Thon Says He Wants a Trade : Padre Shortstop Prefers to Play on Full-Time Basis

Just when all of the pieces were fitting together nicely for the Padres, shortstop Dickie Thon on Tuesday demanded to be traded.

The Padres must trade Thon by March 15 or he becomes a free agent. Thon had to file his demand for a trade with the Major League Players Assn. by Friday, 15 days after the World Series.

“I would just like to play every day,” said Thon, 30. “I want to be with a team that will give me a chance to win a job.

“Garry Templeton is a very good shortstop. I’d like to play with a team where I can play more.”

Thon said he learned Friday through Dan Grigsby, his agent, that he had the right to demand a trade

According to the collective bargaining agreement, if a player does not have a contract and cannot file for free agency, he can demand a trade if he has made such a demand or declared free agency in the 3 years before the beginning of the next season. A player can file for free agency only once in a 5-year period, subject to certain limitations. Thon is not eligible to file for free agency because he did so in 1985.

However, Thon’s agent didn’t rule out the chance of the infielder returning to the Padres.

“Nothing precludes the Padres from talking to us if they can accommodate Dickie,” Grigsby said. “The trade demand can be retracted.”

The Padres signed Thon, then a free agent, on Feb. 18, after he had been released by Houston. Thon said he was offered a Padre contract at the end of the 1988 season, but Thon said he’d get back to them.

Thon’s demand was news to Padre Manager/General Manager Jack McKeon, who is in Palm Springs for the general managers’ meeting.

“I don’t know anything about it yet,” McKeon said. “A lot of times, it’s a negotiating tactic. I’ll have to talk to Dickie and his agent.”

The Padres planned to platoon Thon and Templeton at shortstop next season. Templeton has filed for free agency.

Thon and McKeon met toward the end of the 1988 season, and discussed the shortstop’s future. But their stories are contradictory.

“Jack said Tempy and I would platoon next year,” Thon said. “That’s the way it worked this year, and we did a good job. But personally, I would like to play more, and I told Jack that.”

Said McKeon: “He never told me that. He seemed very happy. I was up front with him and told him that I liked both he and Garry, and that I thought platooning could prolong both of their careers. Both of them said it was fine.”

Thon batted .264 in 258 at-bats with 1 home run and 18 RBIs and hit .327 in his last 13 games.

“I was very happy last year,” he said. “I showed I can play. My vision has been good. I hit good when I played. I feel I can get back to being an everyday player.

Thon, an 8-year veteran, made the National League All-Star team in 1983, a year in which he batted .286 with 20 home runs, 79 RBIs and a league-leading 18 game-winning RBIs. But he was hit in the head by a Mike Torrez pitch on April 8, 1984 and suffered a fracture of the inferior orbital rim in the left temple region. Some tissue swelled and impaired his vision. After the accident, his vision was 20-300. Currently, it’s 20-40.

“In the last 3 or 4 years, there’s been a label that I can only play against left-handers,” Thon said. “I don’t like that. I’d like to be on a team on which I have a chance to play every day. If they sign Templeton, obviously I won’t have that chance.”

Last season, Thon batted .302 against left-handers in 139 at-bats and .218 against right-handers in 119 at-bats.

“I’d like to stay in the National League because that’s the league I know,” Thon said. “Hopefully, some teams will be interested.”

Meanwhile, there is nothing new in the negotiations with Templeton. Dick Freeman, the Padres’ acting president, said Tuesday that negotiations with Templeton “seem to be going well.”

Said Templeton: “I would like to return to the Padres, but I’m like Dickie Thon. I’d like to play every day, too. I feel I’m still an every-day player, and I feel like I haven’t had the chance since I hurt my knee. The Padres have stuck me down to 8 (in the batting order) and left me there.

“If they want me back, I’ll be willing to come back and play. But I still think I can get the job done every day.”

Padre Notes

The team’s acting president, Dick Freeman, said there was no news regarding pitcher Andy Hawkins, the team’s only other potential free agent. “Even if Andy does declare free agency, we still plan to negotiate with him,” Freeman said. Hawkins has until Friday to declare himself a free agent. . . . Manager/General Manager Jack McKeon talked with Cincinnati’s Murray Cook Tuesday at the general managers’ meeting in Palm Springs. The Reds have been rumored to be interested in first baseman/outfielder John Kruk. “I was kidding him about the talking to the papers about Kruk,” McKeon said. “I jokingly offered him Kruk for Eric Davis. That quickly eliminated his interest in Kruk.”