Dallas Green is working on trimming the team salary, which ranked third in the majors last year at $15 million, and says he may be forced to decide someday whether to let stars such as Ryne Sandberg, Jody Davis and Leon Durham test free agency.
”We have seven or eight guys that are coming off the end of their contract and we can make decisions on,” Green said on WGN radio. ”Those decisions can be easily made when you have personnel that are as good as or have the potential to be better than the people that you already have.
”Our minor league system has started to kick in, so I feel that instead of paying guys 3-, 4-, or $500,000 just because they have X number of years in the big leagues, I can go to a $62,000 guy and get just as much service, if not more, and even have better growth potential for the Cubs.
”I`ve got to sign Andre Dawson and that`s going to take a sizeable chunk of dough, as we all know. I would hope we`ll be able to cut the (team payroll) a couple of million dollars, at least.
”I don`t have anybody else who is really a major signing in 1988. Sandberg`s contract is to 1989, Davis and Durham are through 1988 and Lee Smith is through 1988. That will be some decision-making time.”
When Rick Sutcliffe charged the mound to get at San Diego pitcher Eric Show following the beaning of Andre Dawson, he seemed to bring the Cubs closer as a team.
”What you saw Sutcliffe do shows that we`re all in this thing together,” Durham says. ”We know what type of a person Andre is and what type of person Sutcliffe is. Sutcliffe is the type of guy that I could leave my life in his hands and I know he`ll take care of it for me.”
