||
|
Scores Schedules Standings Statistics Transactions Injuries: AL | NL Players Weekly Lineup Message Board Minor Leagues MLB Stat Search Clubhouses | ||
| Sport Sections | ||
|
| ||
| Saturday, October 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rumblings and Grumblings ESPN.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eight teams go to the playoffs. The other 22 try to figure out how the heck they're ever going to get there.
For those 22, the offseason already has begun. So here's a look at 10 fascinating stories those other teams will be generating this winter.
1. They'll manage Five teams already have waved so long to their managers. Jim Fregosi is coming right up in Toronto. So what are these teams thinking?
The Manny Ramirez bidding hasn't begun yet. But his agent, Jeff Moorad, is expected to meet with John Hart and Larry Dolan in the next week to see if there's any hope of keeping Ramirez in Cleveland before he hits the market. But that doesn't mean the Indians will get any substantial hometown discounts. "We've said all along that staying in Cleveland is Manny's preference," Moorad says. "And right now, their hometown discount is that they're the only team that can negotiate with Manny." The Indians found out just how invaluable Ramirez was this year -- but still may not be able to afford him. "This is a good place for Manny," says Hart. "We made a very sincere offer (five years, $75 million) earlier in the season. That wasn't enough. But does that mean negotiations are over? No. We've agreed to talk before the free-agent period. Am I optimistic? I don't know if I can say that. But I can say we've done a lot of deals with Jeff Moorad." 3. Signin' Sammy He almost left. He stayed. He prospered. He told the world again how much he loved being with the Cubs. But does that mean Sammy Sosa will stay a Cub forever and ever? We're about to find out. Negotiations between the Cubs and Sosa's agents, Adam Katz and Tom Reich, should get under way any time now. But the Cubs have privately talked of offering anywhere between two and four years. Sosa already has publicly said he wants six (for a total payout believed to be around $100 million). Given what Sosa means to the Cubs, it's hard to say where these talks will go. But it will be harder than ever for the Cubs to say they can't afford him. A recent Tribune Company research report prepared by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter valued the worth of the Cubs at $500 million -- which would mean they're one of the most valuable franchises in sports. 4. Bagging Bagwell One man who will be watching the Ramirez-Sosa negotiations very carefully is Jeff Bagwell. Like Sosa, he is a year away from free agency. Like the Cubs, the Astros are attempting to lock up their most popular player for the rest of his career. But Bagwell wants his true market value. And that presents problems for an Astros franchise that hasn't been inclined to travel to new financial horizons. "He no longer is satisfied with being a loyal soldier," says one source. "He wants to get paid. And unless the Astros change their philosophy, I think you'll see him get traded." On the other hand, with Craig Biggio's health and future in question, Bagwell is the Astros -- now more than ever. So they may be in a position where they can't allow him to leave, no matter what it costs. 5. Moose hunting It may not have been Mike Mussina's happiest summer. But we predict he's about to spend his favorite winter ever. The list of teams with Mussina near the top of their shopping list figures to include the Indians, White Sox, Tigers and Yankees. And that could help drive his eventual paycheck into uncharted waters for a pitcher. "I predict he'll wind up with a bigger deal than Kevin Brown," says one agent. "Not because he's better. Just his timing is such that so many teams want him, because pitching is so much more important than it's ever been. Everyone and his mother will be after Mike Mussina." 6. Wear your Sox The Red Sox will be a three-ring circus all winter -- at least. They have to resolve the rift between Jimy Williams and Dan Duquette. And Williams keeps making it clear he won't quit. They have to figure out what to do about Carl Everett. And despite indications from Cubs manager Don Baylor this week that he would be interested in taking a chance on Everett, Duquette seems to have no interest in trading him. And then there's the sale of the Yawkey Trust's stake in the franchise -- a story that could lead right back to where it began. One prominent baseball man predicts John Harrington will put together a group of his own to buy that stake. But there are lots of possibilities on all these fronts. So don't touch that cursor. 7. Juan Gonz-zalez It's hard to think of any player in baseball whose fortunes have taken a more calamitous turn in the last year than Juan Gonzalez. He turned down about $140 million. He had a thoroughly mediocre year. The condition of his back is now a major question, and could even require surgery. And he just dumped agent Jim Bronner for bottom-line king Scott Boras. The Tigers have continued to express interest in bringing Gonzalez back. But with his health concerns, it may be hard for them to offer more than a one-year deal. And Gonzalez clearly didn't hire Boras to get him one year, with a bunch of incentives. "Regardless of what happens there," says one source, "Detroit will sign an attraction this winter. If it's not Gonzalez, it will be somebody else. It could be Manny Ramirez. It could be a deal for Jeff Bagwell. Randy Smith has made a lot of deals with Houston. It could be Mussina. But they'll bring in somebody to put fannies in the seats." 8. Jason can-deal The Pirates are six months from moving into PNC Park. But they may have to move their most beloved player before he ever plays a game there. Jason Kendall already has turned down $10 million a year (with a big chunk deferred). So this winter the Pirates need to find out fast if they can sign him to an extension. If not, he'll be dealt. More and more, observers of this story think Kendall's complaints about the deferred money were a smokescreen, and that he's mostly just tired of losing in Pittsburgh and wants to get back home to California. The Dodgers and Padres have expressed tentative interest, but both have money issues of their own. So this will be a fascinating story to follow. 9. Other players What happens to Tony Gwynn? He reportedly was offered his $2 million buyout, plus another $1 million, to stay in San Diego, and turned it down. So it's clear he'll at least find out whether he has a market elsewhere (i.e., Anaheim?). What happens to Mark Grace? Andy MacPhail has all but made it clear he won't pay big-time dollars to bring Grace back to the Cubs. So do they get a deal done at a steep hometown discount? Or do both sides look elsewhere? What happens to Andres Galarraga? He's a free agent. And the Braves are already concerned about their advancing age on several fronts. Is it possible he could wind up reunited with Don Baylor in Chicago, as Grace's replacement, on a two-year deal? What happens with Carlos Delgado? After his near-MVP year, it's obvious he'll exercise his option to ask out of last year's contract extension. And the Blue Jays will have no choice but to re-sign him for Sosa/Bagwell money. 10. Other franchises The Expos remain baseball's saddest story. And nothing uplifting should change that this winter. The Phillies face a winter of crisis -- hiring a manager, battling for a new ballpark and trying to use their limited resources to make one last push to supplement their young nucleus with a decent bullpen and bench. If they don't win next season, they'll be forced to trade Scott Rolen and possibly Mike Lieberthal next winter before they bolt via free agency in 2002. And then their whole foundation comes apart. The Diamondbacks are a riveting story. Their finances are tight. Their age is showing. Their only manager in club history is gone. And their window of opportunity to win with this nucleus is shrinking. They need to add offense without blowing up the payroll. And that won't be easy. And the Dodgers remain a source of endless fascination. Several baseball men said this week they were shocked the club didn't fire GM Kevin Malone. Now Malone takes his turn on the hot seat, trying to hire a manager, keep Darren Dreifort, extend Chan Ho Park, find money in the budget for A-Rod and win before it's too late. Wild pitches Box score line of the week Randy Johnson's grand finale sure wasn't too grand. His last start of the season, Sunday against the Giants: 3 1/3 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, 1 HR (a grand slam by Calvin Murray, of all people), 1 WP, 1 HBP. It was the most runs Johnson had allowed since April 10, 1994 (when he gave up 11 to the Blue Jays). It cost him the NL ERA title, hiking his ERA from 2.38 to 2.64. That was just higher than Kevin Brown (2.58), who had actually gone into his final start of the year with an ERA higher than both Johnson and Jeff D'Amico. And the eight earned runs in three innings were more than the Unit had given up in any two back-to-back starts combined all year. Hard to believe. Box score line of the week (Circumnavigation Dept.) Before this year, only two players in history had ever played all nine positions in one game. Now we've had two do it just in the last month. Following in the footsteps of Texas' Scott Sheldon (who orbited the field Sept. 6), Detroit's Shane Halter did the same Sunday in the last game of the season, against the Twins. So his line in the box score looked like this: Halter 1B-3B-RF-CF-LF-SS-C-P-2B. But unlike Sheldon, who never had a ball hit to him anywhere, Halter touched the ball at every position but right field. He also had the second four-hit game of his 272-game major-league career (three more than any of the other nine-position men had in their games) -- and scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in a 12-11 win. But Halter's visit to the pitcher's mound also was unlike Sheldon's. Sheldon struck out the only hitter he faced (Jeff Liefer of the White Sox). Halter, on the other hand, peaked with a first-pitch strike to Matt LeCroy, then walked him on four straight balls. "He stunk," pitching coach Dan Warthen told Booth Newspapers' Danny Knobler. "Couldn't throw strikes. No movement. Although he did get ahead of one hitter." But Halter did become the first position player to pitch for the Tigers since 1931 (when Mark Koenig did it). And the fans -- who had been chanting, "Let's go, Halter," during his pitching stint -- booed when manager Phil Garner came to the mound to take him out. "I'd love to do it again," Halter said. "I'd love to play 10 (positions)." He'd been talking about starting the game at DH, but Garner didn't want to force pitcher Brian Moehler to bat all day. Accomplice of the week Any time one guy on a team is playing all nine positions, it means somebody else is changing positions himself every couple of hitters, just to make room for him. So to accommodate Shane Halter's trip around the diamond Sunday in Detroit, it meant catcher Brad Ausmus wound up with a box-score line that looked like this: Ausmus c-3b-2b-1b It was Ausmus' first game ever at both third base and second. "I thought I was going for the record instead of Halter," Ausmus said. "When I get older, they're going to say, 'He's a utility guy.'" Going, goine gone of the week Just as we all expected, the last player to hit a home run in Pittsburgh's dear, departed Three Rivers Stadium was ... uh, John Wehner? Wehner was born in Pittsburgh, grew up in Pittsburgh, still lives in Pittsburgh. He'd hit three previous big-league home runs in his 10-year career. He'd never hit a home run when he wasn't pinch-hitting. But he started at third base -- and bopped the historic homer in the fifth inning off the Cubs' Jon Lieber. "It's hard to believe that Willie Stargell hit the first Pirates homer in this stadium, and I hit the last," Wehner told the Beaver County Times' John Perrotto. "That's amazing. That's quite a combination. We have 479 home runs between us. Willie has 475 -- and I have four." The Sultan of Swat Stats, David Vincent, reports that the only player in history to have fewer career homers and hit the last home run in a ballpark was the legendary Jack Lelivelt, whose farewell bomb at New York's Hilltop Park was the second of his career. The first had come in the same game. Going, going almost gone of the week Speaking of goodbye homers, Manny Ramirez's center-field shuttle launch in his probable Jacobs Field farewell last Sunday was as magical as goodbye homers get. Ramirez got a 40-second standing ovation before his at-bat and a thunderous ovation after his at-bat. But the next inning, Sandy Alomar -- who is also a free agent this winter -- stepped up for his own final at-bat of the year and also homered. And got about a three-second ovation. "Yeah, nobody noticed," Alomar said. "They were all watching the football game when I hit mine." Jimy Williams quotes of the week And now the final pearls of the year from the unique Red Sox quotesmith:
| ALSO SEE Jayson Stark archive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
