Dodgers, Mets Are Alone on Strawberry’s List

On the day after he said, “My mind is made up” to leave the New York Mets, Darryl Strawberry changed his mind Monday. He put the Mets back on his free-agent shopping list, placing them second to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But that’s where the list ends. Strawberry ruled out the other 24 major-league teams.

Strawberry also chastised his teammates for not showing enough heart, said he would return to the Mets only if they added winning players, expressed more displeasure with his treatment by Mets management and specifically ruled out the San Diego Padres because “they’re not winners.”

In a rambling discussion with reporters, Strawberry made this much certain: his first preference is to play for the Dodgers.

“If I get the offer from L.A. that I want, I’ll leave,” Strawberry said. “If it’s a five-year deal in the range of contracts today, I’ll leave.”

Strawberry will afford the Mets the first opportunity to sign him, though he stressed that he will file for free agency. The Mets hold exclusive negotiating rights to Strawberry until at least Nov. 5, or 15 days after the final game of the World Series. He said he will not settle for less than a five-year deal. Though he did not mention dollar figures, it is believed that he will seek between $22 million and $25 million.

“I’ll listen to the Mets first,” he said. “They will be my first priority.”

When Strawberry was told that his return to the Mets sounded possible where once it appeared impossible, he said, “It could be possible. I have a lot of ties to this club. Yes, it’s possible. But some things have to change here. They have to make changes. It’s so hard to go through it by yourself.”

Asked why he had changed his mind since Sunday, Strawberry said, “I just decided to keep an open mind about it.”

Mets vice president Al Harazin, when told of Strawberry’s comments, smiled broadly and said, “Good.” But General Manager Frank Cashen said, “I don’t feel any different.”

Strawberry did not defuse any of the animosity he has displayed toward the front office. He reiterated that he does not want to meet with Cashen.

“Why would I want to talk to Frank?” he said. “What good is it to be around a front office that you have no relationship with? There’s been a lot of misunderstanding over things I never said. Every time I looked up it was coming out of their mouths. I kept saying, ‘What’s going on here?”’

Strawberry indicated that Cashen apologized to him Friday for comments the general manager made during a televised interview this summer.

“It’s already happened,” Strawberry said of an apology.

Said Cashen, “I won’t have any comment on that. That’s too personal.”

On Sunday, Cashen, when asked why the Mets fell short of a divisional title, said he remembered “all those times ... the three-four-five hitters didn’t come through.”

When told of that comment, Strawberry said, “I did my part. I can’t do it for anybody else. I don’t think that’s the reason. The reason we didn’t win is heart. It just wasn’t there. I’m not saying it’s all the players. But some guys just didn’t have it. Our heart was not big enough. We weren’t arrogant enough.

“It’s like guys heard all the talk about the team we had on paper and went around thinking, ‘We’re good.’ But baseball is not about what you are on paper. It’s done on the field. I don’t want to be good. I want to be great.

“Next year, what good would it do me to come back to New York is it’s going to be the same atmosphere? There have to be changes made here. I’ll wait to see what kind of changes they make first.

“I’m not going to go through this every year. This is ridiculous. I want to strangle people around here and tell them to wake up. We didn’t win the division with this team.

“I hate losing. I don’t accept it. I take it hard. We lost this year and I don’t think some guys in here really think about it.”

Strawberry indicated that he wants the Mets to make some major moves before he would sign with them.

“We need to go out and get free agents, I know that,” Strawberry said. “A leadoff hitter like Vince Coleman.”

Strawberry stressed, “I want to play for a winner.” He added, “I don’t want to play in the American League or on Astroturf.” He then further narrowed his choices by saying he wants to play for the Dodgers or Mets.

When he was asked about the possibility of signing with San Diego, Strawberry said, “It’s got to be a winner. I look at a lot of the stuff that goes on over there. That team has a lot of talent, but they’re not winners. It would be so hard for me to get used to that. Ever since 1984 when Davey (Johnson) came here, I’ve played for teams with a very intense style. In San Diego, the crowd’s laid-back, the weather’s laid-back. That’s not baseball. I can’t play that kind of baseball.”

It was then suggested to Strawberry that the baseball climate in Los Angeles is similar.

“The thing about it is they win,” Strawberry said. “They know how to win because they have a manager, (Tommy) Lasorda, who gets the most out of his players.”