Padres to Sign Clark for 2 Years : Minor Knee Surgery Doesn’t Sour Team on Murphy

Finishing some old business before proceeding with new, the Padres Tuesday announced that they have completed a 2-year contract agreement with first baseman Jack Clark.

As for the new business--that of acquiring either Atlanta outfielder Dale Murphy or Seattle pitcher Mark Langston--well, Padre fans will have to wait awhile longer before finding out whether Manager Jack McKeon and Dick Freeman, the interim president, have any more moves up their sleeves before the opening of spring training next month.

The Clark deal has been in the works since the Padres acquired him from the New York Yankees Oct. 24. The new contract is for the 1989 and 1990 seasons and replaces the final year of Clark’s current, $1.5 million-a-year contract. No terms were announced for his Padre contract.

“We had agreed to honor a 2-year commitment that was made to Jack Clark prior to the trade,” Freeman said. “There was some paperwork and details that should have gotten worked out earlier, but it took some time to finalize the agreement due to a busy winter for both us and Tom Reich (Clark’s agent).”

Meanwhile, the trade front is still as wide open as the waters on the “Mexican Riviera,” which is where McKeon, Garry Templeton, Tony Gwynn and Greg Booker are this week. Freeman, though, knows how to find McKeon on the Padre Cruise if he receives a tempting offer.

Freeman said the Padres haven’t spoken with either the Braves or Mariners in the last few days regarding the players.

Murphy, 32, underwent arthroscopic surgery Tuesday for a torn cartilage in his right knee. He said he noticed a “clicking feeling” after playing with his five sons, the oldest of whom is 9, during the weekend.

Dr. Joe Chandler removed the cartilage and said Murphy should be running within 3 weeks and be at full strength in 3 to 5 weeks. If he progresses according to that schedule, he would miss Atlanta’s first full-squad workout Feb. 22 at its West Palm Beach, Fla., training camp.

That, of course, is assuming Murphy is still with Atlanta. The Padres and Mets have been pursuing him all winter. Freeman said Tuesday that Murphy’s knee injury wouldn’t scare the Padres away.

“It affects nothing,” Freeman said. “I’d have to know more about (the injury), but from what I’ve read in the paper, it doesn’t seem serious.”

Still, Freeman wasn’t optimistic about a trade for Murphy, a 2-time National League most valuable player who had an off year in 1988, batting .226 with 24 homers and 77 runs batted in.

“The ball is in (Atlanta’s) court,” he said. “Those talks are almost nowhere. That’s the way it’s been from the start. There’s nothing close to a deal.”

A source in Atlanta said the Mets are still hot on Murphy’s trail, offering pitcher Rick Aguilera, outfielder Len Dykstra and infielder Howard Johnson. It’s a difficult package to match, but the Padres have one thing in their favor: Murphy has the right to reject a trade, and he reportedly would accept one to the Padres but veto one to the Mets.

Freeman said he hasn’t heard that for certain.

The Padres also are waiting to hear from Seattle on their offer for Langston and outfielder Mickey Brantley, believed to be catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., a starting pitcher (likely newly acquired Walt Terrell or Dennis Rasmussen) and possibly John Kruk.

“Jack’s had preliminary talks, tossing players back and forth,” Freeman said. “But there’s no agreement I can see. There have been no talks in the last 3 days. They said they’d call back with a response or a proposal.”

He added: “But we’re still a long way from any sort of a deal.”

The chances of a Langston deal may have worsened in the past few days, because Langston and agent Arn Tellem reportedly have resumed contract negotiations with the Mariners after breaking them off last week.

Seattle General Manager Woody Woodward reportedly told McKeon last week that the Mariners are willing to trade Langston for fear of losing him to free agency next winter. But the closer the Mariners come to an agreement, the less the chance that they will trade him.

Langston, 28, a 3-time American League strikeout leader, will become a free agent after this season unless he signs a multi-year deal. He is after a 3-year package for $6 million, a figure that was the source of the problems with the Mariners last week.