Padres Find Four Is a Crowd in Outfield

They can live with it in the short term and try to make it work in quest of a division title.

But in the context of a 162-game schedule? Forget it.

The outfield, any outfield, isn’t big enough for four quality players.

The Angels realized the hard reality of it after Darin Erstad joined the team this summer.

The San Diego Padres don’t have to be told.

If they are able to sign free agent-eligible Greg Vaughn to a multiyear contract, they will try to trade Rickey Henderson.

In the meantime, the two left fielders are two for 12 in this showdown series with the Dodgers. Vaughn sat Saturday after going one for eight with four strikeouts in the split of the first two games.

Henderson had a single in four at-bats of Game 3, a 9-2 blowout for the Dodgers.

The Padres are again 1 1/2 games back in the National League West with the clock ticking.

A loss to no-hit Nomo today could leave the Padres hoping the hole card is a wild card.

Who starts in left against Nomo? Manager Bruce Bochy said it would be Henderson, although neither Henderson nor Vaughn have faced the Dodger right-hander.

“It’s not easy leaving a Greg Vaughn or Rickey Henderson out of the lineup, but I have to do what I think is right and go with it,” said Bochy, who then alluded to Steve Finley and Tony Gwynn, adding: “There’s no question it’s been difficult with four quality outfielders.”

Henderson has said that he didn’t sign to sit, but he is playing it cool for now. “It’s very tough to retain timing when you’re not playing every day,” he said. “I’m trying to do my best if I play and hoping Greg does if he plays.

“I’m riding it out for now, but I know the situation is going to change eventually. I don’t think the Padres want to put me through this and I don’t want to put them through it.”

The Padres sent outfielder Marc Newfield and pitchers Ron Villone and Bryce Florie to Milwaukee for the power-hitting Vaughn on the night of the July 30 non-waiver trade deadline.

They were last in the league in homers at the time and uncertain how soon Gwynn would return from the heel injury that put him on the disabled list.

In 127 at-bats with the Padres, adjusting to a new league amid the pressure of a pennant race and his new city’s high expectations, Vaughn is hitting .205 with nine home runs and 20 runs batted in.

Those figures belie overall totals of 40 homers and 115 RBIs, and Padre General Manager Kevin Towers left no doubt that the primary goal is to retain Vaughn, which makes Henderson expendable, although he has another year left on the two-year contract he signed as a free agent last winter.

“You don’t give up three good young players for a guy and then turn around and not try to keep that guy,” Towers said of Vaughn.

“I mean, this guy has [Ken] Caminiti-type numbers. We got him to hit home runs and he’s hit nine in about 125 at-bats. It’s tough learning a new league in six weeks.

“He’s never been in a pennant race and he’s trying to do a little too much, but he’s given Finley and Caminiti protection, and that’s been good for Cammy’s psyche.

“The point is, we needed someone with his power, so we’d have to go right out and try to find someone like him if we don’t keep him. I mean, I look at Cammy and Vaughn as a deadly duo. Mix in Finley and Gwynn and you have a potent lineup.”

Towers, of course, isn’t into 1997 yet, but the Padres confront the hard reality of the Vaughn-Henderson situation every day. Henderson is hitting .242 but has 121 walks, 35 stolen bases and a .413 on-base percentage.

The leadoff hitter and the power hitter.

Said Towers: “You’re talking about two premier players who need to play to stay polished. We can do this for the short term, but I wouldn’t dump it on the manager for 162 games.

“We have to make some tough decisions. But there are 29 other clubs that would still love to have Rickey Henderson in left field.”

An exaggerated sales pitch? Maybe, as there are only 27 other teams, but a Padre executive said Saturday that he thinks there is a legitimate market for Henderson.

He said it’s most likely in the American League and that the Padres would probably have to assume some of his $2-million salary.

Towers said he understands Henderson’s disappointment with his irregular role.

“Rickey is used to putting teams on his back and carrying them this time of year,” he said. “He’s a Hall of Famer. I’m sure he doesn’t want to go out as a role-type player. I know he’s bothered by this.”

Henderson gets another chance to play the catalyst today. And the Padres seem to need a lift no matter who delivers it.