St. Louis was the center of the baseball universe for much of the 1998 season -- as fans all over the world followed Mark McGwire's every swing on the way to a single-season home run record -- but the Cardinals' front office is moving decisively to assure that 1999 is more than a one-man show.
Walt Jocketty, the team's general manager, shuffled the roster on Thursday with a series of deals that bolstered the club's bullpen and gave McGwire a little more backup in the offensive lineup.
The club signed outfielder Eric Davis and veteran reliever Scott Radinsky out of the free-agent market and pulled off a five-player trade with the Philadelphia Phillies that added reliever Ricky Botallico and former Oriole Garrett Stephenson to the pitching staff in exchange for outfielder Ron Gant, reliever Jeff Brantley and prospect Cliff Politte.
It was quite an eventful day.
"What this does in our opinion is change the whole makeup of the club, and that's something we felt was very important after the last couple of years," Jocketty said.
The flurry of front-office activity dramatically alters the chemistry of the bullpen, where the Cardinals closed by committee last year. Juan Acevedo and Brantley combined for 29 of the club's 44 saves.
Acevedo saved 15 games in 16 attempts to establish himself as a quality late reliever, and will arrive at spring training with a chance to be the full-time closer. But Botallico and Radinsky should allow manager Tony La Russa tremendous flexibility in the late innings, since both are capable of closing, too.
In addition, the acquisition of two solid relievers leaves the Cardinals with a big surplus in middle relief, perhaps enough to sweeten a deal for the veteran middle infielder that the club also desperately needs.
Davis should be able to duplicate the numbers of departing free agent outfielder Brian Jordan, but the Cardinals will have to do more to assure that McGwire will be surrounded by an adequate supporting cast.
The only thing that dulled his terrific, 70-homer performance last year was the performance of the team as a whole. The Cardinals needed a late rush to finish four games over .500. They were not a serious contender in the second half.
Jocketty seems intent on making sure that McGwire isn't operating in a competitive vacuum again, but the Cardinals still need middle infield help and at least one more frontline starting pitcher to overtake the Houston Astros and the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central.
Davis by the numbers
The Orioles were hesitant to guarantee Davis two years for $8 million, largely because new general manager Frank Wren wants to bring down the average age of the club and decrease the likelihood of a debilitating string of injuries such as the one that blindsided the club early last season.
That makes sense, but the numbers that are being thrown around for Jordan raise an interesting statistical comparison. Davis appeared in 173 games over the past two years and totaled 36 home runs and 114 RBIs. Jordan, who also was disabled for most of 1997, appeared in 197 games and totaled 25 home runs and 101 RBIs.
Obviously, the long-term upside for Jordan is better because he is five years younger, but it's still fair to ask if his numbers warrant a contract worth nearly $25 million more than the Orioles were willing to give to Davis.
The Cardinals obviously didn't think so.
More Dodgers dissension
Dodgers GM Kevin Malone, manager Davey Johnson and club && president Bob Graziano recently met with outfielder Gary Sheffield in Florida, hoping to clear the air and eliminate any misunderstanding about Sheffield's future with the club.
That's nice of them, but they should just tell the guy to shut up and play.
Sheffield reportedly is upset that the Dodgers traded his good friend Bobby Bonilla, claiming Bonilla's inclusion in the Mike Piazza deal with the Florida Marlins last June was one of the reasons Sheffield waived his no-trade clause and allowed the blockbuster trade to go through.
Let's try to put this as delicately as possible. If that reasoning were a pile of organic fertilizer -- and that imagery is not accidental -- it would be enough to keep the Dodger Stadium infield green all winter.
Sheffield got the equivalent of a $7.5 million bonus (the total value of cash bonuses from both teams and the forgiveness of a large loan from the Florida Marlins) to approve the Piazza deal. He has absolutely no gripe.
He takes it back
Former Oriole Bonilla now is insisting that he was misquoted when he allegedly ripped into Dodgers vice president Tom Lasorda last week.
Bonilla was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as charging that Lasorda undercut former Dodgers manager Glenn Hoffman and former GM Fred Claire early last season and had become a pariah in the Dodgers' clubhouse. Now, he claims his statements were misrepresented, but plans to apologize to Lasorda, anyway.
Typical Bobby Bo. He did the same thing a few years ago after ripping Johnson for using him as the full-time DH in Baltimore. He loves to move his lips, but doesn't like to be held responsible for what comes out.
How far they've fallen
The Orioles became only the sixth team in baseball history to go wire-to-wire in 1997, but their poor performance last year has prompted the oddsmakers in Las Vegas to post them as a 20-1 long shot to win the World Series next year.
That's surprisingly high, considering that the Orioles are expected to have one of the top two payrolls in baseball in 1999. The link between spending and success is so strong that a tobacco industry lawyer would be hard-pressed to dispute it, but an inflexible Orioles roster and a shallow minor-league system make them a tough team to bet.
From the home office
With the usual apologies to late-night talk-show host David Letterman, here's a top 10 list of reasons why -- in retrospect -- baseball's 1994-95 work stoppage turned out to be for the best:
10. Owners needed to get salaries under control so they would have enough money to go crazy again later.
9. Embarrassing outcome forced owners to seek new direction, ousting interim commissioner Allan Selig and replacing him with permanent commissioner Bud Selig.
8. Longest work stoppage in professional sports history gives NBA something to shoot for.
7. Humbling experience forced players to show more appreciation for the people who truly are responsible for their high salaries and lavish lifestyles -- their agents.
6. Without complicated luxury tax system, Mets would not have had the discipline to hold Piazza's contract to $91 million.
5. Without complicated luxury tax system, Orioles would have enough money to sign Albert Belle.
4. It taught selfish sports fans a lesson about taking their heroes for granted.
3. Settlement cleared the way for two more lousy expansion teams.
2. Pesky antitrust issue finally has been settled, saving players trouble of acting like they have any idea what it was about.
1. No one really wanted to see the Expos in the '94 World Series, anyway.
Clock running down
Belle has just a few more days to find another team or go back to his meager $11 million annual salary in Chicago.
The Yankees took him on a tour of New York last week and the Red Sox have shown interest, but it still seems unlikely that the White Sox will get off the hook for the final three years of his contract. The deadline is Wednesday.
Pub Date: 11/22/98