Brock Gets Wish; Dodgers Get Young : L.A. Sends First Baseman to Brewers for Leary; Powell to Seattle

In separate deals here Wednesday, the Dodgers apparently filled their No. 1 need--bullpen help--and satisfied the wishes of Greg Brock, their former No. 1 first baseman.

First, they traded pitcher Dennis Powell and minor league infielder Mike Watters to the Seattle Mariners for left-handed short reliever Matt Young, who is projected as the Dodgers’ left-handed stopper.

Then they went right back to their war room and traded Brock to the Milwaukee Brewers. Brock, who came to the big leagues as the supposed heir apparent to Steve Garvey, had asked a year ago to be traded. In return, Los Angeles got pitcher Tim Leary, who may never make it into a Dodger uniform, and minor league pitcher Stanley Crews.

Young was described last season by Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees and Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox as the best southpaw in the American League. The Mariners timed every pitcher in the league last year, and only two threw a fastballs at more than 95 m.p.h.--Boston’s Roger Clemens, the Cy Young Award winner, and Young.

Dodger Vice President Al Campanis praised each of his new players but said there might be more trades to be made. He also wants a center fielder, and Leary, he said, may be trade bait for one.

There is interest in Cleveland’s Brett Butler and Philadelphia’s Gary Redus, but Campanis said there is no particular hurry in getting either one.

“We’ll wait,” he said. “We want to make the best deal possible.”

The Young deal, the Dodgers’ second straight attempt to steal a left-handed reliever from Seattle, was a “fantastic trade,” according to one National League general manager. A year ago, they sent catcher Steve Yeager to the Mariners for left-hander Ed Vande Berg, but Vande Berg finished with a 1-5 record and a 3.41 earned-run average, and certainly was no stopper.

But Young, 28, was watched closely by Dodger scout Mel Didier, who became convinced that he is the answer to Dodger relief problems.

“We made a deal with the Dodgers last year that theoretically didn’t help either club,” said Seattle General Manager Dick Balderson. “But you can’t let that stop you from doing it again.”

Young, who grew up in Sierra Madre and went to UCLA, heard news of the trade on a radio broadcast. He jumped up in exultation and said later: “I thought, growing up in Southern California, that the Dodgers were the only team around. I lived 20, 25 minutes from the ballpark. When I played back-yard baseball, I always envisioned myself as Manny Mota or whomever.”

Brock, too, always envisioned himself as a Dodger, until he began having serious trouble against left-handed pitching. In 1986, he was 6 for 59 against left-handers with one run batted in, and he was basically a platoon player.

Brock spent his Wednesday deer hunting with former teammate Sid Bream. When he returned home--with no deer--he learned of a trade.

“I was surprised at Milwaukee, because I hadn’t really heard any rumors about them,” he said. “But I’m excited. By no means am I downgrading the Dodgers, but I’m just hoping this will work out best for both of us.

“Why didn’t things work out with the Dodgers? I don’t have the answers for it. I didn’t think things were going the way they should have for myself, and I don’t think the Dodgers got what they expected. I got into a rut a few years ago and I wasn’t playing every day. I never really got out of the rut.”

Brock’s agent, Tony Attanasio, said: “It’s a better opportunity for him to play and to hit. Anyplace would represent a better opportunity than L.A.”

Sources said that the Brewers will make Cecil Cooper, last year’s first baseman, their designated hitter, opening first base for Brock.

In Los Angeles, the first baseman--according to Manager Tom Lasorda--will be Franklin Stubbs. Still, Lasorda said that could change if Pedro Guerrero isn’t healthy enough to play the outfield. And don’t count out Mike Marshall or Bill Madlock or Len Matuszek.

The lasting impression of Brock will be that he never could get out of Garvey’s shadow, although he had two decent years with the Dodgers, hitting 20 home runs and driving in 66 runs in 1983, then almost duplicating those figures in ‘85, when he hit 21 homers and again batted in 66 runs.

“I can’t answer it,” Campanis said when asked why Brock bombed. “He may have had some pressure from Garvey, I don’t know. But this may be the best thing that ever happened.

“When a guy comes out in the press and says he wants to be traded, you begin to feel he’s lost a little confidence in him and in us. We don’t get many players asking to be traded.”

Brock said: “There’s a lot of pressure just playing in the major leagues, so you can’t really weigh the pressure. Was it because of Steve Garvey? Or just the pressures of playing? I don’t know.”

If the Dodgers keep Leary, they may be gambling. He was a No. 1 pick of the New York Mets out of UCLA in 1979 and was their No. 3 starter at the beginning of the 1981 season. But he blew out his elbow in his first start and missed the rest of the season. He sat out all of 1982, too, with a shoulder injury. Finally, he threw again in 1983 and 1984 but spent most of his time in Triple-A. In 1985, New York sent him to Milwaukee.

“Physically, I’ve been fine for three years,” said Leary, who grew up in Santa Monica as a serious Dodger fan. “I’ve been pitching since I was 8, so you’ve got to expect to get hurt at some point.

As a starter, he went 12-12 with a 4.21 earned-run average. The Dodgers say he will compete with Alejandro Pena--who currently is 3-0 and pitching well in Venezuela--for the final spot in their rotation.

That is, if they don’t trade Leary first.

“I told my mom, ‘Don’t get too excited, I could be traded tomorrow’ ” Leary said.

The other pitcher in the Milwaukee deal, Crews, is 25, a right-hander who spent time both in Double-A and Triple-A in 1986. In all likelihood, he’s headed for Albuquerque in 1987.

Of the three new Dodgers, Young is undoubtedly the pitcher of record here--he was 8-6 with a 3.82 ERA in Seattle last year. He began the season as a starter, but the Mariners needed him in the bullpen. The Mariners traded him, they said, because they are a last-place team that needs bodies.

“We needed a left-handed reliever and short man,” Campanis said. “And this (deal) fits like a glove.”

Powell, a left-hander, split time between Albuquerque and Los Angeles in 1986 and was 2-7 with a 4.27 ERA with the Dodgers. He might have been the fifth starter in Los Angeles. In Seattle, he may well be the Mariners’ No. 3 starter.

“When you finish last, you need to do something,” Mariner Manager Dick Williams said.

Watters, 23, began with the Dodgers as a right fielder but was moved to second base last year. He can hit--.285 in 1986--but had 41 errors. The Mariners likely will keep him in Triple-A.