BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : Hill Goes to Cardinals, Wetteland to Yankees as Expos’ Purge Begins

Ken Hill and John Wetteland, the top starter and top reliever for the cash-starved Expos, were traded in separate deals Wednesday as Montreal’s talent purge began.

Hill was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Darond Stovall and pitchers Bryan Eversgerd and Kirk Bullinger. Only Eversgerd pitched in the majors last season.

Wetteland went to the New York Yankees for 20-year-old outfielder Fernando Seguignol, a .262 hitter in two seasons of Class-A ball. The Expos also got a fringe prospect and cash.

Trading the two pitchers, moves that General Manager Kevin Malone predicted earlier this week, was a vivid show of the crisis faced by Montreal--one of baseball’s small-market, low-revenue teams.

“The economics of the current system is the reason we’re making the changes. These deals are financially motivated,” Malone said.

Hill and Wetteland are eligible for arbitration and likely would ask for annual salaries of $4 million to $5 million. The Expos’ team payroll was about $18,771,000 last season, and Malone said it could be as low as $10 million this season because the Expos lost $15 million from the strike.

That financial reality also might force Malone to trade center fielder Marquis Grissom before Friday night’s midnight deadline for offering arbitration to eligible players. Grissom made $3.56 million last season.

Seven teams have made offers for Grissom, Malone said.

After announcing the two trades three hours apart Wednesday, he said, “Maybe that’s it. I’m not sure. We could have one more by Friday.

The end of the strike hurt small-market teams such as the Expos. Montreal was among the teams pleading for increased revenue sharing, but with the old labor agreement back in place, large-market clubs won’t have to share more money this year.

“The thing I’m disappointed in is that we don’t have a negotiated settlement, and I have to move some of the best players in the game,” Malone said.

Hill and Wetteland certainly fit that profile.

Hill, a right-hander, was the runner-up in Cy Young Award voting after going 16-5 with a 3.32 earned-run average on a team that finished with the best record in baseball.

“In acquiring a guy like Kenny Hill, I think we’ve got probably one of the top two or three pitchers in the game today,” Cardinal General Manager Walt Jocketty said. “I think we’re well on our way to putting together the championship club we thought we would.”

Hill came up with the Cardinals in 1988 and joined the rotation the following season. He was traded to the Expos after the 1991 season for Andres Galarraga.

“I was surprised but happy,” Hill said. “I’m happy to be back. I loved it there. I was just getting settled there when they traded me.”

Wetteland is a former Dodger who had 25 saves in 1994, 43 in 1993 and 37 in 1992. He fills the Yankees’ need for a right-handed bullpen closer.

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John Franco, whose 266 career saves are the most by a left-hander, re-signed as a free agent with the New York Mets for a reported $5 million over two years.

The 34-year-old reliever led the National League in saves in 1994 for the third time in his career. He had 30, bringing his club-leading total for the Mets to 189.

Since 1988, Franco has 189 saves in 225 opportunities. Last season also marked the sixth time in his 11 major league seasons that the native New Yorker had at least 30 saves.

Franco also was being wooed by the Baltimore Orioles, who are looking for a bullpen ace. They reportedly offered him a two-year contract worth $5.7 million.

“I’d rather be happy and be home,” Franco said.

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The Chicago Cubs acquired outfielder Brian McRae in a trade with the Kansas City Royals for two minor league pitchers.

McRae, 27, batted .272 with four home runs and 40 runs batted in last season. In his four-plus year career with Kansas City, McRae batted 262 with 30 home runs and 248 RBIs. He was a first-round draft pick in 1985.

The Cubs will send pitchers Derek Wallace and Geno Morones to the Royals.

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Dave Winfield, the active leader in home runs and RBIs, signed a one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians. The Indians had acquired the rights to Winfield in a trade with Minnesota on Aug. 31 during the strike. The Indians said the 21-year veteran would be primarily a designated hitter against left-handed pitchers. . . . The Baltimore Orioles agreed to a $17.25-million, five-year contract with catcher Chris Hoiles. . . . As in the lockout-shortened 1990 season, starting pitchers will only need to throw three innings, instead of five, to qualify for a victory until May 9. . . . A Senate subcommittee voted for a partial repeal of baseball’s antitrust exemption, the first step in what promises to be a difficult legislative path. The bill was approved, 4-0, in a voice vote by the subcommittee on antitrust, business rights and competition. . . . Free-agent outfielder Eric Anthony and the Cincinnati Reds agreed on a one-year contract. . . . Atlanta Brave right-hander John Smoltz, who had a bone fragment removed from his right elbow in August, said he will be ready to rejoin the rotation on opening day. . . . The Pittsburgh Pirates will sell half-price tickets for their first nine home games. . . . Free agent outfielder Larry Walker is reportedly close to signing a free-agent contract with the Colorado Rockies.