Dodger Answer to Replacing Guerrero Looks Questionable

A year ago today, Pedro Guerrero played his last game at third base, and the Dodgers--then a game below .500 at 23-24--went 72-43 the rest of the way, a .626 percentage, to win the National League West.

The only Guerrero now in uniform for the Dodgers is Ramon, Pedro’s younger brother and traveling companion, who works out with the team before games. Ramon Guerrero won’t hit 15 home runs this month the way his big brother did to ignite the Dodgers a year ago. The two players platooning in Guerrero’s place--Franklin Stubbs and Cesar Cedeno--haven’t hit half as many in the season’s first two months. Stubbs has six, Cedeno none.

Cedeno, whose next home run will be the 200th of his big league career, has only three extra-base hits in 76 at-bats--two doubles, and a triple that resulted from a missed shoestring catch. He has only three runs batted in during the last 20 games.

Cedeno, who was released during spring training by Toronto, said upon signing with the Dodgers on April 10 that he would need at least two weeks to play himself into shape. But the former Gold Glover, 35, is only a shadow of his once-splendid self in the outfield, even though he has dropped 15 pounds, from 217 to 202.

The Dodgers, of course, signed him for his bat, hoping he would do for them what he did for the Cardinals in the last six weeks of 1985, when he hit .434 with 6 home runs and 19 RBIs in his last 28 games. That hasn’t happened. More typical was Cedeno’s pinch-hitting appearance Friday night, when he struck out on three pitches against the Pirates’ Jose DeLeon, swinging badly on the last.

Dodger Vice President Al Campanis, who signed Cedeno for more than $200,000, insists that the four-time All-Star is hitting in bad luck. But as long as he continues to hit the way he has, the Dodger fortunes aren’t likely to change much.

The alternatives? Without a trade, they’re limited. Bill Russell? “Do you think he’s going to hit for power or average?” Campanis said. “He’s a utility infielder and outfielder.” Prospects like Jose Gonzalez at Albuquerque or Chris Gwynn or Mike Devereaux at San Antonio? “We don’t have anybody ready,” Campanis said. “We don’t want to rush anyone, like we did with Stubbs.”

As for a trade, Campanis admits he has tried. “Who do you think is the first guy they ask for?” he said. “Either Hershiser or Welch.”

Campanis said he intends to stick with Cedeno. “We have to have an extra bat,” he said, dismissing the idea of returning to a 10-man pitching staff. “We have to carry as much hitting as we can, in view of the fact we’re not hitting.”

Stubbs, whose average was .163 on April 29, got as high as .237 on May 20, but has 3 hits in his last 20 at-bats to drop back to .214. He has 7 RBIs in his last 18 games.

Campanis, however, is encouraged.

“I think he’ll become a bona fide major leaguer,” Campanis said. “He just has to learn to hit to left field and up the middle.”