BASEBALL ’90 PREVIEW : Players Aren’t Saying It, but These Guys Can Win It All : Season preview: Lineup is talented enough if they answer most of the following questions correctly.

There’s no boasting. No signs of arrogance. Not even a hint of cockiness.

Unlike a year ago, when the Padres appeared to be more worried about their allotment of World Series tickets than opening day, the team enters the 1990 season exuding a quiet, comfortable confidence.

They watched all spring as they clobbered opponents with ease. They saw how easily the runs kept coming across the plate. They were reminded how baseball can be fun again.

When they left spring training a year ago, everyone believed this team would win the division because of the additions of pitcher Bruce Hurst and slugger Jack Clark.

Well, they were in fourth place by the All-Star break and 12 games out in the last week of July.

Even though they won 42 of their final 63 games, it was too late. They finished second, three games behind the San Francisco Giants.

This year, the Padres vow it will be different. They’re not about to be caught in the trap again of making predictions, but at times this spring, they scared even themselves with their talent.

“I’ve been around this game long enough to know that anything can happen,” said Jack McKeon, Padre manager and vice president/baseball operations. “We could be hit by injuries, guys having bad years, anything.

“But I’ve also been around long enough to know this could be one hell of a team.”

Maestro, the questions, please:

Q. Will the change of ownership be a distraction this season?

A. Nah, the players weren’t exactly teary-eyed when they heard the news in the first place. Their only apprehension is that the group of owners, headed by Hollywood producer Tom Werner, will start bringing friends and family into the clubhouse, and players will be interviewed more on Entertainment Tonight than ESPN.

But the players’ interest was acutely aroused when they learned that one of the partners, Leon Parma, owns a beer distributorship. The Padre players have been complaining about prohibition in their clubhouse ever since Padre owner Joan Kroc made the decision four years ago to ban beer. It’s not that the players who want a beer after a game can’t stop at their own neighborhood bar for a few cold ones, but that defeats the purpose, they say. Beer in the clubhouse provides them the opportunity to sit around and talk after games, discussing what happened that evening. It provides a sense of camaraderie, bringing the players closer, actually talking baseball. Heck, with a dry clubhouse at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, players are falling all over one another trying to hurry out of the park after games. There were times last season when outfielder Chris James actually was dressed and showered before the last Padre player entered the clubhouse. No team in the league has a quicker mass exodus than the Padres, explaining why they’re virtual strangers to one another at home.

Anyway, the players would like to know, if the Padres feel so strongly about an absence of alcohol, why there is liquor in the owners’ suite, beer in the stands and a Budweiser billboard in the outfield?

Q. How much are the Padres going to miss Mark Davis?

A. The Padres would you like to believe that Davis’ departure to Kansas City will only be a matter of inconvenience. But to be truthful, it’s going to be difficult. The key is Craig Lefferts, who’s stepping into Davis’ role as the bullpen stopper. It’s vital that he gets off to a good start, the Padre coaches say, just for his own confidence. Lefferts struggled in spring training, and those closest to him say he’s worrying about filling Davis’ shoes much more than he lets on. The Padres still have Greg Harris, who will get his share of saves, and Calvin Schiraldi is available for the stopper’s role if needed. It’s certainly not an ideal situation, but the Padres say they’d rather go this route than trade for Lee Smith of Boston.

Q. What’s this talk about Jack McKeon stepping aside as manager at the end of the season and going upstairs to run the baseball operations?

A. No one can answer that yet, least of all McKeon. If he has to make a decision at the end of the season, and pick one job or the other, the choice will be easy. He’ll return upstairs. But if given the option to remain in dual roles or be strictly the general manager, his decision likely will hinge on the club’s success this season. He’d love to leave with a World Series ring on his finger, proving wrong every critic who doubted his managerial abilities.

The idea of hanging up his spikes was broached by McKeon’s friends in the off-season. They told him he has nothing to prove in this game. Considering he turns 60 in November, it’s not so wise any more to be working 16-hour days. McKeon’s only promise to them was that he’d consider it and will make a decision sometime near the end of the season. Certainly, there will be some financial ramifications involved. McKeon’s managerial contract, which pays him about $400,000 a year, doesn’t expire until the end of the 1991 season.

There are a lot of considerations that will be weighed, but believe him when he says he sure won’t be wasting his time thinking about it during the season.

Q. There’s been a lot of talk about the strength of the Padres’ starting rotation, but aren’t there a lot of questions and concerns?

A. Secretly, the Padres are a bit apprehensive about their rotation. With the exception of Bruce Hurst, who has averaged 16 victories the past three seasons, there are questions about every other starter. How will Eric Show’s back respond under the duress of a full season? Will Andy Benes tear up the league as he did the final month of the season, or will he pitch like a 22-year-old kid who has been in the big leagues all of 54 days? Will Dennis Rasmussen continue to pitch behind in the count all season? Will Ed Whitson have another career season like a year ago when he won 16 games, or struggle to post a .500 record?

No one has any answers, but if spring training is any indication, the Padre coaching staff expects Show to be fully recovered, wouldn’t be surprised to see Benes win 18 to 20 games and be the ace of the staff by August, expects Rasmussen to bounce back and take advantage of being a free agent at the end of the season and doesn’t see any reason why Whitson can’t win at least 15 games.

They’re expecting at least 75 victories from their starters, and if that happens, they believe a division title will follow.

Q. How about the defense? It looks a little shaky, particularly in the infield.

A. OK, so this is a flaw. This is a team that made 154 errors last season, the second-highest total in the National League, and made 13 errors in the first five games of spring training. The Padres’ best defensive infielder is second baseman Roberto Alomar, and he made 28 errors last season, the most of any second basemen in the big leagues. The rest of the Padre infielders are considered just average defensively, at best. Tony Gwynn, who has won three Gold Gloves, remains the best defensive outfielder. Joe Carter is best-suited for left field instead of center, scouts say, but likely will stay in center most of the season.

The Padres certainly are going win games with their offense. Their pitching is going to win games, too. Don’t count on more than a handful of games to be won with their defense.

Q. How is this contract controversy affecting Tony Gwynn? Is he still upset about being just the seventh-highest paid player on the Padres?

A. Well, Gwynn certainly isn’t about to forget about being the lowest-paid superstar in the game with a $1 million salary, particularly with everyone reminding him about it every day. But as far as any effect, nah, you know Gwynn better than that. He’s still among the first to arrive each morning, the last to leave and spends more time in the batting cage than any conceivable human being.

The only people who’ll be affected by Gwynn’s contract is the Padre front office. They seethe each and every time Gwynn’s contract is mentioned, particularly when Gwynn brings it up. It has become an embarrassing situation for them, and the way out is for the new ownership group to do something about it.

Q. Who are the biggest surprises of the spring?

A. Fred Lynn. Fred Lynn. And Fred Lynn.

When Lynn signed a one-year, free-agent contract with the Padres in December, he was told that no promises could be made. They couldn’t promise that he would be more than a pinch-hitter. They couldn’t promise that his biggest role might be his clubhouse influence. They couldn’t promise him that he’d even be a platoon player. And they sure didn’t bother wasting their time promising that he’d be a starter.

Well, Lynn, who won the American League MVP award before any of his Padre teammates had played a day in the big leagues, is expected to be standing in left field on opening day. He won’t be moving, either, unless he plays himself out of the lineup.

McKeon does plan to give him some days off when some tough left-handers are scheduled to start, but McKeon isn’t about to pull him from the lineup if he remains hot. Lynn not only was the team’s best hitter consistently throughout the spring, but he proved that he also is the best defensive left fielder.

Q. Is this lineup really as powerful as it seems?

A. Believe it. It’s for real. They were scoring virtually at will during spring training. Although there obviously is a huge difference between spring training and the regular season, the Padres are convinced they can score more than 700 runs this season. They have the prototype lineup with speed at top in Bip Roberts, Roberto Alomar and Tony Gwynn, power in the middle in Jack Clark and Joe Carter and a solid bottom of the order in Fred Lynn, Benito Santiago and Garry Templeton.

Can you imagine the record Orel Hershiser would rack up with a lineup like this?

Q. What makes anyone believe that the Padres won’t get off to one of their patented slow starts again?

A. There are certainly no guarantee, but the Padres believe they learned their lesson of a year ago. They put too much pressure on themselves early because of the expectations, they said, and have much more self-confidence than ever before.

Besides, they also know that a slow start will doom them. They play their final nine games on the road, 16 of their last 20, and 35 of 58.

Ouch.

Q. In 25 words or fewer, what can we expect from the Padres this season?

A. A division championship. A possible pennant. Who knows, if Oakland’s not there, maybe even their first World Series title. The Padres are that talented.

PADRE ROSTER

PITCHERS (11)

No. Name B-T Ht. Wt. Born 1989 Club 40 Benes, Andy R-R 6-6 235 08/20/67 Wichita Las Vegas SAN DIEGO 38 Clements, Pat R-L 6-0 180 02/02/62 Las Vegas SAN DIEGO 55 Grant, Mark R-R 6-2 205 10/24/63 SAN DIEGO 46 Harris, Greg R-R 6-2 190 12/01/63 SAN DIEGO 47 Hurst, Bruce L-L 6-3 214 03/24/58 SAN DIEGO 11 Lefferts, Craig L-L 6-1 210 09/29/57 San Francisco 43 Rasmussen, D. L-L 6-7 233 04/18/59 SAN DIEGO 32 Schiraldi, Calvin R-R 6-5 215 06/16/62 Chicago (NL) SAN DIEGO 30 Show, Eric R-R 6-1 182 05/19/56 SAN DIEGO 35 Valdez, Rafael R-R 5-11 165 12/17/68 Riverside Wichita 31 Whitson, Ed R-R 6-3 195 05/19/55 SAN DIEGO

No. Name W-L ERA G CG SV IP H ER BB SO 40 Benes, Andy 8-4 2.16 16 5 0 108.1 70 26 39 115 2-1 8.10 5 0 0 26.2 41 24 12 29 6-3 3.51 10 0 0 66.2 51 26 31 66 38 Clements, Pat 3-1 4.09 18 0 2 55.0 57 25 24 34 4-1 3.92 23 0 0 39.0 39 17 15 18 55 Grant, Mark 8-2 3.33 50 0 2 116.1 105 43 32 69 46 Harris, Greg 8-9 2.60 56 0 6 135.0 106 39 52 106 47 Hurst, Bruce 15-11 2.69 33 10 0 244.2 214 73 66 179 11 Lefferts, Craig 2-4 2.69 70 0 20 107.0 93 32 22 71 43 Rasmussen, D. 10-10 4.26 33 1 0 183.2 190 87 72 87 32 Schiraldi, Calvin 3-6 3.78 54 0 0 78.2 60 33 50 54 3-1 2.53 5 0 0 21.1 12 6 13 17 30 Show, Eric 8-6 4.23 16 1 0 106.1 113 50 39 66 35 Valdez, Rafael 10-5 2.26 21 5 0 143.1 89 36 58 137 5-0 1.94 6 2 0 41.1 28 9 24 26 31 Whitson, Ed 16-11 2.66 33 5 0 227.0 196 67 48 117

MLExp No. Yrs.Days 40 0.054 38 3.151 55 3.102 46 1.015 47 8.123 11 7.000 43 5.124 32 4.021 30 8.034 35 0.000 31 11.159

CATCHERS (2)

No Name B-T Ht. Wt. Born 1989 Club 27 Parent, Mark R-R 6-5 224 09/16/61 SAN DIEGO 9 Santiago, Benito R-R 6-1 185 03/09/65 SAN DIEGO

No Name Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB 27 Parent, Mark .191 52 141 12 27 4 0 7 21 1 9 Santiago, Benito .236 129 462 50 109 16 3 16 62 11

MLExp No Yrs.Days 27 2.075 9 3.022

INFIELDERS (8)

No Name B-T Ht. Wt. Born 1989 Club 12 Alomar, Roberto S-R 6-0 155 02/05/68 SAN DIEGO 25 Clark, Jack R-R 6-3 205 11/10/55 SAN DIEGO 5 Cora, Joey S-R 5-8 150 05/14/65 Las Vegas SAN DIEGO 7 Nelson, Rob L-L 6-4 215 05/17/64 Las Vegas SAN DIEGO 13 Pagliarulo, Mike L-R 6-2 195 03/15/60 New York (AL) SAN DIEGO 10 Roberts, Bip S-R 5-7 160 10/27/63 SAN DIEGO 21 Stephenson, Phil L-L 6-1 195 09/16/60 Chicago (NL) Iowa SAN DIEGO 1 Templeton, Garry S-R 6-0 195 03/24/56 SAN DIEGO

No Name Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB 12 Alomar, Roberto .295 158 623 82 184 27 1 7 56 42 25 Clark, Jack .242 142 455 76 110 19 1 26 94 6 5 Cora, Joey .310 1199 507 79 157 25 4 0 37 40 .316 12 19 5 6 1 0 0 1 1 7 Nelson, Rob .265 56 185 35 49 11 1 7 26 0 .195 42 82 6 16 0 1 3 7 1 13 Pagliarulo, Mike .197 74 223 19 44 10 0 4 16 1 .196 50 148 12 29 7 0 3 14 2 10 Roberts, Bip .301 117 329 81 99 15 8 3 25 21 21 Stephenson, Phil .143 17 21 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 .300 84 290 52 87 17 3 13 62 28 .353 10 17 4 6 0 0 2 2 0 1 Templeton, Garry .255 142 506 43 129 26 3 6 40 1

MLExp No Yrs.Days 12 2.000 25 13.052 5 0.125 7 0.163 13 5.086 10 2.014 21 0.088 1 13.057

OUTFIELDERS (6)

No Outfielders (7) B-T Ht. Wt. Born 1989 Club 28 Abner, Shawn R-R 6-1 190 06/17/66 Las Vegas SAN DIEGO 17 Carter, Joe R-R 6-3 215 03/07/60 Cleveland 24 Clark, Jerald R-R 6-4 189 08/10/63 Las Vegas SAN DIEGO 19 Gwynn, Tony L-L 5-11 199 05/09/60 SAN DIEGO 4 Jackson, Darrin R-R 6-0 185 18/22/63 Iowa Chicago (NL) SAN DIEGO 8 Lynn, Fred L-L 6-1 190 02/03/52 Detroit

No Outfielders (7) Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB 28 Abner, Shawn .269 56 223 31 60 11 2 8 31 3 .176 57 102 13 16 4 0 2 14 1 17 Carter, Joe .243 162 651 84 158 32 4 35 105 13 24 Clark, Jerald .313 107 419 84 131 27 4 22 83 5 .195 17 41 5 8 2 0 1 7 0 19 Gwynn, Tony .336 158 604 82 203 27 7 4 62 40 4 Jackson, Darrin .258 30 120 18 31 4 1 7 17 4 .229 45 83 7 19 4 0 1 8 1 .207 25 87 10 18 3 0 3 12 0 8 Lynn, Fred .241 117 353 44 85 11 1 11 46 1

MLExp No Yrs.Days 28 1.022 17 5.143 24 0.060 19 7.077 4 2.016 8 15.030