Four-Player Deal Makes Denny a Red

Pitching, pitching and more pitching was what won the National League West in 1985, a fact not lost on baseball’s all-time base-hit leader, Pete Rose.

Rose, the player-manager of the Cincinnati Reds, acknowledges that to close the gap in the standings with the Dodgers, his team has to close the gap in starting-pitching strength. “You can’t have enough pitching” is the cliche Rose recites, but the phrase holds true in the NL West, where the Dodgers can cut loose a future Cy Young Award winner (Rick Sutcliffe) and bullpen stopper (Ted Power) without so much as a flinch.

Wednesday, at the baseball winter meetings, Rose and the Reds began a counterattack, acquiring 1983 NL Cy Young Award winner John Denny from the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder Gary Redus and relief pitcher Tom Hume.

Also included in the four-player trade was Philadelphia pitcher Jeff Gray, 22, who will be assigned to a Cincinnati minor league team.

Denny, 33, went 19-6 with a 2.37 earned-run average in 1983 and narrowly missed winning the league’s ERA championship in 1984. His 2.45 mark led all NL starting pitchers that year, but because of an elbow injury, Denny worked just 154 innings, falling short of the minimum requirement of 162.

Last season, Denny threw 230 innings to lead the Phillies, but his record and ERA slipped to 11-14 and 3.82.

The addition of Denny gives Cincinnati three top-flight starters, including 20-game winner Tom Browning and All-Star Mario Soto.

The price for the Reds was Redus, who hit .252 with 48 stolen bases in 1985, and Hume, who had three saves and a 3.26 ERA in 56 relief appearances.

Redus had been dissatisfied with his lack of playing time in Cincinnati (246 at-bats in 101 games) and criticized Rose for inserting himself into the lineup too often last season.

Rose said his personal relationship with Redus did not influence his decision to trade the 29-year-old outfielder.

“No, I like a guy who speaks up,” Rose said. “Gary Redus is a player with a lot of potential as a leadoff hitter, but when you get to be 29 years old, you’re not a kid anymore and you’re supposed to start producing. This is when you should be living up to that potential.”

The New York Yankees traded relief pitcher Rich Bordi and minor league infielder Rex Hudler to the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Gary Roenicke and a player to be named, possibly setting in motion a considerably larger trade.

The much-rumored deal that would send the Yankees’ Don Baylor and Joe Cowley to the Chicago White Sox for Carlton Fisk and Britt Burns moved a step closer to completion with New York’s acquisition of Roenicke. Roenicke is a right-handed hitter with power who could fill the void left by the departure of Baylor, a right-handed designated hitter.

In summing up an all-day owners’ meeting, Commissioner Peter Ueberroth said (1) plans for expansion have been put on hold, (2) a committee will be established to study the feasibility of one group of umpires working both leagues and (3) the designated hitter will remain a one-league rule in 1986.

“I asked the owners if they wanted to tackle this,” Ueberroth said of the split-DH rule, “and it was their decision not to. We’ll leave it where it is.”

Ueberroth did indicate that some action will be taken regarding the use of the designated hitter in the World Series. The commissioner has the power to change the rule--such as permitting the DH during games at the American League champion’s park--and Ueberroth said he will make a decison before the start of next season.

Baseball Notes

In a couple of minor trades, the Chicago Cubs reacquired veteran second baseman Manny Trillo from the San Francisco Giants, and the Yankees obtained utility infielder Mike Fischlin from the Cleveland Indians. Chicago sent infielder Dave Owen to the Giants for Trillo, who spent 1975-1978 with the Cubs. The Yankees got Fischlin for a player to be named later. . . . Pitcher Vance Lovelace, obtained with outfielder Dan Cataline when the Dodgers traded Ron Cey to the Chicago Cubs, was selected by the Angels Wednesday in baseball’s minor league draft. Lovelace, 22, a left-hander who was 0-4 at San Antonio and 1-2 at Vero Beach last year, was assigned to the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate at Edmonton. The Angels also selected pitcher Rafael Pimentel from Milwaukee’s Stockton affiliate, where he was 4-2. Pimentel will be assigned to Double-A Midland. . . . The Dodgers purchased Alonso Telez, 24, a right-handed hitting center fielder, from Cordoba of the Mexican League. Telez is hitting .331 for Guaymas in the Mexican Winter League. The Dodgers also announced that outfielder Tony Brewer, who batted .265 at Albuquerque after leading the Pacific Coast League with a .357 average in 1984, has been sold to the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Pacific League. . . . Carl Willis, the right-handed pitcher selected by the Angels in Tuesday’s draft of unprotected Triple-A players, is due to become the club’s middle man, General Manager Mike Port said. Willis must remain with the Angels for the entire season or be offered back to Cincinnati for half the $50,000 drafting price. . . . The Angels are talking to Boston about utility infielder Dave Stapleton. . . . The signing of free agent Tom Paciorek by the Texas Rangers is expected to whet Boston’s interest in former Angel Juan Beniquez. The Red Sox figured they had Paciorek wrapped up.