If Paul Assenmacher signed for $7 million, Mike Morgan for $12.5 million and Chuck Finley $18.5 million, what will Greg Maddux get?
Estimates vary, but if this winter`s market is any indication, he can expect to sign a $20 million-$25 million contract with the Cubs before next season. And if he doesn`t, he might just ”settle” for an arbitration pay raise this time and try his luck on the open market next winter.
”Obviously, when you hit the market at age 26, you`re pretty special,”
said his agent, Scott Boras. ”He would be one of the premier guys on the market.”
Maddux, speaking from his Las Vegas home, said he`s spent more time lately worrying about his golf game than his contract. But he said he assumes that ”through free agency, I`m going to get at least a four-year deal. I have to stay healthy and have a decent year.
”What happens if I do go to free agency? I may stay with the Cubs, or I could think about coming back out West.”
The Cub ace was relatively underpaid until the spring of 1990, when he signed a $2.4 million contract extension that expired in October. He is eligible for salary arbitration this winter. Boras said negotiations with the Cubs have been cordial but preliminary. Maddux is clearly waiting to see what free agents Jack Morris and Frank Viola can draw.
Add signings: The Assenmacher contract took a few people by surprise at the winter meetings. One club owner, asking a writer to confirm the figure he`d heard, called the signing ”ludicrous.”
The Cubs` reasoning was simple. They stood to lose Assenmacher to free agency after next season. And he might be easier to trade down the line because, as one Cub official put it, ”His contract is under control.”
Frank`s friend: New White Sox manager Gene Lamont, at this point, is projecting Bo Jackson as his everyday designated hitter in 1992. That will happen only if Frank Thomas can be his everyday first baseman.
Thomas has no doubts.
”The shoulder`s great right now,” he said, two months after Dr. Frank Jobe cleared out inflamed and extraneous tissue from an area that troubled him all last season. Then Thomas reached behind him with that right shoulder, like a backstroker, and his face lit up. ”I haven`t been able to do this in a year.”
A move like that last season would`ve brought a grimace. Even so, Thomas played first base much of the final month. He did it because Jeff Torborg asked him to. And he did it for Jackson.
”Jeff asked me if I could play first, and I said, `Yes,` so we could get Bo in the lineup,” he said. ”We were challenging for the division, and I felt we needed another bat in the lineup.”
It was more than that.
”It was one of those situations where I decided, `I wouldn`t mind letting my friend play,` ” he said. ”You have to suck it up sometimes, and I did.”
Today? ”It feels great. It`s 100 percent right now. I`ve been throwing the ball with gas. Everything`s fine.”
Remember?: Dave Martinez`s value has soared in recent years. The Cubs traded him in 1988 for Mitch Webster, who has been traded three times since. Last week, Martinez went to Cincinnati for John Wetteland, who has the potential to be Montreal`s closer.
The Trade: The addition of Bret Saberhagen will make the New York Mets`
rotation formidable even if Dwight Gooden can`t rebound from shoulder surgery. But what if the Mets can re-enter the bidding for Frank Viola? Viola seemed anxious to leave his hometown after his 13-15 record and 3.97 earned-run average made him the target of fan criticism. Now, though, the Mets have traded Gregg Jefferies, never friendly with Viola, and have added a pitcher who can take pressure off Viola.
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Maybe it was only static on the speaker phone, but Saberhagen seemed less than enthused about leaving down-home Kansas City for the bright lights and big expectations of New York. His new manager, Torborg, immediately tried to provide assurances.
”When you get traded to New York, the first reaction is, `Oh my gosh,`
” said Torborg, who grew up in the New Jersey `burbs. ”Don`t let that be a concern. There are a lot of beautiful areas to live.”
Look out, Roger Maris: Kevin Mitchell has averaged 27 home runs a year but has spent the last 4 1/2 in cold, windy Candlestick Park. His move to Seattle`s Kingdome, a home run haven, could bring a windfall of homers.
”Bud Black told me I`ll hit 70 home runs in the Kingdome,” Mitchell told Seattle reporters.
Black, Mitchell`s teammate in San Francisco, once pitched in Seattle.
The new man: New Cub manager Jim Lefevbre is a world-class talker. One day last week, he was supposed to spend an hour gabbing with reporters. The session lasted 1 hour 40 minutes and only ended when Cubs P.R. director Sharon Pannozzo dragged him away.
A day later, at a media luncheon, reporters got to say hello to Lefevbre and that was about all. He was off and running for the next hour-telling stories about the five seasons he spent in Japan, his theories on hitting, the most awesome home run he`s ever seen (Jose Canseco in Tiger Stadium) and the joys of working with Ken Griffey Jr.
Lefevbre says he intends to keep talking even after the Cubs take the field next season. ”I like to talk my way through a game. I`m going to have
(pitching coaching) Billy Conners sitting on one side of me and (dugout coach) Chuck Cottier on the other side. I want to be talking all the time to stay in the game.”
It shouldn`t be too difficult.
Zoning laws: San Francisco manager Roger Craig says there will be big problems if Commissioner Fay Vincent goes ahead with plans to have big-league umpires expand their strike zones.
”It`s going to take a few years to change that,” Craig said. ”Just like writers have their own style of writing and I have my own style of managing, well, umpires have their own style, too. If they`re going to try to change that in one year, you`re going to have a lot of managers thrown out of games and a lot of fines handed out.”
Roger that: Craig, who had heart problems last year while the Giants were struggling to a 75-87 record, says two recent operations have left him feeling better than he has in a decade. ”Of course, I haven`t managed into the eighth or ninth inning yet,” he said.
Besides having clogged heart arteries cleared, Craig also had surgery to clear his blocked right nostril.
”That was worse than the heart,” he said. ”Can you imagine going two weeks without being able to blow your nose? It about killed me.”
An Angry A: One of the more confused people at the winter meetings was Oakland pitching coach Dave Duncan. There were reports Duncan, an early favorite for the Sox managerial job, had pulled himself out of the race, saying he was happy where he was.
He may be happy where he is, but he didn`t withdraw his name.
”I don`t know where that came from,” said Duncan, straddling a thin line between puzzlement and anger. ”I would`ve at least liked to have been interviewed. It was a pretty good opportunity.”
Lamont`s law: The Sox`s Lamont on team rules: ”I don`t want to have a whole bunch of rules. I like to have as few as I can and make sure they follow the ones that we have.”
On using Scott Radinsky more in save situations: ”He`ll be put in those situations more than he was. Someday he`ll be a closer, but Bobby (Thigpen) is our closer.”
On rarely using computer printouts, a Torborg staple, to chart tendencies in Pittsburgh: ”I guess I was the computer.”
Seeing Reds: Near the middle of last season, when the Reds were foundering, GM Bob Quinn took some heat for not pulling the trigger on some trades that might have saved Cincinnati from what became a general collapse.
”We pulled it before the `90 season,” he said, ”then I got criticized in `91. Criticism for a general manager goes with the territory, but as I attempted to explain to Lou (Piniella, his manager), there was no way a (Tim) Belcher or a (Greg) Swindell is going to be available at the All-Star break.” He`s got them now.
Still talking: It never stops.
The Sox people left Miami Beach Wednesday, as did most of the Cubs people. A few stragglers from other clubs stayed around Thursday.
Friday afternoon, seen in serious conversation on the boardwalk by the beach: Andy MacPhail, general manager of the Twins, and San Diego GM Joe McIlvaine.