Santiago Fit to Travel; Padres Win : Catcher Clears Waivers, Can Be Dealt Until Aug. 31

On what should have been a momentous and joyous occasion Thursday, Padre pitcher Bruce Hurst instead found himself in the middle of a controversy of which he wanted no part.

Hurst won the 100th game of his big-league career, 6-2, over the New York Mets in front of 40,406 at Shea Stadium. But little did he realize the debate his performance would trigger.

Just when it appeared safe to presume that catcher Benito Santiago would be remaining with the Padres, it’s now anyone’s guess whether he’ll return in 1990.

Manager Jack McKeon revealed before the game that the Padres have not only requested waivers on Santiago, but that he has cleared them, making him eligible to be traded to any major league club before Aug. 31, when playoff rosters are frozen.

The Padres will continue to dangle Sandy Alomar Jr., now in triple-A, in front of contenders in need of a front-line catcher. But McKeon said that if a team wants one for the pennant race, it will likely seek Santiago, not Alomar.

“If I was a pennant contender,” McKeon said, “I’d want Santiago. I wouldn’t take a chance on a kid.

“But I’m not going to give up Santiago for three or four young prospects, I’ll tell you that right now. That’s why I don’t think anything will get done. Maybe in the winter, but not now.

“Hypothetically, would the Mets trade us (Juan) Samuel and (Sid) Fernandez for Santiago? No, not right now. Would the Astros trade us (Ken) Caminiti and Gerald Young for Santiago? No, not right now.

“Maybe in the winter, they’ll make that offer, but not now.”

McKeon, who is in the market for a young shortstop, a center fielder and a starting pitcher, could possibly fill one of those positions by trading Alomar, perhaps two by trading Santiago.

“Who knows what will happen, maybe it’ll be Alomar going, he’s the best in the minors,” he said. “The thing is, he (Alomar) could have been a real bargain for somebody last winter. They could have gotten a pretty good deal. But now, it’s going to cost them.

“It’s supply and demand, and I’ve got the supply. If you want them, come and get them. It just depends on who wants to take a chance.

“Columbus took a chance and discovered America.”

The Padres also are realizing more and more that it would be less of a risk trading away Santiago than they originally thought.

Sure, Santiago is an All-Star who very well might be the best in the league right now. But when the ace of your pitching staff struggles with Santiago behind the plate and thrives with backup Mark Parent, it raises your curiosity.

Yes, it was Parent catching once again with Hurst (12-9) on the mound Thursday, marking the third consecutive time he has caught Hurst, the fourth time in five starts.

McKeon calls it a coincidence. Santiago is not so sure. Hurst refuses to get involved.

But the difference when Parent, and not Santiago, is behind the plate in Hurst’s starts is quite clear:

Hurst is 5-2 with a 1.90 ERA in eight starts with Parent. He has thrown four complete games, and the one no-decision occurred when he pitched 10 shutout innings against Cincinnati.

Hurst is 7-7 with a 3.54 ERA in 18 starts with Santiago as catcher. He has had four complete games with four no-decisions.

So Bruce, just who would you rather have in the lineup when you’re pitching?

“I’m not getting in the middle of this,” Hurst said. “I don’t make up the lineup.”

While Hurst sidestepped the issue, Santiago stepped into full view, saying that he’s becoming rather annoyed by the implication. He says he understands when he’s provided an occasional day off but he doesn’t think it fair that Parent should be Hurst’s personal catcher. Most of all, he said, he’d just like to be told once and for all that he’ll remain a Padre, not read rumors every day where he’s going next.

“I’m getting tired of all this stuff,” said Santiago, who is hitting .239 with six homers and 41 RBIs. “They don’t know what they’re going to do. I’m tired of having my name in the papers every day. They leave me hanging.”

Parent, on the other hand, would gladly trade places with Santiago but realistically knows that he’s destined to be a backup. He’s sure that eventually either Santiago or Alomar will be traded, but the only effect it’ll have upon him , he says, is that he would receive additional playing time if Alomar were the catcher who was kept.

“If we’re going to be close going into September,” Parent said, “I’m pretty positive I’ll be catching a decent amount, to see if we can win this thing. But if we go into September ei ght or nine (games) back, I’m sure I’ll be warming up guys in the bullpen.”

McKeon said that Alomar, who already has more than 90 RBIs, will join the Padres sometime in September. If the Padres still are in the pennant race, it’s logical to assume that Alomar will play only sporadically. If they’re out of it, expect him to play almost every day.

“It’d be great just to have him up here,” said Roberto Alomar, Sandy’s younger brother, who obtained the second four-hit game of his career Thursday. “The best thing would be if we could play together on the Padres with my dad (third base coach Sandy Sr.) here.”

The Padres (60-61) would like to put all trade talk behind them for now and just concentrate on getting into the pennant race. And when they have games such as Thursday’s, they believe there’s no reason why they should be left behind in August.

With just two batters in their lineup having faced Met pitcher Frank Viola (traded three weeks ago from the Minnesota Twins) the Padres greeted him rudely. They pounded out four runs and five hits in the first inning en route to their biggest offensive performance of the season against the Mets.

It might not have looked pretty at times, with the Padres finding every conceivable hole in the first two innings, but the runs all counted the same.

“We used our short-yardage offense,” said McKeon, whose team had just one extra-base hit (a double) among their 13. “We hit them like he threw: nice and soft.”

So even though Hurst allowed 10 baserunners in the first four innings, with his early 5-2 lead, the only real trouble he ran into occurred in the fourth, when Howard Johnson stepped to the plate with two on. Pat Dobson, the pitching coach, came out and said to feed Johnson outside fastballs, preventing him from pulling the ball.

Johnson swung at the first fastball he saw, popping up to first baseman Carmelo Martinez, and the Mets’ final threat was over. They never again reached second base the rest of the game, managing just three singles as Hurst pitched his eighth complete game of the season.