Mcgwire Traded To Cards As Deadline Passes, Power Hitter Tops List Of Players Moving On To New Squads

Mark McGwire, baseball’s premier power hitter and one of the last links to the great Oakland teams of the late 1980s, was traded by the Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday for three pitchers.

McGwire, who led the majors last season with 52 homers and is among the leaders with 34 this year, has homered with more frequency - once every 12.25 at-bats - than any player in history other than Babe Ruth.

The deal will reunite McGwire, 33, with St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, who was with Oakland from 1986-95, and former A’s teammates such as Dennis Eckersley, Willie McGee, Rick Honeycutt and Todd Stottlemyre.

“I don’t know how much longer I’m going to play major league baseball,” McGwire said. “If I have a chance to help somebody go to the playoffs and World Series, I want to do that now. Oakland is rebuilding and I don’t know how much longer it’s going to take them.”

The A’s feared they wouldn’t be able to re-sign McGwire, whose five-year, $28 million contract expires at the end of the season. St. Louis isn’t worried yet about re-signing the first baseman, and is more concerned about making up seven games on the first-place Houston Astros in the N.L. Central.

The Cardinals, who won the division last season, are struggling to score runs. John Mabry and Dmitri Young, the Cardinals’ primary first basemen, have combined for just eight home runs.

McGwire, who has hit 363 home runs to rank 42nd on baseball’s career list, is eligible for free agency at the end of the season. He said he is open to all possibilities, and that playing in the N.L. for the first time may help him decide where to sign as a free agent after this season.

The Anaheim Angels are rumored to be interested in signing McGwire as a free agent.

In return for McGwire, the Cardinals got right-handed pitchers T.J. Mathews, Eric Ludwick and Blake Stein. Mathews was the only one of the three in the major leagues at the time of the trade.

The deal was announced 3-1/2 hours before baseball’s midnight EST trading deadline.

Rodriguez stays on

The Texas Rangers and catcher Ivan Rodriguez agreed to a $42 million, five-year contract extension that will keep the six-time All-Star with the team through at least 2002.

The agreement came as Rodriguez’s days with the Rangers appeared to be numbered, either through a trade before the trading deadline or through free agency after this season.

The two sides split the difference between the $38 million offer he rejected last week and the $45 million his attorney, Jeff Moorad, said Rodriguez wanted.

The five-year, $42 million deal includes salaries of $6 million in 1998, $8 million in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and $9 million in 2002. Rodriguez also gets a $1 million signing bonus and a $2 million severance payment when his term with the Rangers ends, be it in 2002 or if he is traded.

After months of unsuccessful negotiations and posturing between the team and Moorad, it was Rodriguez who initiated the breakthrough.

Without telling his attorney, Rodriguez walked into team president Tom Schieffer’s office at 9 a.m. Thursday.

“He said he wanted to be a Texas Ranger his whole career and he wanted to see if he could work out a deal,” Schieffer said. “That really meant a lot to me, and I think it meant a lot to this franchise.”

Giants acquire pitching

The San Francisco Giants, desperate for experienced pitching as their lead has shrunk in the N.L. West, acquired starters Wilson Alvarez and Danny Darwin and reliever Roberto Hernandez from the Chicago White Sox for six minor leaguers.

For the three pitchers, who have a combined 34 years of major league experience, San Francisco sent the White Sox right-handed pitchers Lorenzo Barcelo, Keith Foulke and Bobby Howry and left-hander Ken Vining, as well as shortstop Michael Caruso and outfielder Brian Manning.

“This absolutely sends the message to our organization that we’re committed to winning a championship this year,” San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean said. “You only get so many opportunities like we have this season, and we’re determined to make the most of it.”

Indians nab Smiley, Juden

The Cleveland Indians got help for their ailing pitching staff by acquiring left-hander John Smiley from Cincinnati in a six-player deal and getting right-hander Jeff Juden from Montreal for rookie left-hander Steve Kline and a player to be named.

The Indians, who have been waiting for Jack McDowell, Chad Ogea and Brian Anderson to come back from injuries, are coming off a 4-10 homestand.

The Reds sent Smiley and backup infielder Jeff Branson to Cleveland for pitchers Danny Graves, Jim Crowell and Scott Winchester and infielder Damian Jackson.

Exemption crumbles

A Senate committee voted in Washington to revoke the part of baseball’s 75-year antitrust exemption that deals with labor relations.

The Judiciary Committee legislation mirrors language already accepted this year by club owners and players. As part of the settlement ending the 1994-95 strike, both sides agreed to seek legislation giving up the labor-related part of the antitrust exemption.

The legislation would allow baseball players to go to court if they reach an impasse in negotiations. Currently, the only options available are to accept the owners’ contract offer or strike.