Parrish Isn’t Digging In for a Long Stay With Rangers

During his two-month rehabilitation, Larry Parrish frequently could be found walking the fairways of Riverside, a new golf club north of Arlington. He loves the course. He likes the people. He would like to join.

But he’s not going to. “I told ‘em, ‘Hey, how can I join if I’m not going to be here to play on it?’ ” Parrish said the other day.

With Buddy Bell back home in Cincinnati, Parrish has become the Rangers’ primary trade bait. Though he figures to be back for his fifth season with the Rangers in 1986, Parrish isn’t putting down a lot of deposits these days.

He hears too much, and has seen too much, to discount the chance that he, too, will be sacrificed in the Rangers’ youth movement.

“Buddy and I were talking about it earlier this year,” Parrish said. “It seemed like over the last year or so, every time one of us got going good they were going to trade us and get something for. Then if one of us was struggling, they were just going to get rid of us.

“It does distract you. I think that is what really got Buddy traded. He kept hearing about it, and it started to wear on him, so he kind of forced their hand.”

Parrish would appear to be in a secure situation with Texas. His market value is down after a poor season in which he has been bothered by problems with torn cartilage in his left knee. Yet he would appear to have increased value with the Rangers as a result of the trading of Bell and designated hitter Cliff Johnson.

Things are not always as they seem. Parrish remains on the market, dangling in front of any team that would be willing to part with a pitcher who might do a decent job in the Rangers’ rotation.

“We just have to take every possibility as it comes up and decide if we’re a better team,” general manager Tom Grieve said. “You can’t dispute the fact there’s a rookie at third base and our DH has been traded. Parrish, in addition to being a right fielder, is also a third baseman and DH. He certainly offers possibilities to fill any of those positions or a combination of them next year.

“As far as his marketability, it is not high right now,” Grieve said. “People are waiting to see how he responds. You can only know about that down the road. But there is no doubt in my mind that given Larry Parrish’s work ethic, ability to play with pain, he is going to come back and be a good player, able to produce.”

Playing in only his second game since missing a stretch of 49 while recuperating from arthroscopic surgery, Parrish went 2 for 3 and scored two runs in Tuesday night’s loss to Boston. He served as DH in that game, and probably will stay in that role the remainder of the year.

Surprise. Parrish wouldn’t mind becoming a permanent DH.

“I might be more receptive to that now than I was in the last couple of years,” said Parrish, 31. “With the knee thing, maybe it would work out better for me just to hit.”

But in what city?

“A player doesn’t have any control over that situation,” Parrish said. “He just has to go out and try to do good, let the chips fall where they may.”