McKeon Find Teams Hesitant to Trade

While Jack McKeon was eating dinner the other night, a cockroach hopped on his water glass, to say hello, whereupon McKeon completed his first trade of the winter meetings, swapping table No. 9 for table No. 8.

No trades have been made since.

“But don’t count Trader Jack out,” said McKeon, the Padres general manager.

Still, McKeon could end up as the odd man out during these winter meetings, simply because he’s too good for his own good. It was only last year that he got LaMarr Hoyt, a former Cy Young winner, from the White Sox, but it seems teams have wised up. He said he came into these meetings thinking something could be done with St. Louis and Seattle, but both have backed off. And on Tuesday, Seattle people were especially rude, walking by without saying even hello.

“It’s sad,” said McKeon, who came ready for action.

If nothing else, McKeon had to make a move during Tuesday’s draft of minor league prospects who had not been protected. He picked up Alan Wiggins that way, and he heard this year of a player named Leon “Bip” Roberts, a second baseman with great speed. Roberts’ attitude was checked out and also was judged as excellent.

Tuesday, they chose Roberts, a 22-year-old who must make their 25-man roster or be shipped back to his former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pittsburgh outrighted Roberts because it had an overloaded roster and somebody had to go. He had a mediocre year (for him) at Hawaii last year, but this is being attributed to a rib and shoulder injury suffered in a collision under a pop fly.

The big thing is that he can run. In four pro seasons, he has 128 steals in 174 attempts (73.6%).

“Our people rate him a ‘7’ as a runner, on a scale of 1 to 8,” said Tom Romenesko, the Padre director of minor leagues and scouting.

Former Pirate manager Chuck Tanner said: “He can run, has good ability and can swing the bat. I love him. We thought he could be another Joe Morgan type. He’s a young kid who loves to play. He’s in heaven on the field every day. He was one of my favorites in spring training.” McKeon said: “He’s a second baseman, shortstop. We feel he’s out of the mold of Alan Wiggins, but probably a better defensive player at this stage. I’ve had people say he was the fastest in the Pittsburgh organization . . . They say he’s a Joe Morgan without power (he’s only 5-foot 7-inches). He has a great attitude.”

In essence, Roberts could replace people such as Harold Reynolds and Darnell Coles, other young prospects the Padres couldn’t trade for. Both Reynolds and Coles, who belong to Seattle, reportedly had interested McKeon, and apparently the Padres offered left-handed pitcher Mark Thurmond for both.

McKeon gave the Mariners a deadline for getting back to him, and they said no, apparently scared off because McKeon had such an affection for them.

Thursday, they were close to trading third baseman Jim Presley to Baltimore for pitcher Storm Davis. Coles, perhaps, would replace Presley.

As for St. Louis, McKeon had talked to Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog during the World Series, and it seems they discussed a deal that would have sent catcher Terry Kennedy to St. Louis for outfielder Andy Van Slyke, left-handed pitcher Ricky Horton and catcher Tom Nieto. Herzog said he had no problems with it, but General Manager Dal Maxvill did later.

Tuesday, St. Louis found their catcher, but it was Oakland’s Mike Heath.

So McKeon had nothing serious going. He has talked to the Mets about centerfielder Len Dykstra, but the Mets backed off. He has talked to the Giants about centerfielder Dan Gladden, but the Giants want too much, someone like Kevin McReynolds. He has talked to Cincinnati about Gary Redus, but the Reds don’t want to trade Redus within their division.

He has talked to Baltimore, which wanted Kennedy, but the Orioles would only give up John Shelby (outfielder), Gary Roenicke (outfielder), Dennis Martinez (pitcher) or Sammy Stewart (pitcher). McKeon was more interested in Mike Young or Storm Davis. No go.

His No. 1 priority is a speedy leadoff player. If he can’t get him, another guy he could settle for is Phillies outfielder Jeff Stone or Montreal outfielder Herm Winningham.

But it might not happen this week. With no trade deadline there isn’t any urgency.