Marlins Now on Endangered Species List

Now only Edgar Renteria and Craig Counsell remain from the lineup the Florida Marlins started in Game 7 of the World Series. The payroll has dropped from $53 million last year to about $23.6 million heading for $16 million or lower. In addition, prospective owner Don Smiley plans to cut the front-office budget 31% in 1999, the scouting budget 20% and the Latin America budget by 25%. Asked if this onslaught reminded him of the cutbacks in Pittsburgh when he managed the Pirates, Marlin Manager Jim Leyland said, “What happened in Pittsburgh was gradual. This is more like a mass murder.”

Acting Commissioner Bud Selig continues to insist that the series of Marlin trades are far different than Charlie Finley’s attempt to sell Joe Rudi, Rollie Fingers and Vida Blue for cold cash when he owned the Oakland A’s, an attempt blocked by then-commissioner Bowie Kuhn. “Obviously, we’ve looked at all the ramifications of it,” Selig said of Friday’s trade with the Dodgers. “This is a player trade that both clubs believe is in their best interest. We’ve reviewed every historical precedent that pertains to it and believe it falls within the rules.”

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The new Dodger lineup catches an early break, avoiding Chicago Cub phenom Kerry Wood during a three-game series starting Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. Wood pitches today in Cincinnati and Friday in Atlanta. As the 20-year-old right-hander faces the Reds, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls begin the NBA’s Eastern Conference final against the Indiana Pacers. “He’s stirred up the city,” Ron Rapoport, the Chicago Sun-Times’ assistant sports editor, said of Wood, “but nothing takes away from Michael and the Bulls. Let’s just say he’s expanded our attention span.” Expanded it to the point that the Sun-Times is conducting a contest to provide Wood with a nickname and has had a story on him “just about every day” since he struck out 20 Houston Astros.

In addition, those paranoid Cub fans, remembering how Greg Maddux departed as a free agent after winning his first Cy Young Award, already are pestering the front office to sign Wood to a multiyear contract, although he can’t become a free agent until after the 2003 season. “People need to calm down,” General Manager Ed Lynch said. “He’s six starts into his career. Two weeks ago, they were asking us if we’d brought him up too soon. Now they are questioning why we aren’t going to sign him to a multiyear deal. Let’s just concentrate on baseball. This is off-season talk.”

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The San Francisco Giants are averaging slightly more than 17,000 a game, 13th among the 16 NL teams, while the cross-bay Oakland A’s have experienced a 29% drop from ‘97, when they were last in the majors in attendance. The Giants are actually up 11% while selling tickets for two parks--3Com and Pac Bell, which opens in 2000. They’ve sold more tickets for that year than ‘98, but owner Peter Magowan said, “We’re suffering a little bit now at Candlestick, but for a good reason. People have given us their commitment to the new park, some $55 million in charter-seat revenue. Without that commitment, it wouldn’t be built.”