SARASOTA, Fla. -- A day after receiving permission from Orioles owner Peter Angelos to talk to assistant general manager Frank Robinson about possible employment with San Diego, Padres chief executive officer Larry Lucchino called the Hall of Famer.
But, Robinson said, specific jobs and offers never were discussed in yesterday's brief conversation.
"We chatted for a couple of minutes," Robinson said, "about nothing really. Then we agreed to talk again next week."
Robinson may be offered a job as a special assistant within baseball operations, but if he does go to San Diego, there is potential for promotion.
Unless Lucchino exercised a 1996 option on the contract of general manager Randy Smith or offered an extension -- and neither possibility has been discussed -- Smith would be out of a job by the end of 1995.
A purge is expected in San Diego, where Lucchino has begun restructuring his front office. President Dick Freeman and vice .. president Bill Adams are at the top of the endangered list.
Robinson and Orioles general manager Roland Hemond said they weren't aware of any time limit on the Padres' discussions with Robinson.
Coaches' stance
Manager Phil Regan and his staff left Twin Lakes Park early in the afternoon to drive to Orlando to participate in a meeting with the Major League Baseball Players Association. Some players and union leaders say that managers, coaches and trainers -- most of whom are working with replacement players this week -- should lose their standing as members of the union.
While the players have been on strike, managers, coaches and trainers have continued to receive paychecks from the teams, as well as licensing money from the union.
Some players have griped that the managers, coaches and trainers are getting the best of both worlds, drawing checks from the union while still honoring their commitment to the owners. Eugene Orza, the second-ranking union leader behind Donald Fehr, has suggested that coaching staff members should be forced to make a choice between the owners and players and that they could be ejected from the union.
This stance irks Orioles coach Elrod Hendricks, who points out that the managers, coaches and trainers don't even possess voting rights within the union. And few managers or coaches, and certainly no trainers, could support the union without being fired.
"We're like orphans," said Hendricks. "We're in a very awkward position with this.
"I think the guys on last year's team are very good about it. They understand how important this is to us. At this stage in our lives, some of us have kids in college . . . and coaches make far less than players -- even rookies."
Pitching coach Mike Flanagan was asked if he was surprised that, during a strike that's costing the players and owners millions, such a furor could be made over such a relatively small sum of money. (In 1993, the most lucrative year to date, coaches could earn as much as $80,000 in licensing money -- although much of that money is deferred by the union to help support its strike fund.)
"No," Flanagan said, "Nothing surprises me anymore."
Free-agent frenzy
Whenever a labor agreement is reached, there figures to be a mad rush on free agents; less than one-fourth of all major-leaguers are under contract.
"We'll be competitive," said Hemond, who can't wait for that "competition off the field" to begin.
Hemond said the Orioles are free of any glaring holes -- "I think we're in pretty good shape everywhere," he said -- but sources around baseball say the club will try to add one more starting pitcher. Former San Francisco Giants sinkerballer Bill Swift, an unrestricted free agent, is a good fit.
The word among baseball executives is that the Orioles have an agreement in place to sign former Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andy Van Slyke. Not so, said Hemond.
"Nothing's been accomplished there," Hemond said. "We've had interest, and we have continued interest. But nothing is done."
The Orioles have reached an agreement in principle with catcher Chris Hoiles, who is expected to sign a five-year, $17.5 million contract as soon as the strike is resolved.
Around the horn
Twenty-three minor-leaguers reported to the Orioles' Twin Lakes Park complex on the first day of spring training, and will begin workouts today. Among those who arrived were pitchers Rick Forney, at one time a member of the 40-man roster, and Frank Seminara, who has pitched in the majors with the New York Mets and Padres. Catcher Mario Rodriguez, a native of the Dominican Republic, is having visa troubles unrelated to the strike. . . . For three days this week, the Orioles coaching staff participated in a leadership seminar. The speaker: Dr. Drea Zigami.