Winter Meetings : Rangers Get Franco From Indians

The Texas Rangers continued to dominate the trade mart at baseball’s winter meetings Tuesday, acquiring second baseman Julio Franco in a 4-player trade with the Cleveland Indians.

The Rangers, who got Rafael Palmeiro in a 9-player trade with the Chicago Cubs Monday, exchanged outfielder Oddibe McDowell, first baseman Pete O’Brien and second baseman Jerry Browne for the 27-year-old Franco, who batted .303 in 1988 and led major league second basemen in average, hits and runs scored.

Texas Manager Bobby Valentine said he can now align a trio of consistent hitters in Franco, Scott Fletcher at .276 and Palmeiro at .307 ahead of a potent power combination of Ruben Sierra, Pete Incaviglia and Steve Buechele. He said it is likely that Palmeiro will replace O’Brien as the first baseman and that a former Dodger farmhand, Cecil Espy, will replace McDowell in center field.

McDowell, a member of the 1984 Olympic team, has yet to fulfill his promise, but Cleveland General Manager Hank Peters said the ability is still there and that McDowell fits his club’s leadoff needs.

Peters said that Joe Carter will remain in center, with McDowell battling Mel Hall in left, although it is believed that the Indians would like to use Hall in a trade for a shortstop.

In another deal, the Philadelphia Phillies traded an established starting pitcher, Kevin Gross (12-14 in 1988) to the Montreal Expos for right-handed reliever Jeff Parrett and right-handed starter Floyd Youmans, whose pitching development has been hampered by alcohol and cocaine problems.

Parrett (12-4) will be used as a set-up man for Phillie relief ace Steve Bedrosian.

Youmans, 24, who was 29-29 in parts of 3 seasons with the Expos and pitched a 1-hit shutout in each of those seasons, voluntarily underwent treatment for alcohol abuse at the end of the 1987 season and was suspended for 60 days in late June when he tested positive for what he said was cocaine. He is now pitching in the Puerto Rican Winter League and being tested twice a week.

Philadelphia General Manager Lee Thomas, citing the risks and promise that Youmans represents, said: “There is no question but that we’ve put ourselves in a precarious position. We’re taking a big chance. It could backfire. However, the end results could be quite favorable as well.”

In other developments:

--The Baltimore Orioles were sold for $70 million to a group headed by New York businessman Eli S. Jacobs, a Wall Street investor who becomes the team’s majority owner. The group also includes Larry Lucchino, the acting team president; Sargent Shriver, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1972, and Shriver’s son, Robert S. Shriver.

The sale by Agnes Williams, who inherited the team when her husband, Edward Bennett Williams, died in August, must be approved by three-quarters of the American League owners and a majority of National League owners.

--The Phillies and Mike Schmidt reached agreement on a new contract that could pay the 39-year-old third baseman more than $2 million for the 1989 season, the Associated Press reported.

Schmidt’s agent, Arthur Rosenberg, said the signing of the 1-year deal would be announced today.

--Former Angel Bill Buckner, a veteran of 18 years, signed a 1-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, and free agent Jim Dwyer agreed to terms with the Minnesota Twins.