Steinbrenner Picks Strawberry Ahead Of Orioles
Darryl Strawberry will ultimately move into a designated hitter platoon in New York with Ruben Sierra - and won’t Sierra be pleased? - but the principal reason Yankees owner George Steinbrenner moved on Strawberry when he did was he heard rival Baltimore was hot on the Strawberry trail.
Seattle, Boston and Cincinnati were also said to be interested, prompting Steinbrenner to overrule New York general manager Bob Watson and sign Strawberry to a minor league contract.
Strawberry, meanwhile, agreed to pay $260,000 for child support owed his ex-wife.
He was not in Los Angeles Municipal Court, but his attorney, Milton Grimes, said Strawberry will have the money ready to give a court trustee by Monday.
Grimes said Strawberry’s one-year deal with the Yankees was key to the settlement.
“Without this type of employment, he was making $2,000 a month with the employment where he was,” Grimes said, referring to Strawberry’s pay in the minor leagues.
Under the settlement, Strawberry also agreed to enter a two-year diversion program, perform 100 hours of community service at a Los Angeles County orphanage and keep up his current support payments.
On Thursday, he signed with the Yankees’ Triple-A farm team in Columbus. The one-year contract is said to be worth $300,000, with New York holding an $800,000 option for 1997.
Orioles sign Minor
Baltimore signed Ryan Minor, their 33rdround pick in the June draft. Minor will work out with the Orioles on Sunday and then report for the Philadelphia 76ers minicamp on Monday.
Minor was also drafted in the second round of the NBA draft, but he had expected to go higher. He’s expected to return to baseball and be playing for an Orioles farm team in July.
Sour grapes?
Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa, on not being selected to the All-Star team: “To be the National League leader in home runs I guess means nothing. I guess I need to hit 40 home runs and get 100 RBIs by the break next year. I’m supposed to be on that team and everybody knows that.”
Montreal Expos second baseman Mike Lansing, on the selection of only two teammates, Mark Grudzielanek and Pedro Martinez, before Henry Rodriguez was selected as a replacement for Tony Gwynn: “The problem with the Expos is they don’t know how to promote their own players. They promote the manager more than the players. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not criticizing Felipe Alou, but that’s a fact.”
Wild comeback
Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams, the erratic reliever who helped Philadelphia win the N.L. pennant in 1993 before allowing the World Series-ending homer, will attempt a comeback with the Phillies.
General manager Lee Thomas said talk of the comeback began several weeks ago, when he asked Williams, 31, to participate in a celebrity softball game that will be part of the All-Star workout day activities Monday.
Thomas said he agreed to let Williams work out with the team’s rehabilitation trainer, Hap Hudson, for the next 7-10 days at the Phillies’ spring training complex in Clearwater, Fla.
“Once Mitch feels he is ready to pitch, he’ll be placed on the Clearwater Phillies roster,” said Thomas, referring to the team’s Class A Florida State League affiliate. “What happens from there will be determined by Mitch.”
Talks recess
Labor talks have recessed until after the All-Star break. The union wants two years of a five-year agreement devoid of a payroll luxury tax while management wants only one tax-free year.
Compromise is within reach on all major issues, but the union can’t shake the belief that it’s a setup, that the owners won’t ratify a negotiated agreement, wanting instead to implement their own work rules.