Terrell’s Agent Angry After Padres Prevail

The Padres won a salary battle but blew a first impression Friday when an arbitrator ruled that their new pitcher, Walt Terrell, must accept the Padres’ one-year offer of $775,000 instead of Terrell’s request of $941,000.

After arbitrator Richard Kasher’s decision, Terrell’s agent, Alan Meersand, angrily labeled the handling of the affair “a joke” and “an outrage.”

“The Padres more than blew a first impression,” Meersand said late Friday from his home in Manhattan Beach. “This was not a way to start a relationship with a guy who is one of the premier pitchers. They make a big trade for him, then treat him like an unimportant fifth starter.”

Although Meersand said there were “no personal hard feelings,” and that his client would not make a premature decision about declaring free agency after this season, he noted this would make it harder for the Padres to sign Terrell to a multi-year deal. Meersand had sought a three-year contract before turning Terrell’s salary over to an arbitrator.

“If they want Walt for more than this year, they are going to have to come to us,” Meersand said. “We’ll listen, but they have already had one good chance.”

Terrell, reached at a local hotel where he was awaiting today’s team physical examinations, was not nearly so upset, saying, “I’m disappointed, it’s a little uncomfortable . . . but it’s nothing that won’t disappear as soon as I get on the field. Believe me, none of this matters when I’m out there.”

Coming two days before the first official workout of the 1989 season, this nonetheless puts the Padres in a bit of a ticklish situation, considering Terrell has never worn a San Diego uniform and had never met a Padre official until he walked into the hearing room Thursday. Terrell, a 30-year-old right-hander, was acquired from Detroit Oct. 28 for third baseman Chris Brown and first baseman Keith Moreland.

“That’s one of the things that’s a little difficult, he doesn’t really know us,” said Dick Freeman, acting Padre president, who attended most of the 4-hour hearing at the American Arbitration Assn. in New York. “But this is how the system works.”

When acquired, Terrell was immediately touted as one of the staff’s top pitchers, understandable considering 73 victories and a career 3.94 ERA in nearly six big-league seasons.

Known for his work ethic, Terrell is one of 10 big-league pitchers to throw 200 or more innings in each of the past five years. But this salary will make him the lowest paid of the five Padre starters in 1989. Bruce Hurst will make $1.73 million, Eric Show $1.45 million, Ed Whitson $950,000 and Dennis Rasmussen $802,000.

For their part, the Padres attempted to meet Meersand close to halfway, offering a pre-arbitration settlement of $842,000. But after Meersand was turned down for a three-year deal, he wanted the figure to be exactly halfway, $858,000.

When hearing some of Meersand’s comments Friday night, Padre Manager Jack McKeon, who has previously refused to address the negotiations because he is no longer the general manager, finally commented. On his weekly radio talk show, he said, “He (Meersand) gambled and lost, and we’re the bad guys? Because the agent lost? Sometimes you (agents) just get greedy.”