Damon Heading to A's

By PAUL GUTIERREZ

Jan. 9, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Johnny Damon, the Dodgers’ great winter hope for a leadoff-hitting center fielder, is coming west.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, he’s headed for Oakland rather than Chavez Ravine.

Damon, 27, was traded from the Kansas City Royals to the American League West champion Athletics in a three-team, nine-player deal Monday that included the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

As part of the deal, Tampa Bay closer Roberto Hernandez will go to the Royals and Oakland outfielder Ben Grieve, the 1998 AL rookie of the year, will go to the Devil Rays.

What makes the trade tough for the Dodgers is that they recently agreed to terms on an incentive-laden $5-million, one-year deal with Ramon Martinez, making right-handed starter Eric Gagne trade bait in a potential deal for Damon.

The Dodgers had been in discussions with the Royals and were reportedly looking to include reliever Antonio Osuna and either center fielder--Devon White or Tom Goodwin--in the package with Gagne.

But it is believed that the Royals wanted more pitching than the Dodgers were willing to part with, causing the Dodgers to balk at a move.

Dodger General Manager Kevin Malone was on vacation Monday and was unavailable for comment.

But at the opening session of the Dodgers’ voluntary winter workouts Friday at Dodger Stadium, Malone said he had been in contact with several general managers, testing the trade waters.

“If we can find a deal that can make us better without mortgaging the future,” Malone said at the time, “we’d strongly consider it.”

Apparently, it was too steep a price to pay.

Playing in relative obscurity for the AL Central fourth-place Royals, Damon batted .327 with 214 hits, 16 home runs and 88 runs batted in while striking out only 60 times in 159 games.

Damon led the American League in stolen bases (46) and runs scored (136). He also batted .342 with runners in scoring position, had 42 doubles, and a .382 on-base percentage, second in the AL among leadoff batters to the Angels’ Darin Erstad (.409).

The left-handed Damon also hit .357 against left-handers.

Damon, who earned a reported $4 million last year, is eligible to become a free agent after the 2001 season.

That didn’t scare off Oakland General Manager Billy Beane.

“That’s the risk you take,” Beane said. “We’ve got the reigning MVP [in first baseman Jason Giambi] who can also walk. Right now, we think we’re a better team and if we’re better than last year, that’s a nice step.”

The Athletics won the AL West by one-half game over the Seattle Mariners last year, going 91-70 before extending the eventual World Series champion New York Yankees to five games in a best-of-five divisional series.

“Johnny Damon brings a lot of things this club was lacking, a real dimension to this club we didn’t have,” Beane said. “We haven’t had this type of player since Rickey [Henderson] was in his prime.

“This means we’ve got to get a steal sign now.”

Beane suggested that Damon would bat leadoff but would probably move to left field, leaving Terrence Long, last season’s runner-up for AL rookie of the year, in center.

Beane also said that while the Athletics coveted Damon, they did not believe they had the personnel to consummate a trade. He said the Royals wanted “a closer and a shortstop that was a couple of years away.”

Enter Tampa Bay.

In addition to the right-handed Hernandez, the Royals acquired shortstop Angel Berroa, catcher A.J. Hinch and cash considerations from Oakland for Damon, shortstop Mark Ellis and a player to be named later.

Hernandez and right-handed pitcher Cory Lidle were picked up earlier by Oakland from Tampa Bay for Grieve and a player to be named later, or cash considerations.

The Athletics later designated right-handed pitcher Ariel Prieto for assignment.

“This wasn’t on the front burner until Thursday afternoon,” Beane said. “It picked up steam on Friday.”

The Dodgers lost interest sometime in between.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Not Exactly Top of the Heap

Comparing Johnny Damon’s numbers to those of the Dodgers’ current leadoff candidates:

Avg. OB%

TOM GOODWIN

2000: .263 .346

Career: .273 .339

DEVON WHITE

2000: .266 .310