Andujar Is Traded to A’s for 2 Players

Joaquin Andujar, who will open the 1986 season on suspension, will also open it on the roster of the Oakland A’s.

Tuesday night, in the first major trade of the winter baseball meetings, St. Louis dealt the quick-tempered Dominican to Oakland for a proven catcher, Mike Heath, and a promising pitcher, Tim Conroy.

The Cardinals denied that they were determined to trade Andujar, but owner August Busch is believed to have ordered it over the embarrassment Andujar caused the club with his physical pursuit of umpire Don Denkinger in Game 7 of the World Series.

Commissioner Peter Ueberroth suspended Andujar for the first 10 days of the 1986 season, and he may draw an additional suspension depending on the commissioner’s response to the fact that Andujar’s name surfaced during the recent Pittsburgh drug trial.

A’s Vice President Sandy Alderson said he made inquiries into Andujar’s status and was satisfied that he represented a “prudent risk.”

Asked if the acquisition of a pitcher who is guaranteed $1.15 million and $1.27 million on the final two years of his contract wasn’t at odds with the A’s recent financial problems, Alderson said:

“In the last year we have been able to reduce our payroll from the eighth highest to the 18th highest. We felt that because of that we could make a commitment that would be indicative of the interest we have in bringing a winning club to Oakland.

“The bottom line is that Andjuar won 21 games. We’re confident he will be a quality citizen and pitcher.”

Andujar, 33, was 20-14 in 1984 and 21-12 in ‘85, winning one game after Aug. 23.

St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog said it wasn’t so much a case of Andujar having to leave as having to find a replacement for catcher Darrell Porter, who was allowed to become a free agent.

“Heath was the only catcher we could get without disturbing our outfield and infield,” he said. “I now feel we have enough bench depth, starting depth and pitching depth to be able to afford the loss of Andujar.”

Heath, 30, is a seven-year veteran whose departure leaves the A’s catching position in the uncertain hands of Mickey Tettleton. Conroy, 25, was 11-3 at Tacoma last year and 10-19 in parts of four seasons with the A’s. He will be given an opportunity to replace Andujar in the rotation of a team that won 101 games despite Andujar’s late slump.

“I’ll miss him,” Herzog said of Andujar. “I figure that when he’s around you never know what’s going to happen. Now we have so many good guys on the club they may not need a manager.”

The Andujar trade may have broken the logjam. In two trades announced later Tuesday night:

--Philadelphia traded highly regarded catcher Ozzie Virgil and pitcher Mike Smith, their No. 1 choice in the 1984 June draft, to Atlanta for pitcher Steve Bedrosian, who was 7-15 as a starter last season but will return to the bullpen in 1986. Bedrosian, 28, had 41 saves in 1982, ’83 and ’84.

The acquisition of Virgil, 29, a member of the National League All-Star team, makes Bruce Benedict, one of baseball’s highest-salaried understudies, expendable. Owner Ted Turner recently gave his veteran catcher a three-year, $1.84-million contract. Atlanta’s third string catcher, Rick Cerone, makes a mere $625,000 a year.

--The Milwaukee Brewers traded veteran infielder Ed Romero to the Boston Red Sox for veteran relief pitcher Mark Clear. This was originally part of a three-way trade that would have sent pitcher Tom Seaver from the Chicago White Sox to Boston, but those negotiations collapsed late Tuesday afternoon, Brewer General Manager Harry Dalton said.

There was an agreement Tuesday in negotiations between Angel General Manager Mike Port and representatives of free-agent relief ace Donnie Moore.

Port and agent David Pinter agreed that they were moving toward a final agreement, with another meeting scheduled today.

“We kicked around some numbers and it’s getting a little better,” Pinter said. “We may still have to meet with Mr. Autry (Angel owner Gene Autry) during the first week of January, but I think we’re getting closer.”

The Angels have to reach an agreement with Moore before Jan. 8 or cannot resign him until May 1.

A victim of the alleged conspiracy among the owners, Moore has yet to receive an offer from any club except the Angels, but that could change after Jan 8.

“I can’t say anything is imminent,” Port said, “but we at least have plans now to go beyond today and a mutual cognizance of the Jan. 8 deadline.”

This was the first meeting since the Angels recently withdrew a three-year, $2.6-million offer that Moore had already rejected.

Port had said Monday that it was now up to Pinter and attorney Peter Rose to make a counteroffer. He also said that he would not go beyond three years, that three years now represented club policy and he could not alienate the 11 Angels who had signed three-year contracts in the last 2 1/2 years.

“I can live with a good three-year offer,” Pinter said, “but not at the numbers mentioned previously. We could have beat those numbers after Jan. 8.

“There’s also ways to guarantee a fourth year within the framework of a three-year contract “

Pinter alluded to the inclusion of statistical criteria in the second or third year of the pact.

He is believed to have reopened negotiations with a five-year, $7-million proposal, aiming ultimately for at least $1 million a year and a signing bonus of $500,000.

“He gave us his ceiling,” Port said, climbing on a chair and raising an arm overhead.

The Angels spent $50,000 on another right-handed relief pitcher Tuesday, selecting Carl Willis from Denver of the Cincinnati organization in the annual draft of Triple-A players who failed to make the 40-man rosters.

Willis, 24, was 1-0 in 16 games with the Reds and 4-4 with eight saves for Denver. He previously spent two seasons in the Detroit organization, prompting Sparky Anderson to predict he would be the next Rollie Fingers.

Baseball Notes

In their pursuit of a left-handed relief pitcher, the Angels are believed to have narrowed the field to Seattle’s Ed Van deBerg (the Mariners are known to be seeking Ruppert Jones as part of any deal with the Angels), Detroit’s Chuck Cary and Montreal’s Gary Lucas and Dan Schatzader. . . . General Manager Mike Port said it is unlikely a deal will be made here because the respective prices are too high.