In Offering Contract to Raines, Padres Should Be Firm, Final

You have never heard of this fellow called Rabbit, but take my word: He is a character.

Rabbit is a fixture on an annual springtime journey some friends and I make to Lake Mead, a trek highlighted by a Friday night rookie auction. Veterans bid for these rookies, hoping to purchase a personal valet of sorts to fetch sandwiches and do strenuous duties such as bending over to retrieve horseshoes.

Rabbit, being a veteran, was quite involved in last year’s rookie auction. He was determined to come away with a purchase.

Mind you, bidding rarely reaches more than $6 or $7 partly because the veterans are cheap and partly because rookies really aren’t worth much more.

Except to Rabbit.

Bidding on one particular rookie went all the way to $19.75, and Rabbit raised his hand.

“I’ll bid $20.75,” Rabbit said.

“Do I hear $21.75?” our appointed auctioneer asked.

“All right,” Rabbit said, “I’ll go $21.75.”

“That’s more like it,” the auctioneer exclaimed. “How about $22?”

“OK,” Rabbit said.

Rabbit eventually got his rookie . . . for $26.75. No one else had bid, but he was happy.

This syndrome--let’s call it The Rabbit Syndrome--is what the Padres must avoid in their pursuit of Mr. Tim Raines. It would not be fiscally prudent for the Padres to finish first, second and third in the bidding.

It is for this reason that negotiations have gone at a tortoise’s pace, although the Padres are expected to make an offer to Raines today.

Ballard Smith, the club president, once was considered impulsive and quick on the trigger, but he has maintained a calm approach to these negotiations in spite of the clamor around him.

Larry Bowa, the manager, spent the winter devising lineups with and without Tim Raines in left field, and guess which ones he liked best?

Jack McKeon, the general manager, talks of one player who would make the Padres instant contenders, and guess who that might be?

Tony Gwynn, the right fielder, calls the front office with a suggestion for a leadoff hitter, and guess who that might be?

And the fans . . .

A colleague was contacted by the Padre ticket office a couple of weeks ago. He had not renewed his season tickets.

“When you sign Tim Raines,” he said, “I’ll send my check.”

“I understand,” sighed the salesperson. “I’ve heard that a lot lately.”

Padre fans are aware that (a) the club is for sale and (b) Tim Raines is available. They are much more concerned with (b) than they are with (a).

This is the type of pressure Smith has endured as he has contemplated the romancing of Tim Raines.

How much the cost and how much the gain?

The cost is interesting. Raines rejected an offer of $4.8 million for three years from the Montreal Expos, his erstwhile employers. However, this could not be considered a starting point in negotiations.

Why?

Because Raines, according to baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, cannot sign with the Expos until May 1. He knew that when he plunged into the free-agent pool, and he had to realize that it left him with no way to use the Expo offer for bargaining.

Thus Raines walked away from Montreal because he wanted to. He had to know he would pay a price to do so.

The Padres also knew this and made an initial offer of $2.2 million for two years. It was an average of $500,000 a year less than what the Expos had offered, and Raines rejected it. He may not return to Montreal, but he obviously thought half a million a year was too dear a price to pay for departing.

In the interim, no eager suitors came forth to top the Padres’ offer. There were conversations, and Raines’ representative, Tom Reich, made presentations. But there were no higher bids.

This may be the result of a conspiracy among owners to keep salaries in check or a collective fear among owners that Raines, at 27, is not worth the price. Take your pick.

Regardless, a man who batted .334 and stole 70 bases was seemingly as unwanted as he is talented.

It was at about this time that Raines’ friend Gwynn became an intermediary, advising Smith that Raines really would like to play in San Diego, and why wouldn’t Smith invest in another telephone call?

This was fine, except that Smith had to consider whether he wanted to beat his own bid and, if so, by how much. There’s no black-and-white here, only gray.

Smith also had to consider how much impact Raines would have because the Expos have never played in a World Series and their lineups have been at least a little better than what the Padres are likely to put on the field. There’s no black-and-white here, either.

It is a tough call for Smith. He has to look beyond the hype and emotion and seeming urgency of the beginning of spring training.

Given the circumstances, and what Raines walked away from, I don’t think Smith can be accused of being a poor businessman if he raises the ante one more time . . . and I don’t mean to $1,100,000.75 a year.

Today, Smith is expected to offer Raines as much as $1.3 million for one year. This proposal, which would seem to be a “good faith” offer, should be firm and fast, take it or leave it. It doesn’t make much sense to linger at an auction when no one else is bidding.

Except maybe on Lake Mead, where nothing has to make sense when Rabbit wants a rookie.

The Padres plan to make an offer to Tim Raines today. See Tom Friend’s story, Page 7.