They’re Breaking Up That Old Gang of His

A three-day meeting of general managers ended officially here Saturday, but it will continue informally through Tuesday’s expansion draft.

More trade talks. More discussions with free-agent representatives. More guesswork on the draft.

More general managers beating a path to the door of Florida’s Dave Dombrowski, who is charged with the nasty task of gutting the payroll and decimating a World Series champion faster than you can say Wayne Huizenga.

“An interesting turn of events,” New York Met General Manager Steve Phillips said. “It’s another pool of talent no one expected to be there when the season ended.”

Dombrowski already has unloaded Moises Alou and the $20 million he has remaining on a five-year contract, trading his left fielder to the Houston Astros for two bullpen prospects and a player to be named just before a trade moratorium began last Tuesday with filing of draft protected lists.

The moratorium ends Tuesday night when the draft ends, and most general managers expect an immediate barrage of trades, several by the Marlins.

“I’m not going to put a time frame on it, but it’s not going to be hard moving the caliber of players we have available,” Dombrowski said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we made three or four trades immediately after the draft. It’s not like we have to move everyone, but there are no untouchables, and enough clubs are interested that there’s competition.”

The Marlins are believed to have exposed Bobby Bonilla, Alex Fernandez and Devon White in the expansion draft and are willing to trade Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Al Leiter, Dennis Cook and Robb Nen, among others. The payroll went from $25.2 million in 1996 to $53.5 million after owner Huizenga’s $89-million free-agent spending spree last winter, and now Huizenga, who claims the team lost $34 million this year, and Don Smiley, the club president who heads a group negotiating to buy the Marlins, have said they want the payroll below $20 million.

“This is not something I want to do, but I don’t set the budget,” Dombrowski said. “It’s the nature of the game now. One year you’re building a championship team and experiencing the rewards. The next year you’re dumping contracts.

“You can feel sorry for yourself and the organization, but you can’t wallow in it. We have to get on with our job and see where it takes us.”

Trading pitchers Leiter and Brown should be no problem. Clubs are lining up. Sheffield, about to begin a six-year, $10-million-a-year contract that includes a no-trade clause, is another issue.

“Gary has said he’s willing to work with us,” Dombrowski said, referring to the no-trade stipulation.

It is dangerous to predict, but as of Saturday night the Marlins seemed to be closing in on the following deals: Sheffield to the Mets, Nen to the Boston Red Sox and Brown to either the St. Louis Cardinals or New York Yankees.

The Marlins believe they have two young outfielders--Mark Kotsay and Todd Dunwoody--ready to step up, but their clearance sale must net pitching in return.

“We’ve lost Fernandez for the year [because of injury] and we’re trying to trade Brown and Leiter,” Dombrowski said. “That leaves us with a rotation of Livan Hernandez and Tony Saunders. It’s hard to pray for that much rain.”

As the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays prepare to draft their first teams, it was five years ago that Dombrowski was preparing for the Marlins’ expansion draft.

“It was as if you were about to realize a birth,” he said in reflection. Now, as he dismantles the Marlins, it is as if he is about to realize a death.

MOUND MARKET

With the Montreal Expos already trying to trade National League Cy Young award winner Pedro Martinez, the Marlins’ decision to trade Brown and the Seattle Mariners’ decision to trade Randy Johnson have put three top pitchers on the block at a time when that market also includes free agents Darryl Kile, Andy Benes and Wilson Alvarez.

Does the availability of Johnson and Brown impede the ability to trade Martinez?

“Sure, Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown are quality pitchers, but Pedro is a different package,” Expo General Manager Jim Beattie said. “He has definite advantages. He’s younger and never been injured.”

They are also similar packages in that each of the three can become a free agent after the 1998 season. The Atlanta Braves’ recent signing of Greg Maddux for $57.5 million over five years is certain to have a ripple effect on the pitching market. The same large-revenue clubs that are pursuing Martinez, with the exception of the small-market San Diego Padres, are likely to pursue Johnson: the two New York teams, Boston, Cleveland and Baltimore.

Beattie, who also is offering second baseman Mike Lansing in the latest Expo clearance, wants young players who will not be arbitration-eligible until after the 1999 season in return for Martinez. He is trying to rebuild a title club for 2001, when the Expos hope to move into a new stadium that is nothing more than a hope right now.

Several clubs interested in Martinez would like a 48-hour window in which to try to reach agreement on a long-term contract with his agent before giving up a package of players for a pitcher who could leave after one year. However, Beattie won’t agree to that.

“I don’t think it would help the process. I don’t think it’s a simple 48-hour deal,” he said. “To sell [Martinez] on your team and city is going to take a year. What the Cardinals did with Mark McGwire is a good example.”

The Mariners opted to entertain offers for Johnson after picking up his $5.8-million option for 1998 but failing to reach a multiyear agreement. Some believe the Mariners will have to bite the bullet and retain him for ‘98, risking getting only draft choices as compensation if he leaves as a free agent, because of his impact on attendance and Seattle playoff hopes.

However, agent Barry Meister said Johnson has to go now.

“In light of the Mariners’ decision to not even offer a contract extension, the idea of Randy coming back for the last year of his contract seems to be an intolerable alternative for all parties,” he said.

“They have stated publicly that Randy Johnson doesn’t figure in their plans beyond next season.

“We don’t have the right to demand a trade, but can you imagine your wife saying, ‘I want a divorce, but I want us to stay together until I find something better?’ ”

NOTES

Angel center fielder Jim Edmonds has been drawing the attention of clubs in position to trade pitching, but the Angels’ primary goal remains the re-signing of free-agent pitcher Ken Hill. Club lawyer Mark Rosenthal spent much of Saturday in negotiations with agent Larry Reynolds. . . . Kile grew up in Orange County, attended Chaffey College and pitched for Angel Manager Terry Collins in Houston, but the Angels have told Kile’s agent, Barry Axelrod, that they have only “contingent interest,” pending the Hill outcome. Kile, meanwhile, is being avidly pursued by the Colorado Rockies and Diamondbacks, makes his full-time home in Houston, has no “special yearning” to return to Southern California, said Axelrod, and feels a return to the Astros has become “more attractive” with the Alou acquisition. Houston General Manager Gerry Hunsicker, who has received ownership approval to enlarge a $33-million budget, has told Axelrod he thinks the club can afford both Alou and Kile. Said Axelrod: “I know there was some rejoicing by teams who thought that trade would end Houston’s involvement [with Kile], but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Gerry has made it clear to me they want to try to re-sign Darryl.” . . . Angel third base coach Larry Bowa remains in the Toronto Blue Jay managerial hunt, but Tim Johnson is believed to have a slight edge, with a decision expected by the weekend.

Dodger Vice President Fred Claire thinks his acquisition of a shortstop could come either through trade or free agency. However, if free agent Jay Bell (who batted .291 with 92 runs batted in while making $5 million for Kansas City) was No. 1 on their list, the initial contact wasn’t promising. Sources say Dodger lawyer Sam Fernandez called and offered a cut from his ’97 salary, angering Bell. Agent Scott Boras wouldn’t discuss the offer other than to say “it wasn’t sufficient in dollars or years.” Claire also has talked with the agent for former Dodger Jose Vizcaino, who is leaving the San Francisco Giants as a free agent and made a more reasonable $2.8 million last year. Philadelphia Phillie shortstop Kevin Stocker is among trade possibilities. . . . The Red Sox apparently are ready to open the Fenway vault, extending the contract of Mo Vaughn in what will be a $40-million-plus deal.