Dodgers Get Wallach at Less Than Half-Price

The Dodgers, acknowledging their fear of opening the season with a 28-year-old rookie third baseman, reached a tentative agreement Monday with veteran third baseman Tim Wallach on a one-year, $1.5-million contract.

Wallach, 37, coming off one of the finest seasons of his career, believes that he exemplifies the difficulty veteran free agents are facing in the marketplace this winter. Although he can earn an additional $600,000 in incentives, his base salary will be less than half of his $3.3-million earnings in 1994.

“I never thought I’d see the day where a third baseman could hit .280 with 23 homers and 78 RBIs by mid-August,” agent Alan Meersand said, “and have to take a pay cut like this. But it’s a market full of third basemen.

“(Dodger General Manager) Fred Claire told me this is the best we can do. He told me that the club will be a lot younger and the payroll will be a lot less next year.

“He said, ‘Listen, if Tim doesn’t accept this offer, we’ll just go out and find someone else.’ ”

Wallach, who also has a $1.5-million option for the 1996 season, will be paid an additional $4,800 for every game he starts until he reaches a maximum 125 games. The Dodgers then must decide within two days upon completion of the 1995 World Series whether to exercise the 1996 option.

“Tim sacrificed a lot of money to stay with the Dodgers,” Meersand said. “This is an example of a player wanting to stay with his hometown team and play for a manager who loves him.”

Wallach said Monday that he was not promised the starting job, but certainly is expected to be the incumbent. He will be competing with rookie Ron Coomer, who hit 22 homers with 123 runs batted in at triple-A Albuquerque.

The Dodgers had hoped that Coomer would become their everyday third baseman in 1995, but he struggled defensively in the Arizona Fall League.