McIlvaine Gives Benes a New Deal : Padres: Pitcher happier after team gives him $100,000 raise.

Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine would have recoiled in horror Wednesday if he happened to be walking by Ingleside Middle School and glanced at the basketball court.

There they were--$13 million worth of Padre pitching talent--playing a full-court, three-on-three game. It was enough to make a general manager shriek--and remind his players that their contracts prohibit them not only from skiing, bullfighting and horseback riding, but basketball as well.

Then again, if McIlvaine saw the expansive grin on the face of starter Andy Benes, and the way he was laughing and teasing his teammates, it might have reinforced the executive’s decision.

McIlvaine ripped up the $375,000 contract renewal notice that he gave Benes last week and Wednesday morning gave him a $475,000 one-year contract.

“We decided to do this because of all the extraordinary circumstances involved,” said McIlvaine, who announced his decision in Tucson before the Padres’ 4-1 exhibition defeat to the Cleveland Indians. “He’s an extraordinary performer, and a fellow who we want to have a long-term future with.

“This had been a very unsatisfying situation for everybody concerned.”

The agreement came exactly a week after McIlvaine told Benes and agent Scott Boras that they could either sign for $425,000, or be renewed at $375,000. Benes wouldn’t sign, McIlvaine handed over the renewal and Benes quickly became a bitter man.

Benes not only vowed that he would take the Padres to arbitration the next three years but that he would would test the free-agent market when his time came. McIlvaine read the quotes, watched Benes’ behavior, listened to the public’s ridicule and even listened to the owners’ concern.

“When one of your better players is moping around it can affect your other players as well,” McIlvaine said. “What I observed, it really bothered him the last few days. He couldn’t even look me in the face when I walked by.”

Said Benes: “You try to let it go, but you hear about it all the time. The more you hear about it, the tougher and tougher it got. You take a lot of heat for standing up and saying what I felt inside, but it was genuine. I expressed my opinion, and let it go.”

McIlvaine, after hearing Padre ownership voice its concern about the backlash in a board meeting Sunday and noticing that Benes was becoming more despondent by the day, brought him into his office Monday.

“I didn’t want to go in there and talk to him,” Benes said. “I didn’t want to go in and get that piece of paper. I didn’t even want to look at him.”

Said McIlvaine: “Andy’s eyes were on the floor. But as the meeting went on, his eyes went up and up, and you could see him sitting on the edge of his seat by the end of the meeting.”

McIlvaine told Benes he would consider re-opening negotiations. Benes told him he’d call Boras and get back with him. McIlvaine got a message from Benes on Tuesday, saying they would meet. They talked for 45 minutes Wednesday morning, and Benes walked out of the room a happier pitcher.

“They didn’t have to do anything, and I didn’t expect them to do anything,” Benes said, “that’s why I really appreciate what they did. It showed they care for me, and wanted to do things right.

“Hopefully, I’ll play in San Diego for as long as they want me.”

Said Boras: “I think the Padres will be rewarded for what they did. It made Andy Benes feel fairly treated, and part of an organization that approached fairness. Andy knows he’s still not getting paid for what he’s worth, but he just wanted an expression of good faith.”

McIlvaine thought that perhaps he was hasty with his original contract deadline. He was comparing Benes’s salary to that of Erik Hanson of a year ago when he made $400,000. Yet when the Minnesota Twins signed Kevin Tapani to $485,00 this past week, McIlvaine realized that there should not be such a large salary discrepancy.

“If we made a mistake, we made a mistake,” McIlvaine said. “I don’t feel like I’m eating crow. I just wanted to be fair. In baseball, it’s very difficult to conceive what’s fair.

“But I just don’t want to be called unfair. I take a little umbrage of that.”

Now, for the first time this spring, perhaps the attention focused on Benes simply will be his pitching performance. He has been kept out of spring-training games this spring because of minor surgery near his lower abdomen, but hopes to pitch in a game this weekend. He pitched batting practice for the second time Wednesday and said that he’s ready to pitch competitively again.

“He was really throwing the ball great out there,” catcher Tom Lampkin said. “He seems ready to me.”

Certainly, he was back to being the sweet, fun-loving kid from Indiana again. He walked around the hotel pool talking amicably to teammates and strangers alike. He signed autographs.

And he already has begun taking ribbing from his teammates.

“Some of the veterans have got on me for what I was saying because I’m only a two-year player,” Benes said. “But, hey, the pay scale is higher. Is it my fault they pay more now? If they could have got when I got after two years, they won’t have turned it down?

“I’m sure now I’ll take heat for special treatment. Guys will be all over me. The fans, I’m sure, will have something to say.

“But, hey, I’ve got big shoulders.”

And a nice jump shot, too.

Padre Notes

Padre starter Mike York, the losing pitcher in the Padres’ defeat to the Indians, said he still remains bitter toward his former organization. “You go into the Cleveland Indians clubhouse,” he said, “and it was like everybody was just happy to be there. When they traded for me, they said they’d give me a fair opportunity. If that’s what they want to believe, fine. I’ve got my own opinion.” York gave up five hits and one run in 2 2/3 innings.

Padre rookie Doug Brocail made quite an impressive debut by pitching 3 1/3 shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out three. . . . First baseman Jay Gainer, who’s scheduled to play this season in double-A Wichita, opened everyone’s eyes in batting practice. He launched several massive home runs, including one that caromed off the 25-foot-high scoreboard in right-center. Once he entered the game, he hit a run-scoring double in the ninth inning, scoring Dann Bilardello. Gainer hit 32 homers and drove in 120 runs last year at Class A High Desert. . . . General Manager Joe McIlvaine, after seeing outfielder Thomas Howard hit a homer during a practice inning Tuesday against Dave Smith of the Chicago Cubs: “What’s in those arms, that’s the longest ball I’ve ever seen you hit.” Said Howard: “Then you haven’t seen me hit this season. Keep on watching.”