Dodgers Sign Mike Marshall to One-Year Pact

Another Dodger arbitration case was avoided Tuesday when outfielder Mike Marshall, whose hearing was scheduled for next Tuesday, agreed to a one-year contract worth $672,500.

Marshall, who was sidelined periodically last season with back injuries but still drove in 53 runs, had submitted a salary proposal of $695,000. The Dodgers sought a $650,000 contract, a $5,000 pay cut from his 1986 salary.

“It looked like a compromise situation, and it was settled somewhere in between those figures,” said Al Campanis, Dodger vice president of player personnel. “This (negotiation) was no problem at all. (Marshall) came in with his agent (Jerry Kapstein), and they came down on their demands some and we adjusted ours up.”

Kapstein said that his meetings with Dodger executives the last two days did not include any talk of the sides’ arbitration alternative. Neither the Dodgers nor Kapstein would confirm the contract terms.

“All we discussed were the issues that pertained to resolving the minor differences between us,” Kapstein said. “It was resolved in an amicable and businesslike manner from both sides.”

Had the sides gone to arbitration, it probably would have been an interesting showdown. The Dodgers are coming off a major arbitration victory against pitcher Orel Hershiser, whose salary was reduced from $1 million to $800,000 in a decision rendered last Saturday. Kapstein also posted an arbitration victory when client Andy Hawkins of the San Diego Padres was awarded $535,000.

The Hershiser decision might have had an impact on Marshall’s case. The Dodgers originally tendered contracts to both Hershiser and Marshall that included the maximum 20% pay cuts. The Dodgers’ first offer to Marshall was $520,000, but the club later increased its offer and submitted $650,000 for arbitration. Since an arbitrator ruled that Hershiser had to accept a 20% pay cut, it might have made the Dodgers’ case against Marshall stronger.

Marshall seemed relieved that he did not have to go through an arbitration hearing.

“I think Jerry and the club worked it out very well,” Marshall said. “I think there’s been a lot of question about my health. But everything is a positive. My back is fine and now I’m ready to play. I’m going to (Vero Beach for spring training) early because I want to get the jump.”

With Marshall’s arbitration avoided, the only Dodger still scheduled for a hearing is pitcher Alejandro Pena, who will state his case before arbitrator Donald Sears here on Friday morning. Earlier, the Dodgers settled with infielder Dave Anderson for $225,000 and relief pitcher Matt Young for $355,000. But the Dodgers seem intent on taking Pena to arbitration. Pena, continually bothered by an injured right shoulder, made only 24 appearances last season, posting a 1-2 record and a 4.89 earned-run average. Pena is asking for $367,500, the Dodgers are offering $280,000.

“Tom Reich (Pena’s agent) called the other day and wanted to talk about negotiating,” Campanis said. “But we told him that we want to go to arbitration.”

In another development, the Dodgers said Tuesday that they have no interest in signing Terry Forster, the relief pitcher whom the Angels chose not to resign after last season.

Forster, the well-traveled and well-fed left-hander who played for the Dodgers in the early 1980s and the Angels last season, had met with Campanis on Monday and was going to have a tryout on Friday.

Campanis said he changed his mind Tuesday when he learned that the Dodgers would have give up a second-round draft choice in June to sign the 35-year-old Forster, a free agent with class “B” status. Tuesday morning, Mark Polan, Forster’s agent, had said the Dodgers still intended to give Forster a tryout.

“Al is very close to Terry from the first time he played there (1978-82),” Polan said. “We’ve been talking about it for a couple of months.”

Said Campanis: “I have a fondness for Terry, and he asked for an audience (on Monday), but we weren’t aware at the time of (the compensation). Today, we thought we’d check it out and, sure enough, he was a class ‘B’ free agent. We can’t give up a pretty good draft number this year for him. When I told (Forster) about that today, he said he understood our situation.”

Polan said Forster had fully recovered from a severely sprained ankle that sidelined him for two months last summer. In the first half of last season, Forster had a 4-1 record, a 3.48 ERA and 4 saves. But Forster was ineffective after returning in September from his injury, and the Angels chose not to include him on their postseason roster.