White Takes Center Stage

The Dodgers moved quickly to fill their hole in center field Friday, signing all-star outfielder Devon White to a multiyear contract on the first day of free-agent bidding.

White, who turns 36 in December, will receive salaries of $2.5 million next season, $4 million in 2000 and $5 million in 2001, baseball sources said. The ballclub holds a $5.5-million option for the 2002 season that it can buy out for $900,000.

As a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, White, a switch-hitter, made $3.5 million during the just-completed season. The newest Dodger was unavailable for comment Friday because he is a member of the major league all-star team currently playing exhibition games in Japan.

“We needed to make a move quickly to get a player of this guy’s ability,” General Manager Kevin Malone said during a conference call that included Eric Goldschmidt, White’s agent. “He’s one of the best defensive center fielders in the game and he’s a proven winner.

“He can hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases, he’s a run producer and he can bat anywhere in the order. He can do so many things for you.”

The signing of White, a seven-time Gold Glove winner, completes an outfield the Dodgers believe is potentially among the best in the game offensively. White joins Gary Sheffield, who moves from right to left, and Raul Mondesi, who returns to right after begrudgingly playing in center during parts of the 1998 season.

Mondesi told club officials he wanted to return to his former position next season. Malone accommodated the two-time Gold Glove winner by acquiring a player high on his off-season shopping list.

Moreover, Malone said Sheffield, who expressed concern about possibly switching positions next season, agreed to “do whatever it takes to help the Dodgers be a championship team” in a recent conversation with new Manager Davey Johnson. And regardless of the moves Malone makes, that might be the Dodgers’ best news this winter.

Malone added White on the heels of retaining all-star closer Jeff Shaw, who was rewarded with a substantial raise. The Dodger player-personnel chief has been busy this week--and said he’s only getting started.

“There are many things we’re doing to make this a championship-caliber team, and this [signing White] was a major piece to the puzzle,” Malone said. “This stabilizes our payroll and takes away some of the uncertainty about the future because we’re locked in with a premier center fielder for the next three or four years.

“We’re in a good position to do some other things because we’ve gotten this taken care of right away. I don’t know what you guys [reporters] would characterize as a ‘major move.’ I’ll leave that up to you, but this is not the last move we’ll make. But because of this, we’re already better than we were last year. Now, we can go in different directions.”

White batted .279 with 22 home runs and 22 stolen bases for the Diamondbacks. He also had 32 doubles with 85 runs batted in and 84 runs in 146 games. He probably will bat second in the Dodger lineup.

Drafted by the Angels in 1981, White has been a key member of three World Series title teams since the Angels traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1990. White has been reunited with Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla and Charles Johnson, who were also teammates on the Florida Marlins’ 1997 World Series championship club.

The Marlins traded White to the Diamondbacks after he spent much of the ’97 season on the disabled list because of left knee surgery. But White rebounded with a strong season offensively, and he continued to play well defensively, committing only five errors in 379 chances.

He was selected an all-star for the third time, and the first time as a member of the National League team. Malone figured White was right for the Dodgers, and they were appealing to him, his agent said.

“Los Angeles was his first choice,” Goldschmidt said of White, who makes his year-round home in Arizona with his wife and three children. “Right out of the gate, Kevin expressed a key interest in Devon. I’ve known Kevin for a long time, and we all felt good about this, so it didn’t take long.”

Free-agent bidding began at 9:01 p.m. PST Thursday.

Malone had many conversations with agent Scott Boras, who represents all-star center fielder Bernie Williams, considered the top free-agent outfielder. Williams, 30, is about six years younger than White.

But Boras is seeking a seven-year deal at about $14 million annually for Williams, who helped the New York Yankees win two World Series championships the last three season, which isn’t in the Dodgers’ price range. White’s price was right, and he’s familiar with the NL, which doesn’t hurt.

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Dodger pitcher Ramon Martinez has declined to file for free agency, but his contract situation remains unresolved.

Martinez, whose option for next season recently was bought out by the ballclub, chose not to file in an attempt to apply pressure to the Dodgers to re-sign him. Because of that, the club retains Martinez’s rights, and he would be bound to the Dodgers next season if they offer him a contract by Dec. 20.

But that scenario is highly unlikely. If they offered a contract, the Dodgers could cut Martinez’s pay by only 20%, and they would have to keep him on the 40-man roster.

The right-hander, 30, is coming off surgery on his throwing shoulder, and he is not expected to pitch again until after the all-star break.

The club probably will release Martinez, who made $4.3 million in 1998, then try to re-sign him to a performance-based deal.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

DEVON WHITE’S CAREER STATISTICS

REGULAR SEASON

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Year Team AB R H HR RBI SB AVG 1985 Cal 7 7 1 0 0 3 .143 1986 Cal 51 8 12 1 3 6 .235 1987 Cal 639 103 168 24 87 32 .263 1988 Cal 455 76 118 11 51 17 .259 1989 Cal 636 86 156 12 56 44 .245 1990 Cal 443 57 96 11 44 21 .217 1991 Tor 642 110 181 17 60 33 .282 1992 Tor 641 98 159 17 60 37 .248 1993 Tor 598 116 163 15 52 34 .273 1994 Tor 403 67 109 13 49 11 .270 1995 Tor 427 61 121 10 53 11 .283 1996 Fla 552 77 151 17 84 22 .274 1997 Fla 265 37 65 6 34 13 .245 1998 Ariz 563 84 157 22 85 22 .279 Totals 6,322 987 1,657 176 718 306 .262

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DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF SERIES

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Year Opp. AB R H HR RBI SB AVG 1997 SF 11 1 2 1 4 0 .182

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LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

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Year Opp. AB R H HR RBI SB AVG 1986 Bos 2 2 1 0 0 0 .500 1991 Min 22 5 8 0 0 3 .364 1992 Oak 23 2 8 0 2 0 .348 1993 Chi 27 3 12 1 2 0 .444 1997 Atl 21 4 4 0 1 1 .190 Totals 95 16 33 1 5 4 .347

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WORLD SERIES

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Year Opp. AB R H HR RBI SB AVG 1992 Atl 26 2 6 0 2 6 .231 1993 Phil 24 8 7 1 7 7 .292 1997 Cle 33 0 8 0 2 1 .292 Totals 83 10 21 1 11 14 .253

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HOME RUNS BY YEAR

BATTING AVERAGE BY YEAR

(with California Angels, Toronto Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks)