Padres Discuss Dealing Carter for Davis, Jackson : Baseball: McKeon, Royals’ Schuerholz say nothing is imminent yet. Padres, Rasmussen shut out Astros, 7-0.

The Kansas City Royals, having initiated trade discussions with the Padres two weeks ago, are exploring the possibility of a trade that would send All-Star outfielder Bo Jackson and Cy Young reliever Mark Davis to the Padres for center fielder Joe Carter, sources said Tuesday.

Royal General Manager John Schuerholz and Jack McKeon, Padre manager and vice president/baseball operations, confirmed Tuesday that they have talked about a potential trade but said that nothing is imminent.

“I’ve talked to Jack and Bill Beck (assistant general manager) generally,” Schuerholz said, “but nothing specifically was discussed. We talked, and we asked each other what we were looking for, seeing if we could match up.

“As we get closer to the All-Star break, we’ll see what happens. . . . We’re starting to play a little better now, so maybe the interest we had before (of making a trade) might not quite be the same.”

Said McKeon: “We talked, and several names were mentioned, but I can’t go into details. We’ll see what happens.”

The Padres--7-0 winners Tuesday night over the Houston Astros in the Astrodome with Dennis Rasmussen (7-4) pitching the first shutout of his Padre career--have been closely watched the past four games by Gary Blaylock, Royal special assignment scout, who followed them from Atlanta to Houston.

The Royals have been researching the trade market for the past three weeks, sources said, primarily to determine the interest in Davis, who has been demoted to middle relief.

Schuerholz telephoned McKeon two weeks ago to discuss Davis, asking whether the Padres would be interested in reacquiring the man who won the 1989 Cy Young while saving 44 games for them. During the conversation, according to sources, Schuerholz said that Jackson might also be available if they could obtain Carter in return.

Sources close to Schuerholz said that he has talked among his own people about a potential blockbuster deal that would send Jackson, Davis, and right fielder Danny Tartabull to the Padres in exchange for Carter, right fielder Tony Gwynn and third baseman Mike Pagliarulo. Yet, no such deal has been proposed, McKeon and Schuerholz said.

Talks between the two clubs, however, have been on hold as the Royals try to decide whether they want to stand pat or start a rebuilding process by trading away some of their high-priced players.

“My feeling right now,” Royal owner Ewing Kauffman said Tuesday, “is that we might want to keep the team as it is. We’ve added a lot of free agents this year, as we never did before, and that might have had something to do with our chemistry. Maybe we’ll start to gel and make a run for the pennant next year.

“I might have a little trouble trading away Bo. I’d hate to trade him and see him develop for another team. But certainly, I respect the judgment of (President) Joe Burke and John Schuerholz, and whatever they think is best for our team, I’ll listen.”

Would you trade Davis and Jackson for Carter?

“I’d have to say, ‘No,’ to that one,” Kauffman said. “I wouldn’t make that trade. But, you know, we do respect Joe Carter very much.”

There also could be an obstacle in any trade talks involving Davis and Jackson in that the new Padre ownership might not be willing to assume Davis’ contract and the risk of Jackson’s potential earnings.

“I’m not comfortable making a philosophical point of view on that,” said Tom Werner, Padre chairman, “but we’re open to analyzing any possibility that would improve the competitiveness of the team.”

Davis, who spent 2 1/2 years in San Diego before leaving for free agency, signed a four-year, $13-million contract with the Royals in December. He was paid a $1.5-million signing bonus with a $1.75-million salary in 1990 and is scheduled to receive $3.25 million in each of the next three seasons.

Jackson, who lost his arbitration case and is earning $1 million this season, is eligible for arbitration each of the next three seasons. He and his agent, Richard Woods, turned down a two-year, $2.5 million offer by the Royals, sources said, before losing the arbitration case.

But the Padres likely would be compensated handsomely by the expected increase in ticket revenue caused by the presence of Jackson, who spends his off-season playing for the Raiders. The increase of their payroll also would be offset somewhat with the departure of Carter, who is in the first year of a three-year, $9.2-million contract. The Padres already have paid him a $2-million signing bonus, and Carter is guaranteed to receive $1.2 million this season and $3 million in 1991 and 1992.

Carter and Davis each have limited trade clauses in their contracts. Carter cannot be traded to Detroit, Montreal or either New York team. Davis could reject trades to six teams but has yet to even designate them.

Jackson, of course, could have the greatest leverage of all--he could quit the sport of baseball and just play football. But when contacted Tuesday, Woods said that Jackson already is aware of the trade possibility and would not be adverse to playing for the Padres.

“If we had to pick a city, Los Angeles would be the best, because that’s where the Raiders are,” Woods said, “but he would have no objections to San Diego. It’s on the West Coast, which is nice, and it’s smaller than LA, which he’d like.

“Really, the only thing Bo told me that he doesn’t like about LA is that it takes one hour to go five minutes.

“He wants to be on a contender, that’s very important to him. Of course, that’s what he thought Kansas City would be this year.”

Jackson long has maintained that when it’s time for him to give up a sport, he will give up football, not baseball. But for the time being, Woods said, Jackson will continue playing both sports.

“When I brought it up to him last year, wondering if he was interested at all in giving up football,” Woods said, “he told me, ‘No, I don’t even want to talk about it. That’s like retiring in the middle of the baseball season, and I’m not going to do that.’ ”

Jackson has two years remaining on his five-year contract, $7.4-million contract with the Raiders. He’s scheduled to earn a base salary of $968,886 in 1990 and $1,101,468 in 1991. He also receives a $420,000 reporting bonus each season. There are financial penalties for leaving football, sources said, and he has an insurance policy with Lloyds of London protecting himself against any disabling football injury.

Jackson, the most valuable player of the 1989 All-Star Game, is batting 267 with 10 home runs and 31 RBIs. He hit his fourth homer in nine games Tuesday night against Seattle.

Meanwhile, Carter’s dreadful slump continued Tuesday, zero for four with a walk, lowering his batting average to .221. He now is hitless in his past 11 at-bats and in midst of a one-for-24 slump (.042).

“The way I’m hitting,” Carter said, laughing, “I’d do the trade if I was Diego.”

But despite Carter’s slump and the fact that the middle of the Padres’ lineup went zero for 13 Tuesday, the Padres had little trouble disposing of the Astros.

Rasmussen, who had pitched just one inning in the past two weeks because of inflammation of his left shoulder, allowed at least one baserunner in eight of the nine innings but was aided by two double plays turned by their new combination of shortstop Roberto Alomar and second baseman Bip Roberts.

“I felt a lot more comfortable tonight,” said Roberts, who also had his first four-hit game including a club-record-tying three doubles. “I’m not going to be Ryne Sandberg or Roberto out there, but I think I can solidify the second base position.”

Perhaps more amazing than Rasmussen’s first shutout since April 19, 1988, when he was with the Cincinnati Reds, was his performance at the plate. Rasmussen went two for four with an RBI, raising his batting average to .379 and now has more RBIs this season (seven) than he had in his entire career entering the year.

Said fellow pitcher Andy Benes: “Give him a glove and find him a place in the field. The man can hit.”

Certainly, no one is hotter at the plate, and with the way he’s pitching, Rasmussen suddenly has become the team leader in victories.

Not bad timing considering that Rasmussen is eligible for free agency at the end of the season.

“To tell you the truth,” Rasmussen said, “I’ve got one job to do, and that’s to help this ballclub and help us get back into the thick of things.”

The victory put the Padres (35-33) into sole possession of second place ahead of the San Francisco Giants, but they still remain 10 games behind Cincinnati.

“Some things take time,” Rasmussen said. “Hopefully, we’ll have enough time left.”

Padre Notes

Dennis Rasmussen, who lasted just one inning when he made his last start June 17, said that he never experienced any shoulder problems. “I got tired, but that’s to be expected,” Rasmussen said. “I was concerned, because I never went through something like that before, but everything felt good.” . . . Rasmussen, who entered the season with a career .170 batting average, has as many hits (11 for 29) this season as he had all last season in 65 at-bats. . . . Pitcher Robbie Beckett, the Padres’ No. 1 draft pick, made his professional debut Tuesday in the Arizona Rookie League. . . . Padre left fielder Fred Lynn stole second base in the second inning, his first National League stolen base and his first since June 3, 1989. . . . General admission tickets will go on sale at 9 a.m. today for Friday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.