The Cubs got the right-handed reliever they were seeking Monday when they agreed to terms with veteran closer Dave Smith.
They also probably hastened the departure of former folk hero Mitch Williams.
”I want out of Chicago,” Williams said Monday. And General Manager Jim Frey indicated he`s willing to oblige.
Smith, who pitched for the Houston Astros last season but was granted second-look free agency, will sign for $4.4 million for two years (including a $1 million signing bonus), with the club having an option for a third year at $2.4 million. There`s a $500,000 buyout clause on that third year.
Smith was paid $1.1 million in 1990.
”We`ve completed our Christmas shopping,” said club President Don Grenesko. Earlier, the Cubs signed free agents Danny Jackson and George Bell to multiyear contracts.
To make room on their roster for Smith, the Cubs released right-hander Randy Kramer. The signing of Smith, a Type-A free agent, also will cost the Cubs a pick, but not their No. 1, in the June draft.
Smith, who has worn no other uniform since opening the 1980 season with the Astros, said he was reluctant to leave Houston but that the lure of pitching for a contender swung the deal.
”If I thought the Astros were going to have a chance to contend, I probably would`ve stayed there,” Smith said. ”Obviously, they aren`t. They`ve lost all their free agents, and the Cubs have got a few free agents that are really going to help.
”You look at their lineup. They`ll be tough.”
”He`s a guy that`s had a knack of getting them out in the ninth inning, and that`s who we went after,” said Cub manager Don Zimmer.
”He gives us a right-handed late guy who has a track record,” Frey said of Smith, who will turn 36 next month. ”He`s been consistent. He`s got a good reputation as being a good competitor, and I think he adds a lot of stability to our bullpen.”
He also has a reputation for throwing pitches that, somehow, do unnatural things.
”He throws `out-pitches,` ” said Frey.
Whatever it is he does to the ball, he has consistently been among baseball`s toughest pitchers to homer against-partly because he spent his entire career with the Astrodome as his home park. The four homers he gave up last season were two more than his total for the previous three years combined.
Wrigley Field`s dimensions and wind currents don`t faze him.
”One thing about Wrigley,” Smith said. ”When the wind blows out, your stuff is so much better. The curveball bites better, your sinker`s better. And when the wind blows in, it`s like pitching in the Dome-it`s so hard to hit it out.
”I`ve always loved Wrigley Field. Every ballplayer that`s gone there and plays there loves it. And to play there on a winning team . . . ”
Smith was 6-6 with Houston in 1990 with a 2.39 earned-run average. His 23 saves for the fifth-place Astros were his fewest since he became their closer in 1985.
He hasn`t had a winning record since 1985, but his best seasons were 1986, when he saved a career-high 33 games and Houston won a division title;
and 1987, when he saved 24, had a 1.65 ERA and struck out 73 in 60 innings.
In 1990, he had 50 strikeouts in 60 innings.
The Cubs began talks with Smith`s agent, Alan Hendricks, early last week and made a formal proposal Thursday. The agreement came late Sunday.
”It came together pretty quickly,” said Grenesko.
Smith gives the Cubs-at least momentarily-a third short man to go with left-handers Williams and Paul Assenmacher.
Frey, while saying there`s a chance Williams could stick, didn`t discount the possibility of a trade.
”I`ve had two or three clubs talk to me at the winter meeting and since,” said Frey. ”Up to now, I chose not to do anything about it because the deals didn`t sound right to me.
”But I`m sure after the holidays we`ll sit down and re-evaluate everything, and I`m sure there`ll be some new calls and all that stuff. I don`t feel right now that we`re in a big rush to do anything.”
”I hope they just don`t beat around the bush and try and get too much,” fumed Williams, ”because I want to get out of there.”
In November, the Cubs signed left-handed starter Jackson for four years at $10.5 million. Two weeks later, outfielder Bell was signed for three years at $9.8 million plus an option year.
Additionally, in 1991 Andre Dawson`s new contract, worth $3.7 million in its first year, kicks in. Ryne Sandberg`s contract is likely to be revised upward before the start of the season, and other salaries-notably Shawon Dunston`s and Mark Grace`s-are sure to take major jumps.
None of that troubles Grenesko.
”If you look at our salary structure last year, we had one of the lowest in baseball,” Grenesko said. ”I think we were 20th last year. Prior to that, we were kind of in the middle of the pack.
”At this point in time, we just felt we needed to take that step into the free-agent market. We don`t plan on making this an annual event.”
”I`ll say one thing,” Zimmer said. ”The Cubs organization has gone out and tried to do everything to make us a good ballclub.”
”We`ve acquired three quality people,” Frey said, ”and I`m very happy about that.”
