HE’S GOT A TICKET TO RIDE : And He Definitely Cares; Sandy Alomar Jr. Wants His Future Decided Soon

Not that all of this is turning his brain to stew. But the other day, Padre catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. was standing in the shower when he heard his name and a trade mentioned on the television set. He threw back the curtain, splashed into the living room and dripped through nearly a minute of a sportscast that, alas, was only talking about more rumors.

The question, of course, is not whether he was still getting the shampoo out of his ears 4 hours later. The question is, how did he ever hear a television set from inside the shower in the first place?

“You no understand,” he said. “I am so wondering about my future, every night I keep the sports turned up. Turned way up.”

Not that all of this is turning his brain to stew. But when the news came Tuesday that the Seattle Mariners would probably be dealing with the New York Mets instead of the Padres, one of Sandy Alomar Jr.’s close friends predicted danger.

“Oh no, oh no,” Padre infielder Joey Cora said. “Sandy always think he is going to Seattle. Hearing this will hurt him bad. Oh man. It’s only going to get worse.”

Some of his teammates worry about him. Others wonder about him. Mostly, though, they just try not to look too closely.

Sandy Alomar Jr., 22, last year’s Topps minor league player of the year and one of baseball’s top prospects, is this spring’s Nowhere Man. He has no future here. He has no present here. He has only a uniform that doesn’t look or feel right and a hotel room where he escapes nightly by playing Nintendo video games.

His problem is simple--he is not good enough to play ahead of All-Star catcher Benito Santiago but too good to sit the bench behind him, and certainly too good to return to the minor leagues, where last year for triple-A Las Vegas he hit .297 with 16 homers and 71 RBIs in 93 games.

He and the Padres thought the solution would be simple--trade him this winter for a top player, giving Alomar a deserved chance and the Padres the pennant.

But nothing has happened as it should have. Even though Alomar, 6-feet-5, 200 pounds, is considered the top catching prospect in baseball since Santiago, and catcher is baseball’s hardest position to fill, McKeon has been unable to put him in a deal for top talent.

Kansas City wouldn’t give up outfielder Danny Tartabull. Cleveland wouldn’t give up third baseman Brook Jacoby or outfielder Joe Carter. Texas wouldn’t give up third baseman Steve Buechele.

Seattle wouldn’t give up pitcher Mark Langston. Montreal wouldn’t give up third baseman Tim Wallach or outfielder Hubie Brooks. The New York Yankees, as of yet, won’t give up third baseman Mike Pagliarulo. And now it appears the Atlanta Braves might not give up outfielder Dale Murphy.

Some say it is because McKeon has overvalued someone who is, after all, still a minor leaguer. Others say it is because scouts are worried about the arthroscopic knee surgery Alomar underwent last August, even though it is obvious that he has completely recovered.

“How much is one player worth, I don’t know,” McKeon said. “But you just don’t give somebody away.”

Said Alomar: “I don’t know why they can’t trade me. But it is not my job to know why. I’ve got enough things to worry me right now.”

He has been taught well about how to accept this, by brother Roberto (Padre second baseman) and father Sandy (Padre coach). He has been taught to act tough and look uncaring.

But contrary to most expectations, he is not like his brother or his father. As anyone who saw the boys grow in their seaside Puerto Rican village will tell you, Sandy is his mother’s son. He is the family’s sensitive, boyish one. He is the only one who ever quit baseball because he wanted to ride dirt bikes. He cannot act what he does not feel or appear as anything but himself.

“You know what he feels like?” Cora asked. “He feels like a leftover. He feels like, there is the Padres, and then there is him. He feels like nobody is counting on him for nothing. It is so hard. And it gets harder.”

Brother Roberto, ever the fighter, grabs at a light: “He could always hit .360 like I did last spring and win a job here, right?”

Sandy Jr. shakes his head. Wrong.

“I understand, Benito is a great catcher, he is the Padres’ catcher, it is the way it should be,” he said. “And I know that while I am young, I cannot back up, Mark Parent is the best backup. There is no place for me here.”

Such is the truth of this statement that even the tough Santiago feels sorry for him.

“That guy, I do all I can to help him,” Santiago said. “He’s in a tough spot, and I know about that tough spot. We talk, I help him.”

Said Alomar: “There is no bad feelings with Benito, because I know I have to go. But where? I wish they would tell me. I wish I’m gone.”

True to his character, part of the reason Alomar wants to be traded soon is for reasons other than baseball, human reasons.

“How can I get to a city at the start of the season and make friends?” he asked. “The later it gets, the harder it is to be part of a club. I don’t want to be an outsider somewhere all year.”

Alomar finds it funny that so many people ask him for his preference of cities--”They don’t know . . . I would go to Japan.”

He does, however, know where he doesn’t want to go: back to triple-A Las Vegas. But if McKeon can’t work something out, that is precisely where he is headed.

“Hey, you gotta go, you gotta go,” McKeon said. “I remember back in the days of the great Baltimore Orioles, a lot of guys went back to the minors after great years because you don’t replace a Brooks Robinson or Jim Palmer. I saw Scott McGregor, Mike Flanagan, Doug DeCinces, Don Baylor all go back to the minors.”

“What can I do there?” Alomar asked. “I haven’t thought about it yet, and I don’t want to think about it. I love the people and the town, but why stay in the same place?

“None of this is the Padres’ fault, but all the time, I’m the one getting penalized. That’s what’s hard.”

Other things are also hard. Like Tuesday morning, when Alomar couldn’t find his baseball shoes. Turns out an equipment man accidently gave them to Benito Santiago.

“Funny, huh?” asked Alomar, without one drop or splash of a smile.

Padre Notes

Four of the eight remaining no-shows reported to camp Tuesday, one day before the requested date. Outfielder Marvell Wynne, shortstop and captain Garry Templeton, first baseman Rob Nelson and utility man Bip Roberts all worked out. The only position players who did not report early, and will make their first on-field appearance in today’s first full workout, are first baseman Jack Clark, infielders Randy Ready and Gary Green and outfielder Shane Mack. Pitcher Eric Show, who has been home with the flu, is also expected to make his first appearance today. three days late. . . . Negotiations have begun for the Padres final three unsigned players, Benito Santiago, Roberto Alomar, and Sandy Alomar Jr., all represented by agent Scott Boras. Although Santiago actually walked out of camp for a morning last season during sometimes heated contract talks, he said this year will be different: “I’m not saying the stuff I said last year, I’m not saying anything,” Santiago said. “There is too much good that can happen on the field for me to worry about the contract. I’m sure I will be happy.” He will be particularly happy if his $177,000 deal of last year is increased to around $300,000. Said Boras: “I want Benito focused on the goal of having a fine year, focused on the game rather than the contract. It’s a situation where I will keep as low key as possible.” Santiago just recently signed with Boras after dropping Davimos Sports Inc. following last year’s unpleasantness. Roberto Alomar, meanwhile, will try to push his major-league minimum of $62,500 into the $150,000 range, while brother Sandy Jr., with just one big league at-bat, will sign for considerably less.