DODGER NOTES : Howell Upset With ’91 Contract

A contract move that the Dodgers say should have inspired confidence has inspired only disillusionment for Jay Howell. The relief pitcher said Monday that when the club exercised his 1991 option year last week at a salary far less than his current market value, it was a message that the Dodgers don’t value his future.

Howell, perhaps figuring that his team-record 28 saves last year combined with baseball’s recent inflation would be enough for the Dodgers to rewrite or at least add to a 1991 option year worth $1.05 million, was upset when told that the Dodgers were exercising that option a year in advance, at no increase.

Because Howell signed his two-year guaranteed contract a year before baseball’s recent salary leap, he will also make far less than market value this season. His $900,000 salary is $100,000 less than even newly signed set-up reliever Jim Gott will receive, if Gott remains uninjured.

“There is no disputing I signed that contract,” Howell, 34, said Monday from his Florida home. “But a lot of guys signed deals like that back then, and if they have performed well, their teams have since made reasonable efforts to bring them closer to market value in the future.

“I guess the Dodgers aren’t like those teams. And I don’t understand it. I wanted to retire with Los Angeles, but I guess they don’t want me around very long here. I guess this is their way of saying, ‘We want you for two more years, and then goodby.’ So I guess that’s how it has to be.”

Fred Claire, Dodger vice president who engineered the move, said Howell misunderstood it.

“Remember, this is not something we had to do, this is something we elected to do,” said Claire, who also on Friday picked up the 1991 option on shortstop Alfredo Griffin’s contract, which will pay him $900,000.

“This shows nothing but confidence in Jay. If he continues to pitch as well as he has, we want him to remain a Dodger for a long time.”

Claire noted that when a player signs a long-term contract, he trades the risk of an outdated salary for the feeling of security.

“The reason people sign long-term contract is, No. 1, to guarantee security,” Claire said. “Can the market change during a long-term contract? No question, it can. Nobody knows what the future holds. A long-term deal is signed with that in mind.”

Howell noted that such a long-term deal didn’t stop the Oakland Athletics from taking care of pitcher Dave Stewart. Because he will pitch for $1.3 million this year, thanks to an option on a previously signed contract, the A’s recently added two more years to Stewart’s deal at $3.5 million a year.

“Unlike others, I guess I am being made to pay the price of the big salaries,” Howell said. “The Athletics tell Stewart, ‘We want you here. We want you to retire with us.’ The Dodgers give me no such indication. I’ve been fair and worked hard for them. . . . I don’t understand it. But I have to accept it.”

Howell said this would not affect his preparations for the season. He is coming off his best season, in which he allowed only 14 earned runs in 79 2/3 innings and missed only four save opportunities.

“Nothing, nothing, that goes on off the field will affect me once I step on the mound,” Howell said. “I’ve pitched out there while I was bleeding from the mouth, and I will do it again.”

But, Howell added, “I’m not going to forget about this.”

No sooner had pitcher Fernando Valenzuela appeared at the Dodgers’ first winter workout last week than he was asked how less capable pitchers could be earning $3-million contracts while he will be paid $2 million for one year?

“That’s a good question,” Valenzuela said. “We’ll see the answer next year.”

The Dodgers had ignored Valenzuela’s request for a three-year deal during winter negotiations.

“I hurt my arm in 1988 and nobody believed me, so I hurt it worse,” he said. “Then I take last year to come back, so that’s why I get a one-year deal. But that is fine. I’m looking forward to doing well this year and seeing what happens next year.”

Mike Munoz showed up at the Dodgers’ first winter workout with the understanding that he would be given a chance to win the job as the club’s left-handed relief pitcher this spring. According to Munoz’s agent, Dennis Gilbert, Claire said that the rookie would have an opportunity to shore up the Dodgers’ most serious weakness.

“Fred Claire told me they would give Mike every opportunity, and I find Fred to be a man of his word,” Gilbert said.

Said Claire: “Mike is obviously in a good position. There’s not a lot of left-handers on our team. He’s obviously one person who can help us.”

Munoz’s candidacy may be a bit of a surprise, since he struggled in winter league baseball for a second consecutive season. Munoz was 1-3 with one save and a 3.68 ERA at Licey in the Dominican Republic before being released after only 13 appearances.

After a successful triple-A season at Albuquerque, in which he had a 3.08 ERA and struck out 81 batters in 79 innings, he was asked to sharpen his pitches this winter in preparation for a possible roster spot.

“I don’t see how that has changed,” said Munoz, 24. “I still think they will give me a lot of innings this spring to see what happens. I hope the Dodgers understand that winter league baseball isn’t for everybody. The living conditions aren’t great, you can’t drink the water or eat most of the food, the fields are unusual, I’ve just never been comfortable.”

The favorite for the left-handed spot, Ray Searage, also didn’t play this winter, although he has an excuse. Searage, who stayed home in St. Petersburg, Fla., to rest a bad back, is 10 years older than Munoz.

“I’ve been around so long and pitched so much, I had to take a break,” said Searage, who was 3-4 with a 3.53 ERA in 35 2/3 innings with the Dodgers last year. “I don’t want to jinx myself, but my back finally feels good. I’m ready to pitch more.”

Claire hasn’t stopped looking elsewhere for a left-handed reliever. It’s just that they are hard to find.

“Nothing against Ray, but I still feel we need help in that position,” he said. “Except we’ve looked and looked and haven’t found many left-handers who could fill that role.”