One ace down. One to go.
That other ace on the free-agent market didn't attend any press
conferences Thursday, didn't look for any houses in Westchester County and didn't hang out with Yogi Berra or anyone like him.
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Astros get a 'no' |
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HOUSTON -- Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane and general manager Gerry
Hunsicker were notified Friday morning by Mike Hampton's representative that
the club is no longer one of the teams under the pitcher's consideration.
"Drayton and I were encouraged after a meeting this
week with Mike and his representative and would have welcomed him back
enthusiastically. Unfortunately, this one did not work out," Hunsicker said.
"Mike developed into an outstanding pitcher during his six years in our
organization, which included his career-best season in 1999 when he was 22-4
with a 2.90 ERA. We wish him well and now must move forward with our plans for 2001."
The teams still believed to be in the running for Hampton are Atlanta, Chicago Cubs, Colorado, New York Mets and St. Louis.
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Instead, Mike Hampton and his agent, Mark Rodgers, were busy trying to
whittle a list of 10 interested teams down to five or six. And even as
reports circulated that they were already down to five finalists, Rodgers was
saying: "I'd like to know who the five are -- because we don't know yet
ourselves."
Speculation in the industry is still that the Braves, Astros, Cardinals,
Cubs, Mets and Rockies would wind up in Hampton's final six. But that's just
rumor -- and the Hampton rumors were everywhere Thursday. Here is how Rodgers
responded to some of them:
On reports Hampton is looking for Kevin Brown money (at least seven years,
for more than $100 million):
"We have not mentioned a dollar figure to anybody. I just think people are looking at Mussina's deal and assuming that because of Mike (Hampton's) age (four years younger than Mussina) and
situation . . . we're looking for Kevin Brown dollars. But honestly, at this
point, we haven't mentioned any figures.
"Money has not been discussed. I haven't had an offer yet, and I haven't
solicited or received an offer. We've discussed with clubs what Mike and I
were looking for in the framework of a contract, and that's as far as we've
gone."
On a rumor Hampton had told a friend he didn't expect to return to the
Mets:
"All I can say is that nobody has been closer to Mike in this process
than me, and he's never said that to me."
On reports the Braves are at the top of his list:
"We're not going to
talk publicly about any teams. We're at the point now where we have to
proceed directly and carefully, and have meaningful discussions with the
teams that are left.
"Regardless of how many teams there are, my goal in this thing is to make all
the teams equal as far as their financial package, in terms of years and
dollars per year. Then Mike and his wife can make a family and a baseball
decision. In a perfect world, everybody would be apples and then we'd peel
away the skins and see what's inside."
On a baseball source who told ESPN.com the Dodgers had canceled Wednesday's
meeting with Hampton because they had decided to drop out of the bidding:
"I haven't heard that from the Dodgers. I just know they had very practical
reasons for canceling the meeting. But they haven't told me they were also
canceling their interest in Mike."
Another baseball source told ESPN.com the Dodgers were pessimistic about their chances with Hampton and have moved their attention to Andy Ashby.
Once, Hampton and Rodgers hoped to have their list of finalists decided upon
by the end of this week. Now, Rodgers said, it may not be until early next
week. Because their interviews with clubs stretched out over two weeks
instead of one, "we probably slowed the process down by a week or so," he
said.
"Originally," Rodgers said, "we were really hopeful we could get this done
before the winter meetings (which begin Dec. 8). I don't know if we can do
that now. It still might get done before the winter meetings. But if it
doesn't, it will probably get done after the winter meetings."
Hampton met personally with eight teams. It's believed those eight
were the Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Rockies, Astros, Rangers, Pirates and Red
Sox.
Jayson Stark is a Senior Writer at ESPN.com. | |
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