Trade Could Leave a Team Red-Faced

Cincinnati Red General Manager Jim Bowden, ordered in December to reduce his $37-million payroll to $20 million, got within $2.5 million by trading his opening-day starting pitcher, Dave Burba, to the Cleveland Indians for first baseman Sean Casey--just hours before opening day.

Bowden promptly compared Casey to everyone from Jeff Bagwell to Robin Ventura to Chipper Jones to Fred McGriff, and topped it all by saying:

“This trade will go down as the best made by the Reds since they got Joe Morgan in the early 1970s.”

That would make Casey mighty indeed, and while he is acknowledged to be one of baseball’s best hitting prospects--”the best in the minor leagues,” said Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove--Indian General Manager John Hart said of Bowden’s comments:

“He has to say that. He traded a quality starting pitcher the day before opening day. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Sean is a good player. He’s a fine young hitting prospect. If I was Cincinnati, I would be happy to get him. But I also wouldn’t want to go through the type of season that I sense they are going to go through this year.”

Added Hart: “It’s a trade that will be evaluated at the end of the year. If Burba wins 14 games and pitches 190 innings, then it’s a great trade for us, because that’s exactly what we need [with Doc Gooden and Chad Ogea opening the season on the disabled list].

“If Sean Casey turns out to be a guy who hits .280 with 15 home runs, he’s not going to be a guy who plays on our club. Those stats won’t fit. Plus, we’ve still got Jim Thome tied up for another five years [at first base], and we weren’t going to move him back to third.”

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Arizona’s Bank One Ballpark has many unique features, including more yellow lines on the outfield fences than you would find in a Manhattan subway station.

Colorado Rocky outfielder Dante Bichette predicted that the nooks, crannies and overhangs will produce more triples and inside-the-park homers than any park in baseball. The conditions--combined with expansion pitching--might also help produce more home runs, period. Nine were hit during the opening three-game sweep by the Rockies, which does not include a broken-bat Bichette drive that reached the seats during batting practice.

Of the Front Row Restaurant, located behind and above the left-field bleachers, Bichette said, “It’s placed well to shoot for. It’s just out of reach unless you really clobber [the ball].”

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A three-run homer by Moises Alou helped beat San Francisco in Orel Hershiser’s first Giant start Tuesday night in Houston. What’s new?

Alou, then with the Florida Marlins, hit two three-run homers to help the Marlins beat Hershiser twice and win the World Series.

Of this latest jolt, Hershiser said, “He’s a good hitter, and I made a mistake, a bad pitch. No adjustment needed. If you execute the pitch you want and he hits it, then you better make an adjustment.” Hershiser gets another chance--as does Alou--when he pitches the Giants’ home opener Tuesday against the Astros.