Boss Pulled Right Strings For Fielder

Say this for his busy Bossness: George Steinbrenner has spared no expense in making sure the Yankees’ World Series express doesn’t get derailed by Lou Piniella and a bunch of junkballing lefties.

You would have thought a deal of the magnitude of Ruben Sierra-for-Cecil Fielder was a long time in the making. In fact, although it had been discussed offhandedly weeks ago, talks between the Yankees and Tigers didn’t get serious until about three hours before the Wednesday midnight no-waivers trading deadline. Not coincidentally, shortly before Steinbrenner took over the Olympian trade talks, calling Tigers owner Mike Ilich from his bunker in Atlanta, Piniella’s Mariners had just completed their second deal in as many days for a left-handed starter.

The Randy Johnson-less Mariners, with the worst starting rotation in baseball this side of the Tigers, were desperate for pitching. With an eye on their remaining schedule, they concentrated their efforts on lefties, picking up a couple of journeymen in Jamie Moyer from Boston and Terry Mulholland from Philadelphia.

They ain’t great, but as Piniella noted, all but two of the teams remaining on the Mariner schedule have losing records against lefthanders. The Yankees (15-16 against lefty starters as opposed to 48-26 versus righties) are one of them, which is why the red-alert light went on in the Olympic village when the M’s added Mulholland Wednesday.

It may be the Mariners might not make the playoffs - especially if Johnson, the one lefty who definitely makes a difference, doesn’t come back - but Steinbrenner wasn’t taking any chances. In Fielder, the highest-paid player in baseball, he has a right-handed power bat that makes even Yankee Stadium look small. At the same time, however, Steinbrenner’s payroll is reaching epic proportions. Already next year he is committed to $46.79 million in salaries for 14 players, assuming John Wetteland picks up his $4.6 million option. Among those unsigned: Jimmy Key and Joe Girardi, both free agents, and arbitration-eligible Bernie Williams, Gerald Williams and Bob Wickman. Throw in the $6 million in benefits and Steinbrenner is looking at a payroll approaching $70 million next year.

Obviously, The Boss isn’t counting on a labor deal with a luxury tax getting done anytime soon. Assuming it did under the numbers the union and owners have been zeroing in on - a tax of 35 percent of all payroll exceeding $48-$50 million - Steinbrenner would have to kick in about $8-9 million to the tax man next year in addition to another $5-6 million in revenue-sharing. That comes to nearly $95 million on what Steinbrenner hopes is the best team money could buy.

There are some who would suggest a bigger Yankee need than a right-handed power bat was a starting pitcher, but as Steinbrenner explained: “Maybe if we could have gotten a No. 1-type starter, but where were you going to get one? … Besides, I firmly believe we’ll have David Cone back by Sept. 1 … “

Of all the last-minute shoppers, San Diego helped itself the most by getting Greg Vaughn, the middle-of-the-order power hitter they needed to anchor an otherwise potent lineup of line-drive hitters. At the same time, though, how does Milwaukee owner Bud Selig face all those Wisconsin bureaucrats and taxpaying fans who approved his new stadium deal after trading away his best player? Of the three prospects the Brewers got for Vaughn, only Ron Villone, the lefty reliever, has star potential and he’s already been traded twice since the Mariners made him a No. 1 draft choice in ‘92.