Padre Notebook : Raines’ Agent Will Visit Clubs at Spring Training

YUMA, Ariz. — Tom Reich, the agent for free-agent outfielder Tim Raines, said Thursday he would leave this weekend for various teams’ spring training sites in the hope that Raines would sign a contract soon with one of them.

Reich also said the Padres were not the only team that had inquired about Raines.

“Of course I’ve talked to others,” Reich said. “There will be a tremendous number of conversations when I go on the road.”

Reich did not say whether he would visit Yuma, where the Padres’ camp is, but he is expected to visit the Atlanta Braves’ camp in West Palm Beach, Fla. Ballard Smith, the Padre president, was supposed to make a new contract offer to Raines, but Reich said Smith had yet to do so.

“We’re supposed to talk again soon, but there’s nothing new,” Reich said.

“Listen, I’m going on to Arizona and then on to Florida, and I expect to make a deal on both these players very shortly (Raines and free-agent catcher Lance Parrish). How soon could they sign? Could be today, could be a week. But it’s going to be soon.”

Former Padre Graig Nettles, 42, was invited Wednesday to try out with the Braves. He flew all night Wednesday to Florida, arrived at 9:15 a.m. and was on the field at 10 a.m.

The Braves are giving him a shot as a left-handed pinch-hitter, but they also hope he can be their backup third baseman. He has not been guaranteed a contract.

“I just appreciate the opportunity to try and make the club,” Nettles told Gerry Fraley of the Atlanta Constitution. “After 21 years (in the big leagues), it seems strange that you have to prove yourself in the 22nd year, but that’s the nature of the game.”

With the Padres in 1986, Nettles batted .218 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs. Only two Braves, Dale Murphy and Bob Horner, had more homers and RBIs than Nettles did last year.

Late last season, the Padres took Nettles out of the lineup to take a look at some of their younger players.

“When they benched me, it hurt because August and September are always my best time,” Nettles said. “To bench me then took all the steam out of me. That’s what killed me. I was playing to impress other clubs, to show I could still play, and they wouldn’t let me play.”

Remember the Padre beer ban? Well, Perrier water is the new official drink of the Padres. John Kruk, Garry Templeton and Tony Gwynn sipped some Thursday.

“I’m tired of drinking soda around here,” Gwynn said. “If you come in here after a workout and drink (soda), you’re wasting all the running you just did.”

Kruk added, “This is kind of like eating sushi. Two things I never thought I’d do in my life was eat sushi and drink Perrier.”

Pitcher Goose Gossage, who has a stiff neck, missed practice Thursday for the third straight day.

“I’ve had those (neck problems) before,” Manager Larry Bowa said. “It’ll be about a four- or five-day thing.”