Padres’ Loss Is Tigers’ Gain at Third Base

Former USC infielder Gabe Alvarez made an auspicious debut with the Detroit Tigers last week. It came against the St. Louis Cardinals, but was particularly painful for the San Diego Padres, who opted to protect as much pitching as possible in the expansion draft and chose to protect Marc Kroon over Alvarez on the 15-player list given the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Diamondbacks selected Alvarez and promptly traded him, along with infielder Joe Randa and pitcher Matt Drews, to Detroit for Travis Fryman, who was subsequently dealt to the Cleveland Indians for Matt Williams. The Padres, having lost Alvarez, lost Kroon in April, sending him to the Cincinnati Reds for left-handed pitching prospect Buddy Carlyle.

Alvarez was leading the minor leagues with 20 homers when he was recalled from the triple-A International League and hammered two homers in his second start Tuesday night. He figures to be the Tigers’ third baseman far into the next century, while the Padres are faced with re-signing Ken Caminiti, 35, who is eligible for free agency when the season ends.

“It’s unbelievable. I really didn’t expect anything like this to happen this soon,” said Alvarez, who was a second-round selection of the Padres in 1995.

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As Ramon Martinez traveled to the Dominican Republic to spend a week at home preparing for season-ending shoulder surgery, Pedro Martinez prepared for a new assignment:

“This is going to be really hard for Ramon, especially the rehab,” the Boston Red Sox pitcher said. “I’ll have to keep my eye on him. Sometimes, the little brother has to be the big brother.”

Big brother Ramon, besides being the Dodger ace, is both idol and inspiration to Pedro, who said he dreaded the call from Ramon, telling him his season was over.

“That’s why every time I go out there and go through one inning,” Pedro said, “I pray to God to keep me healthy for the next inning, for the next pitch, and I pray for my brother. Every pitch you throw, it’s up to God. One pitch, and you could be through.”

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In a four-week span through midweek, the Texas Rangers lost 9 1/2 games to the Angels in the American League West. The Ranger rotation is a shambles, and they have had no one step up, as the Angels have with Omar Olivares, Steve Sparks and Jarrod Washburn.

Also, General Manager Doug Melvin informed Manager Johnny Oates, who then informed key players, the Rangers shouldn’t expect a major deal for a pitcher merely because the club is now owned by wealthy Tom Hicks, the aggressive owner of the NHL Dallas Stars.

“I want our club to stop thinking Tom Hicks and Doug Melvin are going to come riding in on two big white horses and bring Mr. X in here and we’re going to fly away with the pennant,” Oates said. “That’s not going to happen. We had a good enough team here in April and May, and this is the same team.”

Through Thursday, however, the Rangers were 25-7 in games started by Rick Helling and Aaron Sele and 20-26 in other games.

“We’ve got to get some production,” Oates said. “We can’t go all year winning two days out of every five.”