Baylor Looks for a Change From Astacio

Despite the renowned diversity of the Dodger clubhouse and his friendship with fellow Dominican pitcher Ramon Martinez, Colorado Manager Don Baylor is confident Pedro Astacio will be comfortable in his new environment.

Baylor also said he wasn’t troubled by Astacio’s dugout confrontation with Dodger Manager Bill Russell earlier this season.

“I don’t remember him having any history of having problems with people,” Baylor said of Astacio, who pitched 6 2/3 innings but got no decision in his debut for the Rockies on Saturday at Houston. “Every manager is different. That incident happened to be captured on television. Things happen all the time that the public doesn’t know about. . . .

“With Latin guys you have to be careful with what you think you heard and what they [actually] said, [but] you can’t find a better place to fit in than with Cat [Andres Galarraga], Vinny [Castilla] and Neifi Perez.”

The clubhouse may not be the concern. It’s the humbling altitude of Coors Field that has troubled Astacio. He has an 0-2 record and 10.91 earned-run average there.

Baylor said Astacio seemed to have stopped throwing his changeup, which is “a real good pitch for him, and we want to try and help him get it back.”

The 27-year-old right-hander joined the Rockies with a 48-47 career record and 3.66 ERA. He often seemed on the brink of stardom with the Dodgers.

“He has great ability, character and work ethic,” said Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president. “He pitched some outstanding games, but never with consistency. He is still young enough that it may happen, but he was in his fifth season with us, he had been moved out of the rotation and we had the opportunity to fill a need.”

Claire referred to the acquisition of Eric Young, whom the Dodgers initially lost to Colorado in the 1993 expansion draft. Young provides some important speed and a slashing hitting style. His defense may have improved from his first stay with the Dodgers, but most scouts still call it suspect. Is he back for more than the stretch run? Unlikely.

With Wilton Guerrero still in the wings and Young, who has a 1997 salary of $3.2 million, desiring the $5 million plus that Craig Biggio and Chuck Knoblauch are paid, it’s doubtful the Dodgers would want to go to arbitration with him. Young could be the first player ever lost by the same team in two expansion drafts--Arizona and Tampa Bay making their choices in November. Similarly, Astacio wasn’t going to be among the 15 players the Dodgers protect from that draft, and Tom Candiotti seemed the more reliable rotation option down the stretch.

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New York Met Manager Bobby Valentine acknowledged it may have been calculated. It was definitely cold.

Catcher Todd Hundley’s mother is battling cancer, his wife is expecting their third child and he has been playing with a partially torn elbow ligament. Yet Valentine, either to needle the slumping Hundley and/or deflect attention from his slumping team, said Hundley looked like a player who needed more sleep.

It left the impression that Hundley was spending too much time under the neon lights.

“Did I get arrested at 4 in the morning?” Hundley said to New York writers after Valentine’s comment made headlines this week. “Did someone in a bar say I was out all night? What did I do? You’ve got to take it as a team leader, but I don’t think it was appropriate.”