Angels Send Romanick to N.Y. for Wynegar : Jones Is Offered Contract in Surprise Move

After saying no to Jack Morris, the California Angels came up with different responses for Butch Wynegar and Ruppert Jones Friday afternoon.

Wynegar, 30, the troubled New York Yankee catcher, became an Angel when the two teams finalized their long-anticipated trade. As had been rumored for more than a month, the Yankees sent Wynegar, who batted .206 in 61 games, to the Angels in return for pitcher Ron Romanick and a minor-league player to be named.

Romanick, who went 5-8 with a 5.50 earned-run average in 1986, was assigned to the Yankees’ Class AAA affiliate in Columbus.

The surprise of the day came when Angel General Manager Mike Port, completing the obligatory task of offering new contracts to players on the 40-man roster, tendered one to Jones, a player he had previously released.

Jones, who batted .229 with 17 home runs and 49 runs batted in, had been told in early November that the Angels were longer interested in his services. Along with Terry Forster, Doug Corbett, Rick Burleson, Reggie Jackson and Vern Ruhle, Jones had seemingly been forced to make the transition from 1986 Angel to 1987 ex-Angel.

But Friday, as Port put it, “We had a change in plans, a change in direction.”

That change apparently was predicated by the stalled contract talks with free agents Doug DeCinces, Brian Downing and Bob Boone, all of whom have declined to participate in arbitration with the Angels. Now Port has until Jan. 8 to negotiate new contracts with each of them.

“We tried to be up front with Ruppert right away,” Port said. “So often players in the last year of their contract opt for free agency and we told him, ‘We don’t see you in our plans for next year.’

“But when Ruppert chose not to pursue the free-agent market, we decided that tendering him a contract would not be the worst thing in the world. We have not finalized things with Brian, Doug or Bob, and now with Reggie (Jackson) no longer with us, it was foreseeable that we could be left too thin. This is insurance.”

The same could be said for Wynegar, who, at the very least, will be used as a backup to Boone. He could also conceivably become the team’s starter, although Port maintained that the acquisition of Wynegar was not intended to influence negotiations with Boone.

“I spoke directly with Bob (on Thursday) and mentioned to him that this trade was on the horizon and that it was not intended to impact his situation,” Port said. “What it does give us is improved capability to compensate if Bob Boone does indeed sign with another club.”

Wynegar’s annual salary of $750,000, however, will no doubt have a bearing on Boone’s contract talks. If Wynegar, who batted .206 with 7 home runs and 29 RBIs in less than half a season, is meant to serve as a reserve, what does that mean financially for Boone, who earned $700,000 last season?

And Wynegar has two years left on a three-year contract. Boone is asking for a two-year deal, but thus far Port has offered only one year.

Port said the Wynegar-Romanick negotiations began in August--negotiations that were eventually made public in November. It had been reported that the delay, in part, centered on how much of Wynegar’s contract would be absorbed by the Yankees.

Friday, Port denied that had been an issue. But he also refused to comment on whether the Yankees are still financially involved with Wynegar.

It is believed that the Angels will be responsible for Wynegar’s 1987 salary, with the Yankees still owing the player back payment from 1986. New York suspended Wynegar’s salary once he was placed on the restricted list July 31--a move that prompted Wynegar to file a grievance with the Players Assn.

Wynegar did not play after July 31 because of mental problems that necessitated a series of psychiatric tests. According to Wynegar’s doctors, his depression had stemmed from the pressure of playing in New York.

Port said the Angels did not test Wynegar before the trade and have no plans to do so.

“We spoke to the physician currently attending to Butch,” Port said. “We don’t foresee that being a problem. What Butch went through last summer was similar to the stress a lot of players go through. We have a doctor, a Ph.D, who works with some of our players in that regard. For Butch, it’s a matter of learning how to handle it.

“His doctor gave us some assurances and, as far as the Angels are concerned, Butch Wynegar is starting from square one.”

The trade reunites Wynegar with Gene Mauch, who managed the Minnesota Twins during Wynegar’s first five major-league seasons. Wynegar had his best season under Mauch in 1977, when he batted .261 with 10 home runs and 79 RBIs.

Mauch remains high on Wynegar’s ability as a catcher and, according to Port, was instrumental in bringing about the trade.

“I would say that was certainly a consideration,” Port said. “Gene is impressed. He says it’s the same Butch Wynegar he remembers from Minnesota. We are comfortable with the thought that Butch Wynegar can still be a proper catcher.”

Recent numbers, however, would tend to suggest otherwise. Since his trade to the Yankees in May, 1982, Wynegar’s batting average has slipped with each season--from .296 in 1983 to .267 to .223 to last year’s .206.

Wynegar’s RBI totals also dropped from 45 in 1984 to 32 in 1985 to 29 last season.

This was a trade of two players who had worn out their welcomes with their former teams. For Romanick, a 14-game winner in 1985, the fall from grace was particularly swift.

After breaking in with the Angels in 1984 with a 12-12 record, Romanick was 13-4 at the 1985 All-Star break--meaning that, in his first 1 1/2 seasons, Romanick had won 25 games for California.

He would go on to win only six more.

A foot injury contributed to Romanick’s second-half slump in 1985, but off-season surgery had apparently corrected the problem. In 1986, Romanick was 3-1 by mid-May, his second start a two-hit shutout over Seattle.

But again he went into a tailspin, plunging to 5-8 by July. The Angels showed little patience, too--abruptly demoting Romanick to Edmonton on July 22. He never returned, failing to earn a recall in September and failing to warrant a spot on the Angels’ winter 40-man roster.

Why had the Angels given up so suddenly on a 26-year-old pitcher who had won nearly as many games as Mike Witt (36 to 30) during 1984 and 1985?

Well, Romanick had been the Angels’ player representative during the ’85 strike season. And, last winter, he beat Port in arbitration, receiving a settlement of $425,000.

Port was uncommonly outspoken in his criticism of Romanick last season, but he denied holding a grudge.

“If there was a grudge involved, I wouldn’t have been the one to call Ron and tell him he won his (arbitration) settlement,” Port said. “If I held a grudge, why wouldn’t I have sent him down after his first bad outing--or, further still, send him down to Quad City?

“We held no more grudge against him than we would with any player who wins arbitration. We have come up on the short end of salary arbitration before. It’s like a baseball game; you win some and you lose some.

“The only observation I made was a certain standard of pitching was no longer there. I can’t say we ever discovered the key. When you’re getting less done, you go to another option.”

Friday, Romanick finally received another option.

Angel Notes Friday was the deadline for Doug DeCinces, Brian Downing and Bob Boone to agree to commit to arbitration. General Manager Mike Port talked with the agents of all three players Thursday and was told the obvious--that all three were planning to decline. Players had until midnight (EST) to file for arbitration with the Players Assn. Such a step was expected. When the Angels agreed to offer arbitration Dec. 7, it was merely an academic move designed to extend the team’s negotiating rights to the free agents until Jan. 8. That bought Port extra time--time he will apparently need. “Things have been moving slowly,” Port admitted. “But we’ve had a little bit of business to tend to lately--(Butch) Wynegar, tendering 1987 contracts. Hopefully, we’ll get rolling next week. We still aspire to sign all three.” . . . Among those not offered contracts for next season were Bobby Grich, who is unofficially retired, and Rufino Linares, who served as Edmonton’s designated hitter in 1986. The Angels also made two roster moves, placing pitcher Ray Chadwick and infielder Craig Gerber on the Edmonton winter roster.

New York burnout: Why Butch Wynegar walked away from Yankees, and hoped for trade to Angels. Story, Page 4.