BASEBALL : Free-Spending Frenzy Continues: Hrbek Gets $14 Million for 5 Years

Unbelievable. Ron Simon could think of no better word for it. There is no better word for it.

The latest example of a baseball market gone crazy occurred Wednesday at the winter meetings when the Minnesota Twins retained free-agent first baseman Kent Hrbek with a five-year guaranty of $14 million.

Agent Simon stood on the dais--agents having become the stars of this show--and said, “the best word for it is unbelievable. “

Unbelievable, he said, in the sense that only a month ago Hrbek was thinking of maybe $7.3 million for three years, and in spring training it was $4 million for two years.

Unbelievable as well, Simon said, in the sense that Hrbek actually sacrificed to stay with his hometown team, having been offered five-year deals of $15.5 million by the Detroit Tigers and $15 million by the Seattle Mariners.

“Kent’s instruction to me was to get the most competitive offer from the Twins, so he could stay,” Simon said.

On Tuesday, however, the Twins were only offering three years at less than the $9 million teammate Kirby Puckett had received.

Then owner Carl Pohlad arrived and responded to the bidding war and the loss, earlier Wednesday, of relief ace Jeff Reardon, who moved to his hometown Boston Red Sox for a three-year, $6.8-million guarantee.

“We had to make a decision on two high-profile free agents,” Twins’ General Manager Andy MacPhail said, adding that the Twins figured they could fill the relief void easier than that created by the loss of Hrbek’s power.

Plus, he said, Hrbek is 29 compared to Reardon’s 34, and “baseball in the Twin Cities wouldn’t have been the same without Kent.”

A choice was necessary, MacPhail said, because the Twins are playing on an “uneven field,” attempting to compete with teams in bigger markets, teams that have “revenues we’ll never see.”

This is a pivotal aspect of the collective bargaining proposal that the owners have presented to the players association. They are asking that salaries for players with zero to six years of major league service be determined by a two-year statistical table and that those salaries be shared by all 26 teams.

It’s called revenue sharing.

“Something has to be done if the Twins are going to continue to compete,” MacPhail said, implying that he can’t always count on the loyalty of a Hrbek or Gary Gaetti, who rejected a larger offer from the Dodgers to return as the Twins’ third baseman two years ago.

For Hrbek, there was a concession in another way as well, MacPhail said.

He recognized that Puckett is the Twins’ best player, MacPhail said, and didn’t try to surpass the $3 million a year Puckett will receive in the $9-million contract he signed two weeks ago and which ignited the current escalation.

“What’s happened since then couldn’t have been foreseen,” MacPhail said. “I wouldn’t have thought it possible.”

In a word: unbelievable.

Although the Twins now have that gaping hole in their bullpen, the Red Sox have two closers in Reardon and Lee Smith, 25 for 30 in save situations last year.

Smith, however, will be offered in trade, the Red Sox seeking a starting pitcher, plus a first baseman or right fielder.

Of Reardon, Red Sox General Manager Lou Gorman said: “He improves our flexibility and should be a plus in the clubhouse because he hates to lose.”

The Red Sox have paid a big price to correct a suspect attitude. In addition to the $6.8 million for Reardon, they spent $6.4 million on free-agent catcher Tony Pena, which had more to do with the .212 batting average of Rich Gedman last year than questionable intensity.

Boston is a team that normally abstains from free agency, but Gorman said it is a one-time happening.

“We don’t have the depth in our farm system right now, but we will again in a year,” he said.

“We haven’t done this in the past and we won’t in the future. This is not a change in our policy.”

There was some stunning speculation Wednesday--not denied by General Manager Mike Port before his departure from Nashville--that the Angels have been a quiet entry in the bidding for free-agent relief pitcher Mark Davis, though Davis is expected to match or exceed the $16 million the Angels have guaranteed Mark Langston and may have to guarantee Robin Yount.

“I hear they are in it,” Chicago White Sox General Manager Larry Himes said of the Angels and Davis.

“If they put Davis with Harvey at the back of their bullpen they’ll have the best team in the American League.”

Angel center fielder Devon White, in Nashville to receive his Gold Glove, has been the subject of recurring trade speculation, his possible departure apparently hinging on the signing of Yount as a replacement.

“I told Devo that no one is an untouchable,” Port said.

“I also asked him if he had an answering machine because I may have to get a hold of him.”

The face of the American League West keeps changing.

Langston joins the Angels. Reardon leaves the Twins. Dave Parker and Tony Phillips depart Oakland.

“Nothing the Angels or anyone else does now will determine who wins the American League West,” A’s General Manager Sandy Alderson said. “It still has to be played out over 162 games.”

“I mean, we won 104 games in 1988, added Mike Moore and Rickey Henderson, and there were still three teams that had a chance to win going into the last week of the (1989) season.”

Parker, 39, led the A’s in runs batted in last year. He wanted a two-year contract, but the A’s wouldn’t go beyond one.

Phillips provided pivotal versatility before settling in at second base. He wanted a three-year contract, but the A’s wouldn’t go beyond two.

“We’ve lost some depth, but I don’t think we’ve been mortally wounded,” Alderson said. “The nucleus of our team is still intact.

“Having both Henderson and Jose Canseco available for the full season should more than compensate for the loss of Parker.

“I recognize that having Dave would make it that much better, but if I didn’t think we could survive, I wouldn’t have let him leave.”

“I mean, I don’t want to be critical. Dave and Tony were significant to our success, but if you’re asking if I still like our team, the answer is yes.”