Fleecing in Seattle
Drew may have figured in Johnson trade decision
Posted: Tuesday August 18, 1998 08:58 PM
Seattle got fleeced in the trade for Randy Johnson,
and the players were so upset that GM Woody Woodward called a meeting to
reassure seven outspoken veterans, including Ken Griffey, Jr. and Alex
Rodriguez, that he was not dismantling the team.
Woodward also tried to explain what happened on the night of the trading
deadline. After the meeting Rodriguez said, "I think Cleveland and New
York worked together to see that Randy did not go to either of those teams.
The Mariners got fooled on this. They took the option fake, and it was a
bootleg."
Speaking of the Johnson deal, it's possible that J.D. Drew, of all people,
may have been a factor in Woodward's decision to trade the Big Unit.
Here's why: The compensation for losing a Type A free agent like Johnson
is two No. 1 draft picks. But Drew's refusal to sign with the Phillies, and
his enormous $7 million deal with St. Louis, have made Woodward and his
fellow GMs wary of signing any high draft choice.
Said one American League executive, "Before, a team like Seattle might
have kept Johnson and taken the two draft picks for losing him. Now they
don't even want those two picks. They don't need the aggravation."
Kile shouldering blame
When pitcher Darryl Kile
signed with the Rockies, the baseball world predicted that his vaunted
curveball might not be as effective in Colorado's thin air.
Well, Kile is 3-11 with an ERA of nearly 6.00 in his last 17 starts, and
manager Don Baylor has suggested that Kile should perhaps be moved to the
bullpen.
To his credit, Kile has shouldered the blame for his team's disappointing
season. "I feel like all my teammates are stuck in this major traffic jam,"
he said, "and I'm in the car in front that got in the accident and caused
it." Ligtenberg not called a scab
Braves manager Bobby Cox recently anointed Kerry Ligtenberg the team's
closer for the rest of the season. Ligtenberg is a great story: He was
acquired three years ago from the independent Prairie League in exchange
for a few dozen bats and balls.
However, last week news spread around the Atlanta clubhouse that
Ligtenberg had been a Seattle replacement player during the 1995 strike.
How did that sit with his Braves teammates? Pitcher Tom Glavine, the
team's player rep and an ardent union man, says, "I don't think it's really
been an issue, mostly because of the type of person Kerry is. He's a smart
kid and he's quiet. That's generally not the kind of guy that's going to
rub everybody the wrong way."
| 
