Steinbrenner Nuts About Johnson
George Steinbrenner gushed with compliments Wednesday as if he was the president of Randy Johnson’s fan club rather than the Yankees’ principal owner.
Steinbrenner made no apologies for his unabashed pursuit of the Seattle Mariners’ dominant left-hander, refusing to withdraw the names of Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera when asked about his trade discussions with Seattle. Steinbrenner clearly covets Johnson, especially after Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez was traded late Tuesday to the Red Sox. But at what price?
“He scares the (stuffing) out of people,” Steinbrenner said of Johnson. “‘He’s a hell of a competitor and one hell of a pitcher. If you beat him, it’s either a fluke or because you got him early. He’s a tremendous pitcher, but that’s all I’m going to say about him because I don’t want to get involved with any tampering charges. All I’ll say is that we’re talking about things.”
Steinbrenner is, anyway. He took command of the Johnson conversations Monday night when the Yankees offered Rivera, Ramiro Mendoza and top outfield prospect Ricky Ledee to the Mariners, who flatly rejected that package before requesting the dynamic duo of Rivera-Pettitte. Seattle wants a top-flight starting pitcher and reliever in exchange for Johnson, but it appears that the Yankees could substitute David Wells for Pettitte.
Seattle general manager Woody Woodward returned from the expansion draft Wednesday and said he wasn’t close to making a trade for Johnson.
Devil Rays have plans for Stocker
Kevin Stocker heard rumors that he might be traded to the Chicago Cubs or the Los Angeles Dodgers. No one ever said anything about the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
That’s where the Phillies’ starting shortstop since 1993 ended up. Philadelphia traded him to Tampa Bay for outfielder Bob Abreu, taken by the Devil Rays from Houston with the third pick in Tuesday’s expansion draft.
Stocker, 27, a former Central Valley star, became an instant fan favorite in Philadelphia when he was called up by the Phillies midway through the 1993 season.
He immediately solidified a shortstop position that was the one glaring weakness on a team that would end up winning the N.L. pennant.
Stocker has already heard from his new manager, Larry Rothschild.
“He told me that he traded for me to be their everyday shortstop,” he said. “He just kind of talked about how excited he is about the new season and the new building they’re building.”
Braves up ante on Anderson
The Atlanta Braves on Wednesday offered free agent center fielder Brady Anderson, who has spent the past 9-1/2 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, a four-year contract worth approximately $29 million, baseball sources said.
The Braves seemed to cement their status as the front-runner in the Anderson sweepstakes. The Blue Jays and Yankees apparently also are in the running.
Sources said the Braves offered Anderson, 33, about $7.25 million per season over four years. That would be about $1.5 million per season more than the Orioles’ most recent offer of approximately $23 million over four years.
Padres, Tigers swap
The San Diego Padres acquired pitchers Dan Miceli and Donne Wall and third baseman Ryan Balfe from the Detroit Tigers for pitcher Tim Worrell and outfielder Trey Beamon.
Fernandez’s house is robbed
Talk about adding insult to injury.
Florida Marlins pitcher Alex Fernandez, already hurting from a season-ending arm condition that kept him out of the World Series, had his Miami Lakes house broken into by burglars last week.
The thieves walked away with jewelry, cash and electronic devices, which the Marlins right hander and his family valued at $531,700, Metro-Dade Police said.