Santiago Says It’s Time for a Trade : Angry Catcher Leads the Padres’ 8-2 Victory Over the Phillies

Padre catcher Benito Santiago, asserting that his patience has been exhausted, said Monday night that he should be traded as quickly as possible.

“I don’t want to leave San Diego, but the way it looks,” Santiago said, “it’d be better for me, better for the manager (Jack McKeon), better for San Diego.

“I’m sick and tired of seeing my name in the papers being traded. Just do it, and get it over with, because I can’t play like this.

“I know it’s not good to keep talking, to run my mouth. But I’ve got to be honest. I’ve got to say how I feel.

“And I don’t think they’ve been fair to me.”

McKeon had trade talks involving Santiago again Monday afternoon, meeting with Philadelphia Phillie General Manager Lee Thomas for about 20 minutes in McKeon’s office at Veterans Stadium. They discussed several possibilities, including swapping Santiago for outfielder Von Hayes.

Both sides left the meeting convinced that it’s highly unlikely that a trade could be consummated before the end of the season, but sources say that both clubs will continue talks in hopes of completing a trade in the off-season.

“Nothing’s going to get done now,” McKeon said. “There won’t be any trades until the season is over.”

Santiago, who hit a home run and had his 13th pickoff of the season in the Padres’ 8-2 victory over the Phillies in front of 17,467 at Veterans Stadium, has long been coveted by Philadelphia.

The Phillies’ catching corps consists of 27-year-old Darren Daulton (.191, eight homers and 36 RBIs) and 32-year-old Steve Lake (.255, two homers and 14 RBIs), who are struggling as much defensively as offensively. Santiago, meanwhile, was voted as the 1989 All-Star catcher and earned a Gold Glove last season. He’s hitting .240 with seven homers and 42 RBIs in 97 games, having thrown out 44% of those attempting to steal.

The Padres, who are making Santiago expendable because of the play of triple-A catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. in Las Vegas, have been searching the past couple of months for a starting center fielder, and preferably one who could bat leadoff. They’re convinced that Hayes would fit the billing. A left-handed hitter who can also play right field and first base, Hayes is hitting .253 for the Phillies this season with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs.

“We never were going to trade him to start with,” McKeon said, referring to a year ago, “and I told him that. If we had made a trade with one of our catchers before, it probably would have been Alomar.

“Now, it’s a question of, ‘What’s the most you can get.’

“If you can’t get something for them, why give them away? You still end up to be in better position a year for now. Who knows, maybe I’ll bring them both to camp with me next year. It might make them mad, but that’s the way it is.

“And if it comes to that scenario, it’s going to come down to whoever does the job.”

Although Santiago is considered to have the best arm of any catcher in the big leagues, his defensive skills have concerned the Padres. He leads all catchers with 17 errors and 11 passed balls. There also has been a marked difference in performances of some pitchers when backup catcher Mark Parent has been behind the plate instead of Santiago, particularly with Bruce Hurst.

When Parent is behind the plate, Hurst is 5-2 with a 1.91 ERA this season with two nine-inning no-decisions. Hurst is 7-7 with a 3.65 ERA when Santiago has started.

McKeon shrugs it off as a coincidence, and to prove his point, said that he’ll start Santiago tonight with Hurst on the mound. Santiago, who has not started since Aug. 2 when Hurst has pitched, said, “I’ll believe it when I see that lineup card, but not until then.

“They can do whatever they want. They have all year anyway. If they don’t want to explain thing to me, that’s fine. I never know if I’m playing or not.

“I’m just tired of all this. If I’m doing wrong, take me out of here. If I’m doing good, leave me in there.”

Santiago, the 1987 rookie of the year, has started in 91 of the Padres’ 125 games this season. Parent has started 34. Although McKeon says that the extra time off will extend Santiago’s career by two or three years, Santiago claims that the extra rest is ruining his season.

“I want to keep playing,” Santiago said. “I don’t want to keep sitting out. The way it is now, it’s two days on, two days off. Three days on, three days off. I can’t play that way.

“I think I’d be playing a lot better, putting up some better numbers. One day (last Wednesday) I got two hits--and I don’t get two hits for a long time--and they get me out of there the next day. Just when I’m going good, they take me out. What do you expect?

“I don’t know why they’re playing these games with me. I’m not a computer, man.

“If they’re going to trade me, trade me, let me know. You know, I’ve tried to put it out of my mind, but I can’t. I can’t play like this with everything going on. I’ve got all this pressure.

“If they’re going to play one guy, if they’re going to play Alomar, just do it. Get it over with.

“Just don’t keep doing this.”

Santiago, who is earning $325,000 this season and is eligible for arbitration for the first time this off-season, also believes he’s being penalized by batting eighth in the lineup. He has hit eighth 14 times this season, hitting .244 with four RBIs.

“I want to put up some good numbers, but how can I put any numbers batting there,” he said. “Tell me anyone else batting eighth who’s got numbers that I have.

“They think they do me big favors? I don’t think so.”

Padre Notes

Dennis Rasmussen pitched his first complete game of the season, a six-hitter, raising his record to 6-9. “I guess everyone thinks it’s a big surprise that I pitched a complete game,” he said. “Or that I gave up just two runs? Hey, you’re supposed to win games in which you get two hits.” . . . The Padres got a season-high seven extra-base hits, including a double by Rasmussen. “He just showed everybody up the way he hit tonight,” Padre left fielder Bip Roberts said. “It was like he said, ‘This is the way you do it.’ I just said, ‘Wow.’ . . . Roberts was impressive himself, hitting a two-run home run in the second inning. “Just call him, ‘Babe Roberts,’ ” McKeon said.

Phillie outfielder John Kruk, who was traded with Randy Ready, by the Padres for outfielder Chris James, is hitting .356 since the June 2 trade. “I’m not going to say anything bad about Jack (McKeon),” said Kruk, “but they were picked to win, and look at the job he’s done. But it really worked out well for me. If I was still there, I’d be sitting on the bench, I’d be hitting .150, and I’d be miserable.” . . . The Phillies committed three wild pitches Monday, tying a franchise-record of 69 in a season set in 1962.