McKeon, Padres Pursuing Murphy : Two-Time National League MVP Is Just One Name on the Team’s Shopping List

Don’t worry about Padre General Manager Jack McKeon worrying himself thin this weekend while waiting for free agent pitcher Bruce Hurst to make up his mind.

McKeon has better things to do.

Such as chase Dale Murphy.

Thus reads the first name--in bold, brash capital letters--on the shopping list McKeon will bring to Atlanta Saturday evening for baseball’s winter meetings.

Sure, the Atlanta Braves’ right-fielder is one of the best and most expensive ($2 million) players in baseball. Certainly, he has almost as many Most Valuable Player awards (2) as Tony Gwynn has batting titles (3), with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs 4 times in the past 6 years. And yes, he has played in the Braves’ organization for 15 of his 32 years, and with his wholesome image has become as much a part of Atlanta as grits.

“But knowing McKeon and the way things have gone this winter, it doesn’t surprise me at all that he would go after Dale Murphy. “ said Gwynn upon hearing the report. “And it wouldn’t surprise me if he got him.”

McKeon laughed through his hotel phone in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he is on his annual scouting mission.

“You never know about certain players until you ask,” he said.

Translated: Remember when people laughed about the prospects of acquiring Jack Clark?

“Everybody says it will take a lot to get certain players; well, sometimes it’s certainly worth it to find out what that is,” McKeon said. “You never know, maybe what they need is what you’ve got.”

What the Braves first needed, because Murphy has been in the league at least 10 years, including at least 5 years with the same team, was Murphy’s permission to be traded. A couple of weeks ago, Murphy met with Braves General Manager Bobby Cox and gave it.

“It is my desire to stay in Atlanta, but I would listen and consider all options,” said Murphy, coming off an “down” season of 24 homers and 77 RBIs.

The Braves--who won just 54 games last season and finished a half game ahead of baseball’s worst, Baltimore--proved that even Murphy can’t prevent a last-place finish. This is the irony for which most great players are traded--Murphy is worth more to the Braves for the two or three young stars he can bring them than he is in their lineup.

“We will listen to all offers,” said Cox, whose league-worst offense is in need of any number of bats.

The Padres’ offer surely would include Sandy Alomar Jr., the top young catcher who will be traded somewhere next week. The Padres decided at the end of the season that proven Benito Santiago will remain the starter, thus indicating a certain trade of Alomar Jr., a standout last year in triple-A Las Vegas and considered baseball’s best catching prospect since Santiago entered the league 2 seasons ago.

“There’s no doubt about it, I’m gone,” Alomar Jr. said Thursday from his Phoenix home. “They will not get rid of Benito, they’re not stupid. They are going to get rid of me. They have a chance to get into the playoffs, into the World Series, they need a couple of players, I can get them for them. I understand.”

Although the Braves recently sent the Chicago Cubs a couple of young pitchers for catcher Jody Davis, he is 32 and slowing down. Alomar Jr. could anchor their team for the next decade.

The Padres also could add outfielder John Kruk to the Murphy equation. An unhappy Kruk spent much of the team’s last two trips to Atlanta last season talking about how much he wanted to play there, seeing as he only hit .241 with 9 homers and 44 RBIs in mostly part-time duty for the Padres. In 1987, happy and playing regularly, Kruk hit .313 with 20 homers and 91 RBIs. He would fill the vacancy left by Murphy in the outfield.

Because other offers for Murphy--from the Houston Astros and New York Mets--have included three players, the Padres might also need to throw in a young infielder such as Joey Cora or an outfielder such as Shane Mack. If the Braves insisted on a starting pitcher, Ed Whitson could be included.

Look for plenty of bidding, but look for McKeon to find a way to at least make it close.

“You know Jack,” Gwynn said. “He’ll figure out something.”

Murphy, of course, is but one of the items McKeon will bargain for in what could be the week that moves the Padres from 1989 National League West contenders to co-favorites.

“We’re very optimistic we’re going to do something,” McKeon said. “We’re certainly going to try.”

The first thing he wants to do, of course, is sign Hurst, the free-agent pitcher from Boston. That would take care of one of the two things he feels the Padres require--”We still need a pitcher and a hitter,” McKeon said.

If Hurst decides to stay in Boston or go elsewhere, such as St. Louis, McKeon would immediately step up negotiations with Padre free agent Andy Hawkins. That could be tough, because the Minnesota Twins have talked to Hawkins’ agent, Jerry Kapstein, every day this week and have topped out at a 3-year offer of $2.9 million. Despite a similar Padre offer of $2.8 million over 3 seasons, including a signing bonus, the Padres have not courted Hawkins much because their interest has centered on Hurst.

This lack of attention won’t help mend the rift between Hawkins and management, caused when then-president Chub Feeney refused to talk contract with Hawkins during the middle of last season, when the Padres could have signed the pitcher for much less.

Figuring the needed Padre pitcher will nonetheless be either Hurst or Hawkins, McKeon is going to Atlanta concentrating on the hitter. Although some originally figured that it would have to be a shortstop because Dickie Thon recently demanded a trade, that is no longer true. The only available shortstop that interests McKeon is the Chicago Cubs’ Shawon Dunston, but talks for him are now dead, and McKeon has decided that he could live with a platoon of free-agent Garry Templeton (his signing is foregone conclusion) and Mike Brumley, who hit .315 and was a leader for triple-A Pacific Coast League champion Las Vegas.

“I would be very happy to go into the season with Templeton and Brumley,” McKeon said. “You’ve got to give Brumley a shot, see what he can do.”

McKeon’s Atlanta interests will rest more in finding a hitter for the outfield or third base. While Murphy leads his prospective list of outfielders, another possibility in that area is Cleveland’s Joe Carter. Because the Indians’ needs don’t match the Padres commodities, he could could only be had in a multi-team deal.

McKeon’s third base candidates are led by Seattle’s Jim Presley and New York Yankee Mike Pagliarulo. Although McKeon also will put out feelers for Montreal’s Tim Wallach and Cleveland’s Brook Jacoby, it seems Pagliarulo and Presley are better fits for McKeon’s idea of a good acquisition--proven power hitters who can be acquired without breaking the bank because they are coming off average years.

“The best time to get a good player--sometimes the only time--is to get them after a down season,” McKeon has said. “You can’t always get great players after great seasons.”

Seattle’s Presley appears to be so high on McKeon’s third-base list that when Alomar Jr. was asked where he thought he would be traded, he said, “Last I heard, it was Seattle.”

Presley, 27, had at least 20 homers and 80 RBIs each year from 1985-87 before slumping to 14 and 67 last season, mostly because of back problems caused by playing every day on the Kingdome’s artificial turf. The Padres wouldn’t need much more than Presley for Alomar Jr., maybe a young pitcher. McKeon is also very interested in Pagliarulo, who will be 29 by opening day. In 1987, he had a career year of 32 homers and 87 RBIs before slumping last year to 15 homers and 67 RBIs.

During the recent general manager’s meetings in Palm Springs, McKeon reportedly had worked out a 5-team deal that would have brought the Padres Dunston and Pagliarulo. When it died, he then apparently was near a 3-team deal that would have brought the Padres Pagliarulo and Seattle reliever Mike Schooler. But since the defection of free agent Mike Moore, the Mariners can ill afford to trade pitching.

Despite advance notices that began appearing as early as July, it appears the Padres will not deal with the New York Mets. Because of their worry over the recovery of pitcher Bob Ojeda, who nearly severed his finger in a hedge-clipper accident, they cannot give the Padres the pitcher they would require and are unwilling to discuss Howard Johnson and Len Dykstra or Mookie Wilson for anything less than Santiago.

The Padres also will not be dealing with Kansas City for Danny Tartabull, as the Royals refused to trade him and eventually signed catcher Bob Boone, meaning they wouldn’t need Alomar Jr. anyway.

Besides Alomar Jr. and Kruk, the Padres might also need to part with a middle reliever--Mark Grant is their most attractive commodity. Also don’t be surprised if McKeon flies home next Friday without a minor leaguer such as Mack or Cora, both of whom are more attractive outside the organization than within.

Either way, rest assured that after this week, the Padres should finally rest until spring training. There are only three players eligible for February arbitration--Greg Booker, Marvell Wynne and Dennis Rasmussen--and all three should be easily signed.

“I think this week will do it for us until March,” McKeon said. “I think what we’re going to do, we’re going to get done now.”