BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : If It Plays in Peoria, It Might Play in the Major Leagues

The San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners share the training facility known as the Peoria Sports Complex, but they have more in common than that.

The two small-market teams are confident they can crawl off the canvas and contend for division titles.

With new ownership providing a financial and emotional lift, Padre General Manager Randy Smith put it this way:

“We had the best record in the (National League West) over the last 75 games (of last year), and we have a much better club now than we did then. I do think we have a chance to win a very competitive division. I think the Dodgers, (Colorado) Rockies and (San Francisco) Giants have received a wake-up call.”

Said Seattle Manager Lou Piniella:

“I’m not going to make the same mistake I did last year when I predicted we’d win (the American League West) and maybe put too much pressure on the kids. No expectations this time. I just want them to go out and play. I’m confident they’ll play well. I don’t think there are too many clubs in the American League (that) can field a better lineup on a daily basis.”

A shakedown:

PADRES

The fire sales ended when Texas computer magnate John Moores bought the team from arsonist Tom Werner in December. Smith was allowed to re-sign free agent Bip Roberts for two years at $4.8 million and swing a 12-player trade with the Houston Astros that added about $5.5 million to the payroll and improved three positions--third base, with the addition of Ken Caminiti; center field, with the addition of Steve Finley, and shortstop, with the addition of the still inconsistent but talented Andujar Cedeno.

The Padres gave up a pair of power-hitting outfielders, Phil Plantier and Derek Bell, but Smith said: “We plugged a lot of holes without giving up any of our pitching. . . .

“Mr. Moores decided the club had reached a point where it was time to spend some money and see what we can do. It was very exciting to get a green light.”

A $14-million payroll will increase about $10 million, but the Padres now have a virtually set lineup and roster.

When the strike began last Aug. 12, the Padres were in a familiar position, last in the West with a 47-70 record. They had suffered both their worst start, 1-10, and longest losing streak, 13 games, but the impetus for Smith’s sales pitch to Moores was a division-best 37-38 record after May 21, a league-best .293 batting average over the last 73 games and a hard-throwing young pitching staff that ranked second in the league to Atlanta in strikeouts.

Amid the economically motivated dispersal of Fred McGriff, Gary Sheffield, Benito Santiago and others, the emphasis had been on the stockpiling of power arms.

“That doesn’t automatically mean they’re going to be successful, but it gives them a head start,” Smith said.

Starters Andy Benes, Joey Hamilton and Scott Sanders came through the system. Starter Andy Ashby and closer Trevor Hoffman were acquired in trade. Dustin Hermanson, the club’s No. 1 draft choice last year, could be up by midseason to serve as Hoffman’s set-up man and substitute closer.

Two veteran left-handers, Fernando Valenzuela and Ted Higuera, are being given opportunities to join the all right-handed rotation as the fifth starter.

Under new Manager Bruce Bochy, the Padres are otherwise set with Roberts, Finley and Tony Gwynn in the outfield; Brad Ausmus at catcher, and first baseman Eddie Williams, who drove in 41 runs in 49 games with the Padres last year, and second baseman Luis Lopez, who hit .277 in 77 games, joining Cedeno and Caminiti in the infield.

“It’s been frustrating, watching kids kick the ball around and mature at the major league level, but we’re better off for it now,” Smith said. “The biggest concern has been whether we could keep the kids together long enough to make a run for it. But looking at our talent (at all levels) we began to see a light at the end of the tunnel last year.”

Said the veteran Gwynn: “What the new ownership has done is give the club and city a chance to be winners.”

MARINERS

When the sky began falling on the Mariners in the form of Kingdome ceiling tiles, it resulted in a 22-day, 20-game, 10,425-mile trip that ended only because the strike began. Remarkably, the Mariners won nine of the last 10 games and “came together as a team” on that trip, Ken Griffey Jr. said.

The late rush left the Mariners only two games out of the lead in the weak West Division with a 49-63 record.

Nevertheless, Piniella said the Mariners were playing as he had expected them to play at the start of the season.

“We were really taking off,” he said. “We were really playing well, playing with confidence. We were in position to win the division, although I don’t know how long you can stay on the road and continue to win.”

Piniella may soon find out. The Mariners get a chance to pick up where they left off, playing 25 of their first 32 games on the road.

The lineup that he compares to any in the American League includes two new faces at the top--left fielder Darren Bragg, who hit .350 with 17 homers, 85 RBIs and 28 stolen bases at triple-A Calgary last year, and free agent second baseman Joey Cora, who provides on-base potential ahead of center fielder Griffey and right fielder Jay Buhner.

Piniella says he needs to fill only three holes.

At shortstop, he can choose between the revitalized former Angel Luis Sojo and the phenom, Alex Rodriguez. And he needs fourth and fifth starting pitchers, behind Randy Johnson, Chris Bosio and Dave Fleming.

“We need a couple of our young pitchers to step forward,” Piniella said. “I’m not looking for 15 wins. I’m looking for five or six innings, putting us in position to reach (a deep and productive) bullpen.”

The overriding concern may be the budget. The Mariners re-signed Buhner to a three-year, $15.5-million contract after both Johnson and Griffey suggested they would ask to be traded if another pivotal player was permitted to leave.

Buhner stays, but there is speculation that Johnson, Bosio or third baseman Edgar Martinez may be unloaded.

A Johnson trade would create only a little less furor in Seattle than a Griffey trade, which is why Bosio or Martinez may be the better bet. Piniella, of course, hopes all will stay.

With a new stadium under legislative consideration and the future of the franchise at stake, perhaps, he considers his third year at the Mariners’ helm to be critical.

“I came here to get the job done and talked about a three- or four-year plan,” he said. “We’re right on target, and ownership has done its part. I’m confident that will continue.”

Said Griffey, preparing to play with his 33rd left fielder in six years, “If everyone wants to win like I want to win, we can win it. But everyone has to contribute. No one can do it alone.”

THE NOTEBOOK

--The slowest team in the majors? It could be the Angels. Chad Curtis, who had 25 of the Angels’ 65 stolen bases last year, is now with the Detroit Tigers. The Angels’ nine prospective starters totaled 32 steals last year. New acquisition Tony Phillips, soon to be 36, had the most--13.

--The Colorado Rockies opened in 1993 with an expansion payroll of $8 million, nearly $2 million less than free agents Bill Swift and Larry Walker will be paid by the Rockies in 1995. “We got in this to win,” owner Jerry McMorris said. “We aren’t going to be the fastest expansion team to get to the World Series if we don’t take chances in the free-agent market.”

--In the glutted and depressed market left by the strike, former Dodger Todd Benzinger, the opening-day first baseman for the Giants last year, considers himself lucky to have signed a minor league contract with the Giants for $250,000, down from $700,000.

“It’s a terrible time for someone like me,” he said. “In another week, guys like myself are going to be calling up teams personally and begging to play for any price. . . . If guys like me are doing it now, the high-priced players may be doing it a year from now.”

--Atlanta pitcher Tom Glavine, secure with a $5.125-million salary in ’95 and contract commitment through ‘96, doesn’t think the players have basis for financial complaint.

“Players have always said we want a free market and that we are prepared to live with the up side and the down side,” he said. “If players really believe that, you should not hear much complaining, much outrage. It would be unfair for us to think there would be as much money available after the owners have gone through such a costly strike.”

--A page from the past: The Oakland A’s re-signed Dennis Eckersley and Bob Welch and reacquired Dave Stewart, Mike Gallego and Rick Honeycutt as free agents. Rickey Henderson, Stan Javier, Greg Cadaret and Dave Leiper are in their second tours with the club.

Said General Manager Sandy Alderson: “This isn’t just a business. We’ve had really positive relationships with our players. It also says, if you’re going to take a gamble on somebody, it might as well be somebody you know.”

--Jack McDowell, traded to the New York Yankees, took a swipe at Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf when asked if he could come to long-term agreement with the Yankees after never having been able to do so with the White Sox.

“Sure,” he said. “For one thing George wants to win. That’s the big difference. Or should I call him Mr. Steinbrenner, since I haven’t met him yet?”

--Acting Commissioner Bud Selig says that Chuck O’Connor, management’s longtime lead lawyer, has not been removed as general counsel of the Player Relations Committee, but Selig acknowledges that his daily legal briefings are now conducted by Rob Manfred, formerly the PRC’s No. 2 lawyer.

And with management’s strike-related legal strategy under fire both internally and from the bench, union-buster Robert Ballow continues to move into a more prominent role.