QUIZ: Roger Cedeno is nearly certain to top 50 steals this season, making him just the third Met to do so. Name the other two (answer below). …
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At present, with their rotation humming and Shane Spencer grabbing hold in left field, the Yanks are centering on a situational lefty reliever for a July 31 deadline deal. The Pirates have three such southpaws, Jason Christiansen, Scott Sauerbeck and Jeff Wallace. Toronto’s Graeme Lloyd and Arizona’s Dan Plesac and Greg Swindell also are of interest.
The Yanks want to limit their trade hunt to protect their prospects for an additional year. They have not had to trade significant prospects since obtaining Chuck Knoblauch in February 1998 (Roger Clemens cost the Yanks major-league talent). That has given the organization more than a year to regenerate. The Yanks feel holding off now would give them the merchandise either to make a big deal in the offseason or have some low-priced players on the horizon, especially with huge raises upcoming for Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Ramiro Mendoza and Jorge Posada.
Besides, the Yanks feel that without Curt Schilling or David Wells on the market, there are no starters that are truly enticing, and Spencer has many organization backers who feel all he needed was the regular time he did not get under interim manager Don Zimmer. Within the front office, Spencer often is compared to a righty version of Oakland’s fine run producer Matt Stairs, but is a better fielder.
Also, the Yanks are not overwhelmed by the left-field market. They want power and defense at the position and will only increase payroll if the answer is a long-term one, and not a one-year stop gap such as Greg Vaughn. The Yanks have been told Kansas City’s Johnny Damon is not currently available, but they think that can change. They wonder if what is now a one-year drought by Detroit’s Bobby Higginson is permanent. Rondell White is intriguing, but there are three major drawbacks: 1) he is injury prone, 2) he has a very weak arm and the Yanks are concerned about putting him side-by-side with the weak-armed Bernie Williams and 3) the Yanks feel Expo GM Jim Beattie is always just looking to rob them.
One name to remember is Toronto’s Shawn Green. In Green, Carlos Delgado and Alex Gonzalez, the Blue Jays have three building blocks coming to free agency after next season. They have committed a ton of money to Wells and have financial uncertainty. Green, a faster, more powerful Paul O’Neill, could play left and step into right when O’Neill retires after this season or next. Green is just 26 and would probably have a Jewish appeal in New York, making him the type of player for whom the Yanks would consider both expanding their payroll and trading big cogs in their farm system, perhaps including Alfonso Soriano and/or Nick Johnson.
The Yanks have never heard Green is available and their hunch is that Delgado is the more likely man to be dealt. *
The Red Sox are interested in adding Rondell White from Montreal to gain some offensive production in their outfield. Chuck Finley has emerged as the best starter potentially available before the July 31 deadline, but doubts remain if Anaheim really will move its ace and if Finley would use his 10-and-5 status to block any deal. Beyond Finley, the pickings are hardly tempting: Wilson Alvarez, Rolando Arrojo, Kevin Appier, Alex Fernandez and Darryl Kile are probably the best of the bunch.
The Indians can’t like that because they are looking to add a big starter for the playoffs. But teams all want Richie Sexson. Cleveland is gun shy to move him because Manny Ramirez can be a free agent after the 2000 season and keeping Sexson’s big righty bat is protection in case Ramirez flees. Also, Indian GM John Hart might not want to trade the young slugger because he has been burned by trading Jeromy Burnitz, Sean Casey, Brian Giles and Jeff Kent only to watch them blossom into stars elsewhere while Cleveland got little in return. *
Seattle has made David Segui and Russ Davis available, hoping to get pitching for a second-half run.
Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn almost certainly will be voted to the All-Star teams. If the sport’s braintrust were smart it would create a special wild-card roster space to invite the other player closing in on 3,000 hits, Wade Boggs, to play in his long-time Fenway home. …
It’s 10 p.m., do the Mets feel shame over their pushing of a non-All-Star such as Rey Ordonez for the All-Star team? *
QUIZ ANSWER: Lance Johnson stole 50 bases in 1996 and Mookie Wilson stole 58 in 1982 and 54 in 1983.
