BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Yankees Hire Watson as General Manager

Houston Astro General Manager Bob Watson abruptly quit Monday night and accepted the general manager’s job with the New York Yankees in an unusually rapid courtship.

Watson, who spent part of three seasons as a player for George Steinbrenner’s team, was first approached for the job Monday afternoon when he was telephoned by Joe Molloy, Steinbrenner’s son-in-law and the Yankees’ managing general partner.

“The key issue was the uncertainty of the sale and possible move of the Houston club,” Watson said when reached at his home in Texas.

Houston owner Drayton McLane said last week he was discussing the possible sale of the team to a Northern Virginia group headed by William Collins, who last March failed in his bid to obtain an expansion franchise.

Watson, 49, has been the Astros’ general manager for two seasons. He was given a two-year contract by the Yankees, and the team holds options for 1997 and 1998. He becomes the 15th general manager since Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973.

Watson said the decision on whether to retain Manager Buck Showalter would be made by Steinbrenner.

The Madison Square Garden Network reported that Showalter will turn down a two-year contract offer from Steinbrenner, because the owner wants to fire first-base coach Brian Butterfield and batting coach Rick Down. Showalter and Steinbrenner are to meet again today, a team official said.

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Frank Robinson, seeking to become the San Diego Padres’ general manager, interviewed with the team. “I just think this ballclub is in a real good position to be heard from, to make the next move, to be the division winner as early as next year and no later than probably ‘97,” Robinson said. “It would be exciting to be a part of that.”

Robinson, 60, the assistant general manager of the Baltimore Orioles, was the third candidate to be interviewed for the job. The others were Gerry Hunsicker, assistant general manager of the New York Mets, and Frank Wren, assistant general manager of the Florida Marlins.

Randy Smith resigned as the Padres’ general manager.

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The effort to keep the Seattle Mariners from leaving the city got a big boost with the approval of a plan to build a $320-million retractable-roof stadium. The Metropolitan King County Council approved the plan by a vote of 10-3.

Immediately thereafter, a dissenting group, Citizens for Leaders with Ethics and Accountability Now, filed a lawsuit to block the plan.

Mariner owners had set Oct. 30 as the deadline for agreement on a plan to build a new ballpark for the American League club. Otherwise, they said they would offer the franchise for sale, probably to out-of-state buyers.

The state legislature approved a financing package on Oct. 14, after Mariner owners made their threat to sell the team, and the county council passed an ordinance based on that bill.

Under the state plan, the Mariners would provide $45 million, a state sales tax credit would provide about $59 million and a scratch-off state lottery game would net $48 million more over 20 years.

The rest would come from county-wide taxes that required council approval--$9 million a year from a sales tax surcharge of .5% on restaurant and bar tabs, $3.5 million from a 2% boost in the car rental tax and a 5% admissions tax at the new ballpark.