McKeon Opens Talks With Reliever Lefferts

The Padres, conceding Wednesday that they have all but given up in their bid to re-acquire free-agent reliever Mark Davis, began preparing for his departure by entering serious negotiations with lefthanded free-agent pitcher Craig Lefferts.

Jack McKeon, Padre vice president/baseball operations, was meeting late Wednesday night with Leffert’s agent, Steve Compte, and was confident that Lefferts would be signed to a three-year contract by this morning.

Lefferts, who was traded by the Padres in 1987 in a deal that acquired Davis, saved 20 games and owned a 2.69 ERA for the San Francisco Giants last season. He’s expected to become the Padres’ bullpen stopper if Davis indeed leaves.

The Padres also signed free-agent outfielder Fred Lynn to a one-year, $500,000 contract with about a $100,000 signing bonus earlier in the night to help replace left fielder Chris James.

Lynn was told that he would probably platoon in left field with Bip Roberts, but if Jack McKeon continues his torrid pace, Lynn will be used as a lefthanded pinch-hitter.

McKeon, vice president/baseball operations, vowed late Wednesday night that he’s not done wheeling and dealing, and hinted that he will pursue free-agent outfielder Hubie Brooks of Montreal. If he’s unsuccessful in acquiring Brooks, sources said that he might attempt a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals for center fielder Willie McGee, left fielder Vince Coleman or center fielder Milt Thompson.

And, oh yeah, earlier in the day, McKeon signed center fielder Joe Carter to a three-year, $9.2 million contract, finalizing the trade with the Cleveland Indians. The Indians received catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., James, and minor-league third baseman Carlos Baerga.

“And I’m not done yet,” McKeon said. “We want to make this team the best we possibly can.”

Of course, without the services of Davis, the Padres may have considerable difficulty just matching their 89-73 record of a year ago.

Davis, who won the Cy Young award and obtained a Padre franchise-record 44 games, will not be returning to the Padres unless they offer a five-year guaranteed contract, according to his agent, Randy Hendricks.

“And I’m telling you right now, we’re not going to do that,” McKeon said. “We gave him a very generous offer (a four-year, $12 million contract), and we’re not budging.

“They tell me he won’t sign with us unless he gets a five-year contract, and since we’re not going to give him a five-year contract, I guess we’re not signing him.

“Let him go where he wants. Let him go to New York and all the craziness there. After he leaves, he’ll see he had a pretty good situation here, after all.”

Randy and Alan Hendricks left the winter meetings Wednesday, and have not talked with McKeon since Monday morning, when they rejected the Padres contract offer.

“I told them they can do what they want to do,” Randy Hendricks said, “but we are not going to sign for four years. Since the Padres are so close to Tijuana, I guess you can call it a Mexican standoff.

“But I’m telling you right now, we will be signing a five-year contract with someone, and if it’s not the Padres, they have no one to blame but themselves.”

Davis, according to sources, has been offered five-year guaranteed contracts by at least three clubs: the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers. The Kansas City Royals dropped out of the Davis bidding Wednesday when they refused to guarantee a fifth year.

Hendricks hinted that the Angels might also be involved in the bidding, saying, “Wouldn’t it be spectacular to see the California Angels become the new Oakland A’s.”

Certainly, the Padres will have a bit of Angel flavor with the signing of Lynn, 37, who spent four years with the Angels from 1981 to 1984. He went to Baltimore on Dec. 11, 1984 as a free agent, and then was traded to the Detroit Tigers in August, 1988.

Lynn hit a career-low .2412 last season, hitting 11 homers and driving in 46 runs. Yet, he expects a drastic improvement in 1990.

“Now, I’ve got the best hitting coach in all of baseball that’s my teammate,” Lynn said, “so if I have any problem, I’ll just go over to right field and ask him (Tony Gwynn) what’s wrong.

“I’m glad to be coming to a contending team. I think I was very spoiled playing on winning ballclubs and winning a lot of ballgames every year. I thought that was going to happen all my career, but I’ve had a rude awakening the last couple of seasons.

“Hopefully with these acquisitions the Padres have made, we can put them over the edge.”