The Orioles will have to work hard this winter to rebuild their sagging image, and what better way to do that than by making a major play for Seattle Mariners superstar Alex Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, who can become a free agent after the 2000 season, has given every indication that he is not interested in signing a contract extension with the Mariners during the coming off-season. He's apparently looking forward to breaking baseball's salary record the following year.
Look for the Mariners to solicit bids and try to get a huge package of major- and minor-league talent for him. The Orioles are not flush on the farm, but they probably could package a major-league starter and a couple of their "untouchable" minor leaguers to acquire one of the best all-around players in baseball.
Of course, the Orioles would also have to come to terms on a multi-year deal with Rodriguez, which would figure to cost about $100 million.
Sound outrageous? Maybe, but the Orioles need a hook for next season -- something other than Albert Belle's misguided attempt to develop a new form of sign language.
Even if they could put together an acceptable package, the odds against persuading Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras to forgo free agency would be very high. But Rodriguez is a huge fan of Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken and just might be willing to make a deal to play alongside him in 2000.
Never know until you ask.
Mo's bitter blues
Mo Vaughn is having GM problems again. He left Boston after engaging in a long-running feud with Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette. Now, he's at odds with Anaheim Angels GM Bill Bavasi.
The reason: Bavasi's cavalier response to the concerns that Vaughn and other players raised about manager Terry Collins during a lengthy meeting in June.
Bavasi gave Collins a contract extension, anyway, and told reporters that he disregarded the players' complaints after "about 15 minutes." Vaughn hasn't spoken to him since.
"He asked us and then turned it around on us," Vaughn told the Orange County (Calif.) Register. "He threw it in our faces. That's not right. I haven't been upstairs. I won't go upstairs. You don't do that. I've been through that. I didn't expect this here."
The Angels are in free fall, and emotions are running hot. The day before, outfielder Darin Erstad ripped the team for going "soft," and who could argue as they have dropped nine straight games to fall out of the AL West race?
New-stadium blues
Mariners fans may be oohing and aahing about new Safeco Field, which opened last week, but the deeper fence dimensions have some of the club's power hitters pining for the cozy Kingdome.
Rodriguez hit a grand slam on Monday night and came away shaking his head.
"I hit that ball as hard as I can hit one," he said. "I thought it was 10-15 rows out in right-center field and it barely cleared the fence. They could move these fences in 20 feet. You try to hit home runs in this park, you'll hit .220."
Manager Lou Piniella agrees, but he still is enamored of the new park. "The fans, the media, the players -- everyone has fallen in love with the home run," he said. "This park puts a premium on playing an all-around game on defense and pitching and manufacturing runs. This park will make you play better baseball."
Perfect irony
New York Yankees pitcher David Cone used the City Hall celebration of his perfect game to take an apparent verbal shot at unannounced New York senatorial candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Cone publicly thanked New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for his long-standing support of the Yankees and called into question the sincerity of other politicians who have tried to make political capital out of their recent success.
"Mr. Mayor, I'd like to say, on behalf of all the Yankee players how your sincerity as a Yankee fan really comes across," Cone said. "We see it. I mean, there's a lot of politicians that say they're baseball fans and put on the cap and "
He trailed off at that point, but that seemed to be an obvious jab at Mrs. Clinton, who appeared at a White House function honoring the champion Yankees recently and proclaimed that she had been a Yankees fan all her life.
A's get serious
The Oakland Athletics may be the surprise contender of 1999, but manager Art Howe is taking his club's place among the American League's wild-card hopefuls very seriously.
"As serious as a heart attack," he said recently. "If you don't shoot for the moon, you won't get there. We're going to keep going until somebody proves different."
So far, so good. The A's are three games above .500 and just 2 1/2 games back of wild-card leaders Toronto and Boston.
"We're playing well enough that we can look at the scoreboard and see how [AL West leader] Texas is doing," said pitcher Gil Heredia. "That's really fun."
Milestone men
San Diego Padres star Tony Gwynn has slipped into a neck-and-neck race with Wade Boggs to be the first to get to 3,000 hits, thanks to the nagging leg injuries that have limited his playing time, but he still wants to beat Boggs there.
"Wade started a couple of years before I did, so he was my model," said Gwynn, who had two hits yesterday and at 2,987 trails Boggs by one. "He's a contact hitter like me, and his first seven years were unbelieveable. I was doing OK in the NL, but he was doing a lot better. He was around .360 and I was around .330. But I was able to pass him up in lifetime average, and I'm proud of that."
Waiting for Galarraga
Atlanta Braves first baseman Andres Galarraga still faces several weeks of radiation treatment for the cancerous tumor in his back, but he felt well enough to visit the club on Wednesday and work with teammate Eddie Perez on his swing.
"It feels strange being away from the game," he said,. "I've been playing in the minor leagues and big leagues for 20 years. [Not playing] makes me uncomfortable. The good thing is I'm spending more time with my family, but believe me, I want to be on the field."
Down time
The Pittsburgh Pirates have broken a dubious club record. They have had players on the disabled list for a combined 702 days this year, 27 more than the previous high in 1989, and it's still July.
Tampa trade talk
Tampa Bay starter Rolando Arrojo pitched in front of a large number of scouts on Tuesday as contending clubs continue to gear up for the final week of trade talks before Saturday's deadline for completing a deal without waivers.
Is Arrojo available? Devil Rays general manager Chuck Lamar isn't saying that publicly, but the Yankees had four representatives at Tuesday night's game against the Philadelphia Phillies, and at least four other teams sent scouts.
The Cuban exile is particularly attractive because of his modest, $240,000 salary. He got most of his money up front when he accepted a $7 million signing bonus in 1997.
Clubs also may be interested in reliever Roberto Hernandez if the Rays decide they want to unload his $6 million annual salary. He certainly would be attractive to the Orioles if they had any realistic hope of getting back into the American League wild-card hunt.
Pub Date: 7/25/99