Wright Could Be a Socker Again

Paul Wright could be on his way back to the Sockers.

The high-scoring forward is taking his current club, the Baltimore Blast, to arbitration next week and requesting free agency.

After a prolonged disagreement over Wright’s reporting date, the Blast placed Wright on the suspended list last Friday.

If Wright wins in arbitration, he said he will consider going to only two teams, the Sockers or Cleveland.

Drew Forrester, Blast general manager, said he is confident Wright will lose his case and have nowhere to play.

“I don’t suspect he’ll play anywhere this year,” Forrester said. “He won’t play here--we’ve begun to allocate his salary to other players.”

One of those players might be another former Socker, Waad Hirmez, who said he expects to receive a contract by fax today from the Blast and that the two sides have already agreed to terms.

Forrester would not confirm or deny that an agreement has been reached, but said he expects Hirmez will play for the Blast this season.

Wright had a contract with the Sockers for the coming season, but was waived in late June by former owner Ron Fowler, who feared he would be liable for Wright’s $60,000 salary if a buyer for the team did not emerge.

Afterward, Wright, whose 38 goals last season was second most on the Sockers, was claimed by three clubs, including the Blast.

When they obtained his rights, the Blast requested that Wright move to Baltimore immediately, arguing that they assumed a 12-month contract for his services.

“We acquired him in July and asked him to come to Baltimore and start working,” Forrester said.

Wright agreed to fly to Baltimore for a news conference and to take a physical, but told Blast officials he would return to San Diego until training camp began.

“I told them I would be happy to play for them and I would report as soon as training camp opened,” Wright said. “But I wasn’t going to move out there. No one was even sure there was going to be a league this year.”

Before training camp began, the Blast notified Wright that his salary would be docked to $46,000 since he failed to show up during the summer.

“That’s when I decided to file for free agency,” Wright said. “I think I’ve got a pretty strong case. My contract calls for $60,000.”

Wright said that if he wins, he will stand little chance of commanding another $60,000 salary.

“But it’s the principle of the thing,” Wright said.

Sockers Coach Ron Newman said he is still interested in Wright, but like other teams, the Sockers already are nearing the $550,000-per-team salary cap.

“Absolutely we would be interested in him,” Newman said. “But we’ve got no money left.”

Cleveland is said to be in a similar situation. The Crunch have 10 players under contract, including two of the league’s most potent scorers, Zoran Karic and Hector Marinaro.

Newman said he tried trading for Wright several times after new Socker owners took over July 1.

Socker Notes

Waad Hirmez said he agreed to play in Baltimore for less than the $46,000 he originally turned down from the Sockers before the club made him a free agent. Hirmez said he went back to the Sockers Thursday and told Oscar Ancira, managing general partner, that he would agree to $46,000. Hirmez was told that kind of money was no longer available. “They said they need to sign six more players and they only have $50,000 left,” Hirmez said. Responded Ancira, “I might have exaggerated a little.” Hirmez tied Paul Dougherty for most goals on the team last year. Each kicked in 43.