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Edmonds might thrive away from L.A.
By Peter Gammons
Special to ESPN.com
February 4
At the general managers' meetings in November, there was a lobby poll conducted to pick the potential free agent who would have the greatest free agent year. The easy winner: Jim Edmonds.
Now, with spring training days away, Edmonds is a pivotal figure. The Mariners have discussed a deal for him as a replacement for Junior Griffey, when that deal to Cincinnati is completed.
The Athletics have recently rekindled discussions with the Angels about Edmonds for a veteran pitcher and a prospect or two out of their rich system. The Mets remain interested, but haven't seriously talked in awhile.
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| 1999 SEASON STATISTICS |
| G |
HR |
RBI |
AVG |
OBP |
SLG |
| 55 |
5 | 23 |
.250 | .339 |
.426 | |
|
Edmonds is a controversial figure. He has been criticized by Angels teammates, both for not having an operation on his ailing shoulder last winter and for what players have characterized as sometimes vacuous performances. He's played more than 133 games just once in four seasons. Opponents have criticized him for what they claim is his penchant for slowing down to make diving catches that get him on SportsCenter.
Part of his problem is that he sometimes speaks in Beach Blanket Bingo logic. The best recent example: He said he might quit rather than play in Seattle. Refuse to play and forfeit free agency, not to mention $4.5 million this year? Said one Mariners official: "It doesn't bother us, because he says some dumb things, but he doesn't play with his mouth."
Jim Edmonds is not a harmful person; he's a good guy, and maybe it's just time for him to get away from a franchise that has been drifting off the shore of Huntington Beach for 40 years. Until this past season, he hit 111 homers in from 1995-1998 in a non-home run park. Next to Andruw Jones, he might have the best first step on fly balls of any outfielder in the game.
"He fascinates me as a player," one GM says of Edmonds. "He's got such great skills. I think he's going to blossom away from that atmosphere."
If he were to blossom away from the Lost Angels, then the deal to acquire Edmonds could be a major factor in the American League West race:
If the Athletics get him, they could have seven players -- Edmonds, Ben Grieve, Matt Stairs, Eric Chavez, Jason Giambi, John Jaha and Miguel Tejada -- who could each hit 30 homers, and catcher Ramon Hernandez and second baseman Randy Velarde each capable of double figures.
If the M's get him and he plays well, and they are able to deepen their pitching staff in a Griffey trade -- although they, like many, are worried about Scott Williamson's blowout factor -- and deepen the organization, they are going to be huge players in the race with Oakland and Texas.
Edmonds isn't Griffey, but who is? He's one of those players that we all want to see play for three years away from his current environment and proves once and for all what he is, rather than what he could be.
On the rumor front
Teams in both leagues continue to contend that the Pirates are shopping Francisco Cordova for power. One rumor had him headed to Houston for Moises Alou, but Alou's no-trade exemptions are the Braves, Cubs and Rockies. Apparently, the ramifications of Cordova's criticism of the sale of fellow Mexican Elmer Dessens to Japan last spring still linger.
Don't expect the Mariano Rivera contract to be completed peacefully. The Yankees look at relievers as a special class, as they have been paid less than top-flight starters. His agents feel that Rivera is the best reliever in the game and should be paid in the $15 million range. So when the Yankees offered $36 million for 4 years -- which beats the $7.2 million real annual value of Trevor Hoffman's contract (which bought out two more years of free agency than the Yankee offer to Rivera) -- and it was summarily rejected, it probably means Mariano will go to arbitration again next February.
The Red Sox have Pedro and Ramon Martinez's cousin, Danny Campusano, in their San Pedro de Marcoris camp for workouts and are trying to sign the 16-year-old right-handed pitcher, but thus far have fallen short of Campusano's asking fee. ... Boston also beat out the Mariners and Dodgers for Australian RHP Wayne Lundgren, whose uncle Richie was a football and baseball teammate of Dan Duquette's at Amherst College. "They paid him $170,000 and hadn't even seen him," says one AL official, who pointed out that the Red Sox did not sign their fourth- through ninth-round picks in the June draft of North American prospects.
One of the most remarkable stories at the Caribbean World Series is the outstanding pitching performance for Venezuela by Julio Machado, the former major league right-hander who recently got out of prison after almost four years' incarceration for shooting a woman. ... Clubs that understand Latin America have been reluctant to ban their pitchers from throwing during the winter, as some pitchers have lost their feel. Omar Daal has always been one of the great pitchers in Venezuela, but he was a reliever in the United States. But after throwing 162 2/3 and 214 2/3 innings the past two years for the Diamondbacks, they didn't want him throwing an entire winter season. So Daal backed off, but threw only one inning before the mudslides raised havoc with that league's schedule, and now they're concerned Daal is going into spring training with his routine awry.
If Rangers DH/1B Lee Stevens wins his arbitration case at $4.7 million, look for the Rangers to release him and pay him his $870,000. ... The Dodgers are asking for someone to take infielder Jose Vizcaino off their hands, as Alex Cora takes shortstop. ... The Padres' thinking on grabbing 1999 All-Star Ed Sprague at a Priceline.com price: He can be the first right-handed bat off the bench; he can platoon at first with Ryan Klesko if Klesko can't hit lefties; or if Mike Darr has a bad spring training, Klesko can play left and Sprague first. But the latter is the last choice, because of Klesko's defense. ... Don't ask the gamers to sit: Cal Ripken, whose offseason routine has him optimistic about 2000, dismisses the notion that he might rest 2-3 days a week, and when the ultimate warrior, Todd Stottlemyre, heard that Buck Showalter said that he'd occasionally be given an extra day or two to rest his shoulder, Stottlemyre went into Showalter's office and told him, "No way."
Phillies manager Terry Francona said ten days ago that Pat Burrell would only play left in spring training, even with Rico Brogna coming off surgery. Now GM Ed Wade says Burrell will play first in spring training. Hmm. OK, they can't move Ron Gant, but what does this say about Brogna, who is a free agent at the end of the year? ... Danny Tartabull's comeback is over. He demanded to renegotiate the deal he signed with the Padres -- remember, this guy was out of baseball since 1995 -- so that his incentives were based not on the agreed 100 games started, but on 100 games played. Ah, the end of an era. ... Now that the Padres are almost over the hurdles to their park opening in 2002, they will go back to shopping Sterling Hitchcock in spring training to any team that needs a left-handed No. 2 starter.
Many in the Mets organization are upset that Garth Brooks is coming to spring training, but Robin Ventura -- one of several players involved with Brooks' charity -- convinced the powers that count that his distraction would allow regular players to go about their own work. What's amazing is that the Mets are paying Brooks $400,000 in donations to his charity -- $100,000 from Fred Wilpon, $100,000 from Bobby Valentine from his celebrity auction internet ventures and $200,000 from players. Hey, the Mets never draw in Port St. Lonesome. Brooks will probably pack them in, and if he plays third, he cannot be worse than some of the characters they ran out there in the first 20 years of the franchise's existence.
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