Postseason Hopes Force Red Moves : Baseball: Bolstering pitching staff was Bowden’s motivation for Deion Sanders trade.

Cincinnati Red Manager Davey Johnson said he isn’t sure what happened in Baltimore last winter. He thought he had the inside track on the Orioles’ managerial opening, but they never called back.

What he does know is that everything turned out for the best. He remained in Cincinnati and has the Reds on top of the National League Central. Despite a horrible start, the club has the best record in the league at 59-32.

“I was very disappointed, because I thought it was a good fit,” Johnson said. “If they had wanted me, I would have been there, but I had a job I didn’t get a chance to finish here, and now I’ve been given an opportunity to finish it.

“Things happen for the best. I think that has always been the case with me. Life works in mysterious ways. I’ve been fortunate because somebody has always looked out for me.”

Johnson was speaking in spiritual terms, but somebody down here has been looking out for him, too. General Manager Jim Bowden has pulled off two major trades in the past couple of weeks to shore up a club that already looked like a lock to reach the playoffs.

The Reds acquired pitchers Mark Portugal and Dave Burba and Gold Glove center fielder Darren Lewis in an eight-player deal that sent flamboyant outfielder/football star Deion Sanders to the San Francisco Giants. Then Bowden further addressed the club’s injury-marred pitching staff by picking up 10-game winner David Wells from the Detroit Tigers.

It was a decisive front-office assault at a time when the second-place Houston Astros were trying to make a big move in the division race. The Astros have since been dealt a devastating setback -- Jeff Bagwell suffered another fracture in his left hand and will be lost for three to four weeks -- leaving the Reds in excellent position to defend their place at the top of the standings. Tuesday night, they opened a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves that could be a preview of the National League Championship Series.

“I think if you look at the talent we received and what we needed to make us a more complete ballclub, we certainly got exactly what our club needed,” assistant manager Ray Knight said. “We need to get quality starts from four or five starters. Burba gives us flexibility. And acquiring Lewis was a big plus. He is one of the best two or three center fielders in the National League. With our pitching staff, it’s particularly important to play solid defense.”

Some might say that the Reds also benefited from some addition by subtraction. They moved Sanders well before he might be faced with another difficult baseball/football decision. He once left the Braves during the playoffs to appear in a road game for the Atlanta Falcons, causing an unwelcome disruption that may have contributed to the decision to trade him to the Reds in May 1994. The prospect of something similar happening in Cincinnati might be reason enough to send Sanders packing, but that apparently did not play into the decision to make the deal with the Giants.

“That wasn’t an issue,” Johnson said. “He gets a $1 million bonus if he finishes the baseball season. Would you give up $1 million to go back to football?”

Indeed, the players and coaching staff say Sanders was a positive influence on the club. His tremendous athletic talent and his contagiously positive approach to the game, they say, contributed greatly to the winning chemistry that carried the Reds into the division lead.

“The only thing that concerned me about the deal at all was the losing the tremendous presence that Deion held in our locker room,” Knight said. “He had a tremendous positive aura. A lot of energy. Guys really respected him. He knows how to win. That’s something you don’t want to delete from your ballclub. And he’s not yet the baseball player he’s going to be.

“Deion is a sensitive person, but he’s a very loyal person. There were a lot of things that went into what happened in Atlanta. He’s not a disruptive force. That was never a consideration. If he commits to something, he’s going to see it through. I have great respect for him.”

The Reds traded him because they had an outfield surplus and because they were able to get a tremendous return for Sanders.