Spring Training Roundup : Harrah Returns to Texas in a Trade With Yankees

Toby Harrah, the first real star for the Texas Rangers, returned to his former team Wednesday in a trade with the New York Yankees for outfielder Billy Sample and a player to be named.

Harrah, 36, batted .217 last season in 88 games with the Yankees, with one home run and 27 runs batted. The four-time American League All-Star was obtained by the Yankees from Cleveland last winter. The Indians acquired Harrah from Texas after the 1978 season, and he still maintains his off-season home in Fort Worth.

“I’m delighted with the trade,” Harrah said. “It’s a great opportunity to be going back to Texas.”

Sample, 29, hit .247 with five homers, 33 RBIs and 18 stolen bases for the Rangers in 1984.

The Rangers will play Harrah at shortstop or second base. If Harrah wins a starting job, he will bat in the lead-off spot, Ranger Manager Doug Rader said.

Pitcher Dwight Gooden signed a contract with the New York Mets that could earn him nearly half a million dollars with incentives.

If Gooden, a 20-year-old right-hander, has anything close to the kind of success he enjoyed as a rookie last year, he will become the best paid second-year player in history.

The 1984 National League Rookie of the Year and major-league strikeout king could surpass the record $350,000 Fernando Valenzuela received from the Dodgers in 1982. Gooden made the major-league minimum of $40,000 last season.

Gooden, 17-9 last season with 276 strikeouts (a rookie record) in 218 innings, will be paid a basic salary of $275,000, plus a guaranteed $60,000 for promotional work. In addition, he has bonus clauses if he makes the All-Star team, for the number of innings he pitches or starts he makes, and his finish in the Cy Young voting.

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed 12-year veteran pitcher Rick Reuschel to a minor-league contract following his release by the Chicago Cubs.

Reuschel, 35, was 5-5 last season with the Cubs with a 5.17 earned-run average in 19 games. He started 14 of those games. Reuschel has a 139-131 lifetime record.

Claudell Washington did not arrive at the Atlanta Braves’ training camp at West Palm Beach, Fla., despite promises from his agent that he was on the way.

The Braves’ right fielder, who was arrested in California last week and charged with suspicion of possessing drugs, was scheduled to arrive at West Palm Beach Tuesday night. As of Wednesday afternoon, Washington had not arrived.

St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Joaquin Andujar informed Manager Whitey Herzog he will report to the Cardinals’ spring training camp at St. Petersburg, Fla., Monday.

Andujar is being delayed because of illness of his grandfather.